Said there were 6 main differences in
the way men and women use
language: 1. STATUS VS SUPPORT:
men see language as a means of
asserting dominance; women see it
as a way of confirming/supporting
ideas. 2. INDEPENDENCE VS
INTIMACY: men "go it alone"; women
seek support. 3. ADVICE VS
UNDERSTANDING: men see language
as problem solving; women see it as
a means of empathy. 4.
INFORMATION VS FEELINGS: males
are concerned with the facts; women
with emotions. 5. ORDERS VS
PROPOSALS: men use imperatives,
women use hidden directives. 6.
CONFLICT VS COMPROMISE: men will
argue; women try to find a middle
ground.
CHRISTINE HOWE
Men have strategies for gaining power. Men are
much more likely to respond to what is being
said, keen to put their views across. This makes it
harder for the listener to participate in the
conversation. Women are more active listeners.
They use minor interjections, such as "uh huh"
and "oh really" (back-channeling). The differences
between male and female conversation begins at
socialisation (ages 3-4).
ANNE WEATHERALL
Women's talk is co-operative.
Men's talk is competitive.
Women are more likely to use
hedging, "sort of" "kind of"...
Women speak for less time and
are less likely to interrupt.
Females use more tag
questions:
PILKINGTON
Did research into all female and all male conversation in a
bakery over a period of nine months. He found: Women talk to
affirm solidarity and maintain social relationships. Women focus
on feelings, personal anecdotes and relationships. Women
support, build on each others' points and complete others'
utterances Women agree frequently. Men find long pauses
(thinking time) acceptable. Men frequently disagree and
challenge others' points. Their conversation is competitive to a
point of verbal abuse. They take part in verbal sparring, often
using mock insults.
DOMINANCE THEORY
O'BARR AND ATKINS
They studied the language of the courtroom and found female
lawyers to be assertive, interrupt, everything that Pilkington
argued for males. They also found that witnesses of both
sexes would use Robin Lakoff's weak "female" language. They
concluded that these weak language traits are actually a
"powerless language" rather than a "female language".
This seems to suggest that it is not so much differences
in the sexes' language, more the situations that they
face which result in the difference.
LAKOFF
Created a set of female characteristics: 1. Women
hedge. 2. Women use super polite forms: "Would you
please...?" "I'd really appreciate it if..." 3. Women speak
in italics (use more prosodic features): It's soooo
nice... 4. They use empty adjectives: divine, lovely,
adorable... 5. They use modal verbs: should, would...
6. Overuse qualifiers. "I think that..." 7. They use
mitigated responses and hidden directives. 8. They
have special lexis for things like colours and cloth.
9. They avoid coarse language and expletives. 10. Women
can't tell jokes.
Many of these, like hedging, hidden directives, overuse of qualifiers, she claimed were because of the
patriarchal society - historically, women had never had any power, and when faced with
opportunities to place their opinion, they grow nervous
STEREOTYPES
WOMEN are:
1. Weak
2. Pretty
3. Intuitive
4. Emotional
5. Domestic
6. Social
MEN are:
1. Strong
2. Decisive
3. Practical
4. Rational
5. Public
6.Commanding
DEROGATIVES
JULIA STANLEY
suggested there were 220 terms for promiscuous female,
and only 20 for a male, and most of them are horrible --
sexually insulting. On the male side, the insults are often
seen as less taboo, and many of them are effeminate
(feminising the male). This reflects the dichotomy of the
patriarchal society: it was okay for a male to go out and sleep
with anyone he chose, but if a female did the same she had
immediately stepped over a line.
SEMANTIC
DEROGATION
SCHULTZ
Marked terms and titles are where
a term has been marked out as
gender specific, usually by adding
an affixation, such as -ess and
-ette. It has been suggested that
the female equivalent of a term
usually takes on diminutive
connotations
For example: Major - a leading drummer/Majorette - throws sticks. Steward- in charge/Stewardess -
comes around serving
Semantic derogation is
where the female term
in a male/female pair
will acquire negative
connotations over
time
For example, the two words
"bachelor" and "spinster"
have the same denotation
(dictionary definition), to be
unmarried, but very
different connotations
(psychological associations).
Bachelor might conjure the
words: free, young, choosing
to stay single... while
spinster connotes: old,
decrepit, unwanted
The two terms Mr and
Mrs are asymmetrical -
unequal. For the male
term, the status of the
man is disclosed, but
the female term marks
her out as married or
unmarried: Miss/Mrs.
Nowadays, many
females opt for a
neutral Ms.
POLITICAL
CORRECTNESS
Political correctness has risen in recent years to find the
gender pairs and replace them with more gender-neutral
terms: police officer, chair person, fire fighter, etc. It's hoped
that over time, this will break down the ingrained
connotations that 'fireman' and 'police man' are men's job,
while 'dinner lady' is a female occupation.