Gender and Language

The ideology of gender categories is typically enacted in linguistic practices; indeed, it is

through language that the individual cultural understandings of gender categories are learned and the coordination of gender roles achieved

(Foley 2001: 289)

LANGUAGE AND GENDER

• Sex versus Gender

• Sexual differences: masculine and feminine

• Gender categorization: Social construct

• Daily practices: social interaction

• Habitus

Habitus

• (Pierre Bourdieu) denoting the totality of learned, bodily skills, habits, style, taste etc

• Gender habitus: Culture inscribed in the body

Anthropology of Gender: Study of the asymmetry of between the

sexes: universal

• Rosaldo, 1974• Leacock 1978• Moore 1988

Main Question

• Why is the asymmetry between the sexes widespread?

Public realm and private realm hypothesis

• Women (work practices): private, viewed inferior• Men: Public, risky activities, economic and social

capital, politics• Why does this lead to women typically viewed

inferior?• Widespread: Hunter and gatherers, developing and

developed world

Socialization influences

• Perpetuation of asymmetrical patterns between the sexes: family

• Learning gender categories and rules in childhood: social roles

Is the Asymmetry of the Sexes Universal?

• Errington and Gewertz (1987)• Gender can be complementary: Separate

but equal • Western versus Chambri (New Guinea)

Western: Separation of the private and public: Exclusion

• Chambri: person define by his/her relations: manipulation of kinship links

What is the connection between Gender and Language?

• Gender as Ideology:

• Language as a tool for learning gender categorization: Commonly highly valued ways of speaking

• Example: Malagasy speech norms: Indirectness in speech: male activities

• Kabary Speech

Gender Styles: English

• Alternatives: pronunciation, word selection, grammatical construction.

• Language styles: reflection of gender differences

• “You’re driving rather fast, aren’t you?“Well, I guess it’s approximately four feet

high.”

Why?

• Socialization

• Cultural values

• Gender roles and cultural values

• Social norms: construct and reinforce gender attitudes

Gender Roles Reflected in Language Styles

• Pronunciation: tone, intonation, volume

• Grammatical forms

• Choices of vocabulary

Sociolinguists look at:

• Conversational interactions ( styles of interactions)

• Tendencies in language use: Phonological variations:

--Example: New England study, “-ing”; the progressive suffix on verbs-

Fischer’s study(1958)

–prefer –ing prefer –in– Boys 5 7– Girls 10 2

Intonation: rhythm, volume, pitch

• Different intonation• Women: Wide range of pitches, rapid shift in

volume and velocity (more emotional)• Men: Atonal (control, restrain)• Cultural interpretation: cultural valued or

negatively evaluated behaviors

Grammatical Variants: Standard versus non-standard grammar

• Cheshire (1982) in Reading, England• Present tense –s with non-singular subjects:“We

goes shopping on Saturdays.”• Has with first-and second-person subjects:“We

has a little fire keeps us warm.”

Tag Questions

• Tag questions are sentences in which the speaker makes a declarative statement and add on a tag in the form of a question about the assertion

• Louise and Lucille didn’t leave together last night, did they?

• Bill took Luke to the park last night, didn’t he?

Why?

• --are reluctant to make direct assertions

• --thus avoiding coming into conflict with the addressee

• --construed as polite

• --uncertainty lack of definite opinion

Choice of Vocabulary

• Different social and cultural domains:

--assumption of expertise

--profanity

Gender Bias in English

• Nouns, adjectives, and verbs• English covertly and overtly degrades

females• normative roles and secondary roles• Creating a context for interaction of genders ---term opposite sex ---covert and overt inequality

The child caught the ball.The ball was caught by the child.

Conversational Styles

• Assumptions about conversational domination

• McConnell-Ginet (1988)

---Men: 12 min

--Women: 3.17

• Edelky (1981)

--25 to 400% longer

Summary

• Differences: sex and gender

• Biological given: contested

• Culturally constructed category

• Language reflects the way we internalize the construction of gender categories

Discussion Questions

• In what ways are the relationship between language and gender similar or different to the relationship between language and race?

How are intonational and phonological variants an

indication of sex or gender differences? Explain.