Chapter Five Gender and Language

Gender and Language “Women are the decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.” Oscar Wilde

Gender Differences in Language Use

Gender Differences in Language Use Linguist Deborah Tannen (1991) Different cultures hypothesis: communication between women and men is as difficult as communication between people from different cultures Different goals in communication Women: conversation maintenance; establish and maintain relationships Men: conversation dominance; display knowledge, avoid disclosure What do the data say?

Gender Differences in Language Use (cont’d.) Tentativeness Tag questions: a short phrase added to a sentence, which turns it into a question E.g., “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Women use slightly more tag questions than men How do we interpret this finding? Are women communicating uncertainty or weakness? Or, are women trying to encourage communication? Disclaimers and hedges Disclaimers: phrases such as “I may be wrong, but…” Hedges: phrases such as “sort of” that weaken or soften a statement Women use more disclaimers and hedges than men when in mixed-gender (but not single-gender) groups

Gender Differences in Language Use (cont’d.) Intensifiers: adverbs such as very, really, or vastly Women use intensifiers more than men What does this difference mean? Interruptions Men interrupt women more than women interrupt men Interruptions have multiple meanings: Express power, control Request clarification Express agreement or support Express disagreement Change the subject Context is important when interpreting interruptions

Gender Differences in Language Use (cont’d.) Children’s Speech Girls are only slightly more talkative than boys Girls engage in more affiliative speech (e.g., praise or agreement) than boys Boys engage in more assertive speech (e.g., criticisms) than girls Differences are very small Can You Tell Who’s Speaking? Gender differences in speech are not found by university students, but are detected by highly trained coders Gender-linked language effect

Gender Differences in Language Use (cont’d.) Electronic Talk Gender differences in e-mail? Women express more emotion, disclose more personal information, use more hedges and intensifiers No differences in insults, self-derogatory comments, and oppositions Participants respond differently to a fictitious netpal depending on gendered content from netpal’s communication

Body Language: Nonverbal Communication

Body Language: Nonverbal Communication Interpersonal distance Men prefer larger interpersonal distance than women do How do we interpret this finding? Smiling Women smile more than men do, d= -.41 Why do we smile? Communicate friendliness? Communicate subservience? Part of female role

Body Language: Nonverbal Communication (cont’d.) Eye Contact Reflects patterns of power and dominance Visual dominance ratio: the ratio of the percentage of time looking while speaking relative to the percentage of time looking while listening Men show higher visual dominance, but: When women have power, they become visually dominant

How Women are Treated in Language

How Women are Treated in Language Male as Normative Male is regarded as standard, norm E.g., use of he for a neutral pronoun Language becomes ambiguous Female-as-the-exception phenomenon: if a category is considered normatively male and there is a female example of the category, gender is noted because the female is the exception; byproduct of androcentrism

How Women are Treated in Language (cont’d.) Parallel Words Parallel words for males and females often have different connotations: Dog vs. bitch Master vs. mistress Stud vs. slut Euphemisms We avoid using “woman” and use euphemisms such as lady, girl to be polite or less threatening Infantilizing Women are called by terms that make them less mature than they are; e.g., girl, baby

How Women are Treated in Language (cont’d.) How Important is All This? Language reflects thought processes Sexist language is a symptom of larger problem If we change how we think, language will follow Alternatively… Whorfian hypothesis: theory that the language we learn influences how we think Using sexist language shapes our thoughts about women and men Both processes occur to some extent

How Women are Treated in Language (cont’d.) Hyde’s Wudgemaker study (1984) Children’s ratings of the competence of women and men as wudgemakers, as a function of the pronoun they heard repeatedly in the description of the wudgemaker Pronoun choice affects how children think about women, women’s occupations

Some Practical Suggestions

Some Practical Suggestions Toward nonsexist Language Eliminate the use of generic masculine forms When a doctor prescribes birth control pills, he should first inquire whether the patient has a history of blood clotting problems When doctors prescribe birth controls, they should first inquire whether the patient has a history of blood clotting problems A doctor prescribing birth control pills should first inquire whether the patient has a history of blood clotting problems When a doctor prescribes birth control pills, he or she should first inquire whether the patient has a history of blood clotting problems

Some Practical Suggestions (cont’d.) Institutional Change Textbook publishers, American Psychological Association, Webster’s Dictionary have policies of avoiding sexist language Language, Women, and Careers Women who use tentative rather than assertive speech are more influential to men Women who use assertive rather than tentative speech are more influential to women Women must strike a delicate balance in speech

In Conclusion

In Conclusion Tannen’s different cultures hypothesis Gender differences in communication styles are actually small and depend on context The meaning of gender differences is unclear Male-as-normative language pattern may contribute to early social construction of gender for children