Language and gender

1. Language and gender LO: to understand the gender influence within language;

2. Assumptions about gender... And language • 5 differences between gendered speech.

3. A man was driving with his son, when the car was struck by another vehicle. The man was killed instantly, but his son, injured, was rushed to hospital. The surgeon came into the operating theatre, gasped and said: “But this is my son”.

4. Do we notice anything about this sentence? • Malevolence and hatred are not qualities we like to associate with mankind. • “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” • Mrs. Anthony Bunter

5. “Do men and women speak differently?”

6. Robin Lakoff’s, Language and Women’s Place, 1975. Lakoff provided a vision and a template for generations of researchers. Lakoff suggested that women are ‘more polite’ and have a ‘poorer sense of humour’ than men. She suggested that specific linguistic/discursive features marked the powerlessness of women, arguing that women are socialised into using these features as part of their subservient role to men.

7. Examples of these linguistic / discursive features. • Hedges – ‘I’d kind of like to…’, ‘It’s sort of…’, ‘I guess…’ • (Super) polite forms – ‘I’d really appreciate it if..’ • Tag questions – ‘This is nice, isn’t it?’ • Speaking in italics – Intonational emphasis: ‘So’, ‘very’ etc. • Empty adjectives – ‘Divine’, ‘sweet’, ‘charming’ • Hypercorrect grammar and pronunciation – More formal enunciation. • Lack of a sense of humour – Said to be poor joke tellers, and to ‘miss the point’ • Direct quotations • Special lexicon – Specialised terminology when describing things like colour. E.g. ‘magenta’ • Question intonation in declarative contexts – Seeking approval when making a statement. Uncertain questions as answers. E.g. ‘When will dinner be ready?’ ‘Around 6’o clock?’ Why might women use these linguistic techniques?

8. Women are possibly less secure than men in terms of social status – Feel the need to prove their status through language. Using standard English gives a person ‘overt prestige.’ Use of prestigious language. Men are more likely to seek covert prestige by using non – standard English to appear tough / rebellious. Expected to behave like ‘ladies’ and use ‘ladylike’ language.

9. Is this still a relevant theory today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XXVXxFH8w8

10. William O’Barr and Bowman Atkins(1980) • Studied the language variation between men and women in courtrooms for 30-months. • Recognised that although some women do speak the way Lakoff described, so do some men. • Therefore not characteristics of all women are limited only to women. • The women who used relatively few of the features were of an unusually high social status.

11. More Recent Research • Holmes (1984) – Argued that women’s language does not display a weakness, but a desire to co-operate. • Cameron (2007) – Argues that there are very few differences between men and women’s language, and situation affects how people speak more than gender.

12. ‘Women’s Language’ or ‘Powerless Language?’ Although more women speak this language this men, is this relative to the greater tendency of women who occupy relatively powerless social positions?

13. Some General Differences. Some theorists suggest that these general differences can be to do with the difference in topic of conversation between men and women.

14. Trugill 1983 • Women's pronunciation is closer to RP than males. • Cheshire 1982 • Boys tend to use more non-grammatical forms, like ain't, than girls.

15. Lakoff (Robin) 1975 • Women use: hedges + fillers; tag questions; apologetic requests, indirect requests, speak less, use fewer expletives, more intensifiers. She argued that these features of speech make women seem more inferior, weak and needy and prevents women from being taken seriously. • O'Barr and Atkins 1980 • Disputed Lakoff, said that it was males and females of low social status who used these linguistic features.

16. Tanner 1990 • Differences not similarities.Men: more concerned with status - interrupt more; gives more direct orders - don't mind conflict; more intensifiers in getting facts and solving problems.Females: more interested in for bonds - tend to talk less and agree more; more polite indirect orders - to avoid conflict; aim to show understanding by compromising and offering support rather than solutions. • Beattie 1982 • Questioned Zimmerman and West's theory that men's interruptions were a sign of dominance. He said it could be to show support and understanding.

17. “(gender) identities are constructed through talk relationally (creating contrasts between self and other) and dynamically, through constant re-negotiation of one’s own subjectivity and position within the hierarchy a group.” - The New Sociolinguistic Reader Do we ‘perform’ our identity?

18. Summary of guidelines for the non-sexist use of language • When constructing examples and theories, remember to include those human activities, interests, and points of view which traditionally have been associated with females. • Eliminate the generic use of he by: • using plural nouns • deleting he, his, and him altogether • substituting articles (the, a, an) for his; and who for he • substituting one, we, or you • minimizing use of indefinite pronouns (e.g., everybody, someone • using the passive voice (use sparingly) • substituting nouns for pronouns (use sparingly) • Eliminate the generic use of man: • for man, substitute person/people, individual(s), human(s), human being(s) • for mankind, substitute humankind, humanity, the human race • for manhood, substitute adulthood, maturity • delete unnecessary references to generic man