Language and Gender: English and English Speakers Chapter 7

Gender Differences Effects of Cultural Norms English- variety of frequencies of: – Sounds – Grammatical features – words Stereotypess – Effects – Hierarchy favoring who? “Gender is an aspect of identity that is enacted through discourse practices” (188)

Pronounciation Phonological Variants – Differences in the frequencies of using particular sounds “A link bw speech variants favored by females and an interrelated constellation of cultural meanings, including formality, politeness, and compliance” (189) – Rules of appropriateness for males and females Other factors include class and contextual style Females use standard and prestige pronunciations, and in context also quicker and sharper stylistic shift

Intonation – Intonation is a complex combination of rhythm, volume, and pitch overlaying entire utterances. – Women use more dynamic intonation contours – Feminine- speech varied in overall rhythmic and pitch patterns. – Masculine- speech is narrower in limits regarding rhythm and pitch.

Grammatical Variants May be anecdotal or introspective – May be actual or stereotypical – Inconsistent results Lakoff study: women use more (tag) questions because they are reluctant to make direct assertions. – See charts on page 197

Choices of Vocabulary Differences in certain words or categories of words used in speech frequency. Controversy over results – Age as an additional factor to gender – Use of profanity found among men and lower class women. – Men are expected to control their feelings and refrain from using words that marked emotional expressiveness. Women- indecisive, imprecise, or mitigated speech Men- norm or neutral form of communication, opposite to women.

Gender-Related Conversational Styles Alternatives in speaker turns, topic introduction and control and mechanisms of signaling active listenership. Cross-ethnic miscommunication: – Conceptions of friendly conversation – Rules for engaging in it and interpreting it. – “Boys & girls grow up in different worlds…and as adults they travel in different worlds, reinforcing patterns established in childhood” (201) Critique of Tannen

Gender-related Conversational Styles Men and women reproduce their social rights by the way that they present themselves and interact- political act. – i.e. study in the use of silence and speech to establish and maintain authority. Powerful people are more likely to interrupt and less likely to be interrupted Fishman’s data- “strategies to insure, encourage and subvert conversation” – Attention beginnings (2x more by women) – Asking questions (women 2.5 x more than men) – Asking “D’ya know what?” (women 2x more)

Gender Bias in English Words that demean females: reproduce and reinforce negative stereotypes – Become internalized symbols and result in male attitudes – Females accept negative self-assessments. Classes of Vocabulary – Opposite sex- polarity, no overlap or congruence, antagonism – Male & female- denotes primary status of males – Gender hierarchy in marital relationships – Girls’names (ending in -a, -ine, -y), use of “girl” and “boy” for adults. – Sexist language- “He” and “Man”