Language and Gender

    Cards (11)

    • Lakoff
      • language and women's place
      • women have a different way of speaking from men which reflects and produces a subordinate position in society
      • eg. super polite forms, speak less, indirect requests
    • Cheshire
      • linguistic variation and social function
      • variation is controlled by social and linguistic factors
      • boys' speech is governed by norms central to the vernacular culture, and transmitted through peer group.
      • variation in girls' speech is more personal and less controlled by vernacular norms.
      • eg. use of 'ain't', non standard 'you was'
    • Rochefort
      • supports Cheshire
      • some features of language used only by men and some by women.
      • language use is clearly linked to maintaining an identity
    • Fishman
      • dominance model
      • women work harder in conversation than men because they have less certainty of success.
    • Hyde
      • there are more similarities between male and female speech
      • the differences are due to other factors such as age, class, ethnicity, education etc.
    • Cameron
      • diversity approach
      • any noticeable language differences in gender are due to expectations placed on us by society- not biological factors.
    • Tannen
      • difference theory
      • the way you are brought up and what language your parents use depending on your gender.
      • men often use language to assert dominance, whereas women use language to establish rapport and build relationships.
      • conflict vs compromise- men use language to argue and women use it to avoid conflict.
      • orders vs proposals- men will be direct eg. close that window, whereas women would be suggestive eg. its cold in here.
    • Butler
      • gender 'performativity theory'
      • it is a mistake to reinforce a binary view of gender and to asset that 'women' are a group with common characteristics and interests.
      • language is performative- our language constructs our gender rather than reflects it.
    • Zimmerman and West
      • Dominance theory
      • In mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt then women.
      • In 11 conversations, men used 46 interruptions, but women only 2.
    • Beattie
      • Critique to Zimmerman and West
      • Interruptions dont reflect dominance or gender but involvement and interest in the topic.
    • O'barr and Atkins
      • It is not because of gender but more the role you are using language for that determines language usage.
      • more closely linked to social position and context.
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