Sexist language and gender-neutral language

Julie Bytheway 4 June 2009

University of TwenteKenlooMassey University

Outline

introdefine

pasteffects

formsfuture

Definition

• Sexist language is words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize or diminish either.

• Gender-neutral language is...

Parks & Roberton (1998), cited in Edwards (2008)

Examples

• men/guys• he/him/his• Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms• he or she

• manmade• chairman/layman• lady doctor/male nurse• office girls/family man

Past

St Hildegarde of Bingen, 11th centuryattempted to construct non-sexist alternative

The Revolution, 1868-1871 paid attention to sexist language

Simone de Beauviour, 1952 challenged of generic use of man

Penelope (1990); Rakow & Kramarae (1990), cited in Weatherall (2002)

Man as generic form

• laws about punishment:women included

• laws about privileges and benefits: women not included

Spender (1990)

Man as generic form

• not natural form• introduced by grammarians

The masculine Person answers to the generalname which comprehends both Male and Female; as Any Person, who knows what he says.

Kirby (1746)

• introduced by British government in 1850

Bodine (1975)

Man as generic form

• not natural form• introduced by male grammarians

The masculine Person answers to the generalname which comprehends both Male and Female; as Any Person, who knows what he says.

Kirby (1746)

• introduced by all male British government in 1850

Bodine (1975)

Language equality

• PrescriptivismLinguistic practices and preferences are based on society elites, rather than any natural or objective notion of correctness.

• DescriptivismDifferent language varieties are equal in linguistic terms, and it is wrong to label some varieties as inferior.

Cameron (1995); Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert, & Leap (2000)

Language vs society

Sankoff (1986); Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert, & Leap (2000)

Power and dominance

By promoting the symbol of man at the expense of woman it is clear that visibility and primacy of males is supported. We learn to see the male as the worthier, more comprehensive and superior sex as we divide and organised the world along these lines.

Spender (1990)

Hart (2007)

Research

• differences• power and dominance• gendered language reflects social distinctions,

but also actively maintains these

Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert, & Leap (2000)

Mackay (1979); Crawford & English (1984); Mackay & Fulkerson (1979), Mouton, Robinson & Elias (1978), Cole, Hill & Dayley (1983); Schneider & Haker (1973), Briere & Lanktree (1983), Murdock & Forsyth (1985); Falk & Mills (1996), cited in Weatherall (2002); Bem & Bem (1973); Johnson & Dowling-Guyer (1996); Cameron (1994); Fergusson (2004)

Coats (1993); Crawford (1995); Graddol & Swann (1989); Holmes (1994); Tannen (1990)

Communication styles

Tannen (1990)

Management styles

1963 → 2009

King (1963) Obama (2009)

Gender-specific Gender-neutral

• poet/poetess• hero/heroine• manager/manageress• governor/governess• chairman• freshman• layman• salesman

• poet• • manager• • • • •

• poet/poetess• hero/heroine• manager/manageress• governor/governess• chairman• freshman• layman• salesman

• poet• hero• manager• governor• chair• first-year student• layperson• salesperson

Gender-specific Gender-neutral

Titles

Questionable• Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms• Prof. Dr. Mrs. Holmes

• Dear Sir/Madam

Acceptable• Mr, Ms• Professor Holmes

• To whom it may concern

• Dear householder• Dear customer

Women

Questionable• girl• lady

• man and wife• lecturers and their

wives

Acceptable• women• women

• husband and wife• lecturers and their

partners

Unacceptable

• career woman• working mother• lady doctor

• family man• house husband• male nurse

Unacceptable

• ambitious men• aggressive women

• strong men• domineering women

• persuasive man• nagging woman

• driven man• selfish woman

Invisible women

• man• mankind• guys

• he• him• his

• • •

• • •

Invisible women

• man• mankind• guys

• he• him• his

• people, human• humanity• y’all, yous

• they• them• their

Invisible woman

Where this publication refers to "he" and "his", "she" and "her" are also implied.

CAO University System for Job Classification (2003)

Word order

• he or she, he/she, s/he• his or her, him or her

• men and women• sons and daughters• ladies and gentlemen

Irrelevant differences

A lecturer needs to submit his materials by…

A lecturer needs to submit his or her materials by…

A lecturer needs to submit all materials by…

Lecturers need to submit their materials by…

Someone phoned, but he didn’t leave his number.

Someone phoned, but he or she didn’t leave his or her number.

Someone phoned, but didn’t leave a number.

Someone phoned, but they didn’t leave their number.

Irrelevant differences

Language is a form of human reason, which has its internal logic of which man knows nothing.

Levi-Strauss (1972)

Sexist language

Sexist language

Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

Kennedy (1963)

Sexist language

An officer goes to the scene as quickly as possible. He sees the bad guy. There is no time for thought. He acts.

Gladwell (2005)

Sexist language

The employee is obliged to perform his duties to the best of his ability, to behave as a good employee and to act in accordance with the instructions given by or on behalf of the employer.

CAO (2008)

Resistance

• comical• irritating• annoying• resist change• habit

• oblivious• censorship• restricts free speech• feminist ideology

Romaine (2001); Liben, Bigler & Krogh (2002); Parks & Robertson (2005), cited in Edwards (2008)

Accepted

• gender equality is widely viewed as desirable

• international laws and regulations have been recast

• style guides address gender-neutral language

Redefine

Sexism in language can be considered more broadly as forms of language use that function to control women, and discourses that perpetuate social beliefs about women.

Weatherall (2000)

Discussion

ReferencesCameron, D. (Ed.). (1994). Non-sexist communication: guidelines for staff and students. Strathclyde:

Public Relations Service, University of Strathclyde.Cameron, D. (1995). Rethinking language and gender studies: some issues from the 1990’s, in S Mills

(Ed.), Language and gender: interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 31-44). Harlow: Longman.Cameron, D. (2005). Language, gender, and sexuality: Current issues and new directions. Applied

Linguistics, 26 (4), 482-502.Coats, J. (1993). Women, men and language. Harlow: Longman.Crawford, M. (1995). Talking difference: On gender and language. London: Sage Publications.Edwards, A. (2008). Non-sexist language reform in ESL institutions. Maastricht: Maastricht University.Fergusson, C. (2004). Sexist language persists in the ESL classroom. English teaching forum, 42(1), 36-42. Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. London: Penguin.Graddol, D., & Swann, J. (1989). Gender voices. Oxford: Blackwell.Hart, J. (2007). BC. Retrieved on May 12, 2009 from http://johnhartstudios.com.Holmes, J. (1994). Improving the lot of female language learners, in J Sunderland (Ed.), Exploring gender:

Questions and implications for English language education. London: Prentice Hall.Johnson, M., & Dowling-Guyer, S. (1996). Effects of inclusive vs. Exclusive language on evaluations of

counsellor. Sex Roles, 34(5), 407-418.

ReferencesKennedy, J. (1961, January 20). Inaugural address. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html.King, M. (1963, May 13). I have a dream. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm.Levi-Strauss, C. (1974). Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books.Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A., & Leap, W. (2000). Introducing sociolinguistics. Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press.Obama, B. (2009, January 20). Inaugural address. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres68.html.Pinker, S. (1994). The language instinct. New York: Harper Perennial.Sankoff, G. (1986). Social life of language. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Spender, D. (1990). Man made language. London: Routledge & Kegan.Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand. New York: Morrow.VSNU. (2003). Collective labour agreement (CAO). The Hague: Stichting SoFoKleS.VSNU. (2008). Collective labour agreement (CAO). The Hague: Stichting SoFoKleS.Weatherall, A. (2002). Gender, language and discourse. London: Routledge.