Gender in the workplace LO: to understand some of the issues and ideas regarding gender and language in occupational contexts Based on work we have already done on the topics of gender and occupation, what trends might you expect?

A summary of some issues to do with gendered language in occupational contexts Shari Kendall (2004) suggests that gender identity is often irrelevant in the workplace. She argues that in everyday interaction people focus on role construction rather than gender identity: ‘women and men do not generally choose linguistic strategies for the purpose of creating masculine or feminine identities’ (56) However, Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe (2003) some workplaces are delineated as ‘masculine’ (e.g. IT or manufactoring) or ‘feminine’ (e.g. education or social work), indicating expectations of the type of work being done in those occupations. Janet Holmes & Stephanie Schnurr (2006) comment that occupational roles are still defined along gender delineations: e.g. masculinity and leadership, femininity and subordination. They also argue that participants in business interactions may exploit their audience’s familiarity with stereotypical concepts of femininity or masculinity in a more conscious fashion for particular effect.

An example of this ‘performing’ of gender identities is the use of ‘feminine talk’ (see Tannen!) – hedging and positive politeness strategies are associated with femininity. Where can you see this in place here? What problems can you identify with this understanding of such strategies as ‘feminine’?

Holmes and Schnurr (2006) contend that such politeness strategies, rather than being derided for being feminine, are actually normal codes of practice, so gender delineations are inappropriate here. Even when drawing on notional ideas of feminine talk in male-only discussions, such strategies were still seen as the norm. However, they do note that in more ‘masculine’ occupational domains, so-called ‘feminine talk’ is derided, as in this example from an all-male discussion at an IT firm. Consider Callum’s indirect challenge on l.5 (‘are\ you sure’). How do other participants react?

Reappropriation of ‘feminine’ stereotypes Think back to the ‘Queen Clara’ text. While Clara was had a higher status in this example, she uses humour to mitigate the problem of her gender in a leadership position. There are two ways to interpret such behaviour: – She is refusing to adapt to masculine norms by ‘performing’ her gender for comic effect – She is perpetuating the ideology of male leadership by deriding her role as a woman in a leadership position – Which do you agree with? Holmes and Schnurr suggest that Clara’s joking is in no way apologetic, and thus this positioning of her identity in the workplace serve to minimise gender differences. Holmes, J. & Schnurr, S. (2006) ‘Doing femininity’ at work: More than just relational practice. Journal of Sociolinguistics. 10(1),

Another perspective Deborah Cameron is concerned with the ‘policing’ of women’s language: both her book The Myth of Mars and Venus and her blog cover this issue on a number of occasions. We have already met this in terms of her ideas about vocal fry and up talk. What are public attitudes to these two features of apparently ‘feminine’ language? What were Cameron’s objections to these public perceptions?

Tag questions and ‘just’ Likewise, Cameron noted, in an analysis of 1990s self-help books aimed at ‘career women’ (note the gender assumptions used in such a term!) that tag questions (such as ‘isn’t it?’) and the adverb ‘just’ are seen to undermine the authority of the speaker. However, she contends that, in everyday discourse, ‘just’ does not fill this purpose, using everyday examples: – Could you just give me a minute? (Call centre agent putting me on hold) – Is it OK if I just ask you a couple of questions? (Journalist calling me for a comment). – Maybe you could just eat a little bit. (Adult to child at a nearby table in a café) She argues that these requests use a ‘basic form of politeness’ which is perfectly normal in the context. By contrast, she argues that yelling ‘Move’ to someone about to be hit by a car would be more appropriate than: ‘I wonder if you could just move a few feet to the left’.

‘Female s’ More recently, Cameron identified further issues with the ‘policing’ of women’s language, in particularly with reference to a Google Chrome web browser extension called ‘Just Not Sorry’, ‘designed to help women avoid weak and powerless language in s’, such as ‘Just’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Actually’. She used the example of the below sent from a male colleague:...which, without the ‘self-undermining’ politeness strategies, would look much like this: Sorry to disturb you over the holiday period, but I’m just trying to firm up the schedule, and I wondered if you’d had time to check your diary yet. Have a great new year and get back to me when you have a chance. I’m trying to firm up the schedule, so please check your diary and get back to me as soon as possible.

Perpetuating the deficit model Cameron argues that ‘the “women, stop undermining yourselves” approach [....] presupposes a deficit model of women’s language-use. If women use the word ‘sorry’ more than men (and by the way, that’s a genuine ‘if’: I’m not aware of any compelling evidence they do), that can only mean that women are over-using ‘sorry’, apologizing when it isn’t necessary or appropriate.’ She argues that the ‘alternative interpretation – that men are under-using ‘sorry’ because they don’t always apologise when the circumstances demand it —is surely no less logical or plausible, but somehow it never comes up. [...] the assumption is always that ‘a woman’s place is in the wrong’. female- /

Plenary How has this lesson contributed to your understanding of: a)language and gender b)language and occupation c) language variation in general?

Homework Undertake some additional wider reading about language and occupation. Use back issues of emag, JSTOR etc. and focus on academic studies. This can be connected to your project topic, or unrelated. We will be shortly completing an essay on language and occupation so this work will benefit you here. Write a post for your wordpress portfolio summarising your reading and be ready to feed back about your reading next lesson.