Dominance

• Zimmerman and West - 1975

  • They wanted to find out if the presence of uncooperative interactive features in conversation (interruptions) depended on gender
  • They found that 90% of conversations included such features (overlapping or interruptions) more frequently in men's conversations
• Pamela Fishman - 1980

  • Focused on the use of tag questions used in a mixed gender conversation. She found that tag questions are used by women after declarative clauses in order to maintain/continue conversations with males
  • Used due to lack of confidence with conversation with men intimidation), and helps women feel as though they have control of the conversation.
  • Women do more of the work which reflects their inferior position = conversational shitwork
• Dale Spender - Man Made Language, 1980

  • Refers to the view of the male as the norm the idea of patriarchal order. She claims that it is especially difficult to challenge this power system as it is part of the way in which we think of the world.
  • She comments that the 'tools we have for doing this are part of that patriarchal order' 
• Challenge to dominance - Geoffrey Beattie 1982

  • Beattie found that women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency (men 34.1, women 33.8) - so men did interrupt more, but by a margin so slight as not to be statistically significant.
• challenge to dominance - Janet Holmes 1984 - tag questions

  • referential: signal factual uncertainty or a lack of info eg the film is on channel 4, isn't it?
  • affective (facilitative): expressing solidarity or intimacy e.g we've never liked musicals, have we?
  • affective (softening): weakening the tone of a criticism or command e.g give me that hairbrush, will you?