LANGUAGE AND GENDER
Issues in society surrounding language and gender…
Language such as “mankind”, “postman”, generic “he”, “chairman” can be seen as
offensive and sexiist nn 1i986 oougaas HooDstadter pointed out the outrage that woouad
be caused by substtutng “man” Dor “wohite”, especiaaay in situatons wohere aaa
chiadren are taught “aaa men are created equaa”
Marked terms and ttaes are wohere a term has been marked out as gender specifc,
usuaaay by adding an afxiaton, such as -ess and -ete nt has been suggested that the
Demaae equivaaent oD a term usuaaay takes on diminutve connotatons
Semantc derogaton is wohere the Demaae term in a maaefDemaae pair woiaa acquire
negatve connotatons over tme Eg bacheaor and spinster
nn Swoeden aawos have been created requiring teachers to actveay woork to reverse
gender stereotypes and the singae gender neutraa pronoun ‘hen’ has been
introduced into the aanguage to minimise gender stereotyping
Men are Drom Mars, Women are Drom Venus by John Grey (1i992)
‘Gender is… sociaaay constructed Peopae acquire characteristcs wohich are perceived
mascuaine or Deminine ’- MARY TALBOT 201i0
LANGUAGE AND GENDER MODELS
THE DEFICIT MODEL
Atributed to Oto Jespersen (1i922) argued that maae aanguage Dorms wohere the
‘norm’ and the aanguage oD others woere ‘defcient;
Often ainked to Robin Lakoff woho in her study identfed severaa differences in the
woay woomen used aanguage wohen compared to men Lakoff suggested that these
differences she notced woere part oD ‘Women’s Language’ and woas seen as inDerior to
men
The defcit modea reDers to howo this aanguage use contributes to woomen’s aowoer
status and woeaker positon in society
THE DOMINANCE MODEL
Issues in society surrounding language and gender…
Language such as “mankind”, “postman”, generic “he”, “chairman” can be seen as
offensive and sexiist nn 1i986 oougaas HooDstadter pointed out the outrage that woouad
be caused by substtutng “man” Dor “wohite”, especiaaay in situatons wohere aaa
chiadren are taught “aaa men are created equaa”
Marked terms and ttaes are wohere a term has been marked out as gender specifc,
usuaaay by adding an afxiaton, such as -ess and -ete nt has been suggested that the
Demaae equivaaent oD a term usuaaay takes on diminutve connotatons
Semantc derogaton is wohere the Demaae term in a maaefDemaae pair woiaa acquire
negatve connotatons over tme Eg bacheaor and spinster
nn Swoeden aawos have been created requiring teachers to actveay woork to reverse
gender stereotypes and the singae gender neutraa pronoun ‘hen’ has been
introduced into the aanguage to minimise gender stereotyping
Men are Drom Mars, Women are Drom Venus by John Grey (1i992)
‘Gender is… sociaaay constructed Peopae acquire characteristcs wohich are perceived
mascuaine or Deminine ’- MARY TALBOT 201i0
LANGUAGE AND GENDER MODELS
THE DEFICIT MODEL
Atributed to Oto Jespersen (1i922) argued that maae aanguage Dorms wohere the
‘norm’ and the aanguage oD others woere ‘defcient;
Often ainked to Robin Lakoff woho in her study identfed severaa differences in the
woay woomen used aanguage wohen compared to men Lakoff suggested that these
differences she notced woere part oD ‘Women’s Language’ and woas seen as inDerior to
men
The defcit modea reDers to howo this aanguage use contributes to woomen’s aowoer
status and woeaker positon in society
THE DOMINANCE MODEL
