Gender

• Deficit (Jespersen)


  Language and gender was anecdotal, men and women followed different rules, women's language was inferior and men were more intelligent with more varied vocabularies. Focuses on the deficits of women's language, while portraying men's language as the norm.
• Dominance (Zimmerman + West)


  Women were viewed as second class citizens as husbands were dominant over their wives, women invented the term sexism.
• Difference (Tannen)


  Focused on the difference in male and female attitudes. Male and female speech is different but equal, women are not as valued as men and differences were said to be in childhood.
• Dynamic/diversity (Cameron)


  Men and women perform different roles in different situations. An individual's language, behaviour and identity isn't fixed.
• Otto Jespersen (1922)


  Women's language is weak and contains weak traits.
• Robin Lakoff (1975)


  Published a basic set of assumptions on women's language which included tag questions, super polite forms, empty adjectives etc. Explained women's language in terms of their subordinate role in society and the dominance of men. If women didn't use women's language, they would be criticised for lacking competence and seriousness.
• Zimmerman + West (1975)


  Men are more likely to interrupt women because they dominate conversations. Recorded white, middle class men and women under age 35. In 11 conversations, men used 46 interruptions and women used 2.
• Marjorie Swacker (1975-1977)


  A painting was shown to men and women who had to describe it. Men talked for 13 minutes on average, and women talked for 3.17 minutes. Also recorded conferences where women only contributed 27.4% of time. Men asked the first, more and longest questions.
• O'Barr + Atkins (1980)


  Looked for hedging features in a courtroom setting. People of low status showed female linguistic features. Female language reflects people of low status and individuals feeling powerless rather than gender.
• Janet Holmes (1980)


  Different types of tag questions . Referential = uncertainty or lack of information, affective: facilitative = expresses solidarity or intimacy, softening = weakening tone of criticism or command. 61% of tag questions used by men were referential, 59% of tag questions used by women were facilitative.
• Gomm (1981)


  Recorded 14 conversations between young British speakers in female, male and mixed sex conversations. Male speakers swear more often than females in single sex groups (21 to 7). Both men and women swear more in the company of their own sex. Male usage drops significantly in mixed sex conversations (4).
• Geoffrey Beattie (1982)


  Had issues with Zimmerman + West's research. He stated "The problem is you may have one very voluble man which may have a disproportionate effect on the total." He recorded 10 hours of tutorial discussion and 557 interruptions. Men and women interrupted with equal frequency: 34.1 men, 33.8 women.
• Dale Spender (1982)


  Women found they were being measured against men in research so they stayed quieter, so any amount of talk seemed like too much. If men and women talk equally in a group, people think women talk more. This reflects our patriarchal society.
• Pamela Fishman (1983)


  Women are seeking to continue conversations, called conversational shitwork. Women also work harder to enable a conversation. Only looked at American, middle-class heterosexual couples.
• Holmes (1988)


  Analysed 484 compliments in New Zealand. 51% were woman to woman, 9% man to man, 23.1% man to woman and 16.5% woman to man.
• Deborah Jones (1990)


  Categorised women's language. House talk = exchange of information and resources connected to the female role, scandal = judging the behaviour of others, especially women, bitching = women's anger at their restricted role and inferior status, chatting = women gossip and discuss the skills they have learned as part of their job of nurture.
• Butler (1990)


  Gender is performed through social action rather than the male/female binary. Gender is constructed through how we use language, how we socially interact, and is made up of our cultures.
• Deborah Tannen (1991)


  The difference between men and women is cultural. They are socialised in childhood to have different views about themselves and the world. Created 6 contrasts: status vs support, independence vs intimacy, advice vs understanding, information vs feelings, orders vs proposals, conflict vs compromise.
• Jennifer Coates (1996)


  Female talk is simultaneous and co-operative. They use epistemic modal forms (perhaps, sort of, probably) to avoid threatening face needs.
• Deborah Cameron (2007)


  Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray. Cameron meta-analysed research by Janet Hyde and suggested there are differences within gender, rather than between them. She found there were very few differences between men and women, with moderate differences in spelling and smiling.
• Judith Baxter (2013)


  Researched 10 male and female board meetings in the UK and found few differences linguistically. However, women will use authoritative and goal-driven language to associate with male leaders. They will speak directly and interrupt men, but will also be polite, considerate and engage in banter.