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7/27/2019 Gender and Language (2)
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Gender and
LanguageMac Stant
andStephanie Cotton
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IntroductionLanguage and Gender research formally beganin the 1970s.Contributions to the topic from other areas-
anthropology, education, womens studies,social psychology, etc.Different types of studies have looked atgender: variationist (quantifying gender differences), interactional studies (context,same-gender, mixed-gender), Fluid models(e.g. unisex), Alternative contexts for communication.
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Main Points of Gender and LanguageUse
Direct relationships between gender & language (e.g.Japanese, Hopi, etc).Language & gender research concerned with:
Male and female differencesGender cultural difference verses power and dominance
Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions
Past: Gender roles were more well definedPresent: Subgroups within those gender categoriesFuture: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible
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Relationships Between Gender &Language
Labovs New York CityNot only did language vary based on socioeconomicstatus. . .But he found women use more prestige features(status conscious) , men more vernacular features(overt prestige)Problems with methodologies
Social class divisions not necessarily accurateInterpreting differences - lack of convincing evidence
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Gender & Language Relationships(cont.)
Caribs (men) Arawak (women)10% vocabulary not shared by both sexes
Native American languagesDifferent verb forms in Koasati, Hopis Thank You
JapaneseWomen- Formal pronouns in informal situationsWomen- Absence of deprecatory pronouns
South African-Xhosa speakersHlonipha- womens language of respect German women reference- Video
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Main Points of Gender and LanguageUse
Direct relationships between gender & language (e.g.Japanese, Hopi, etc).Language & gender research concerned with:
Male and female differencesGender cultural difference verses power and dominance
Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions
Past: Gender roles were more well definedPresent: Subgroups within those gender categoriesFuture: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible
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Gender Differences (cont.) Differing features of conversational style
Amount of talk (Coates)Mixed groups-men talk more especially in formal & public contextsSame sex groups- amt. talk equal
Interruptions (Zimmerman & West)Men interrupt women more than vice versa
Conversational support (Fishman)Women gave more conversational support than men leaving more opportunities for mens stories toget expanded upon.
Tentativeness (Lackoff, 1975, Holmes, 1995)Women use more hedges and tag questions,
Compliments (Metshire, et. al., 2001)Women pay and receive more compliments
Topic of talk (Coates, Tannen)Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy (Tannen), Personal Topics(Coates)Men speak and hear a language of status and independence (Tannen), Non-personal Topics(Coates)
What are your mixed-gender miscommunication experiences?
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Gender as Cultural Difference MALTZ & BORKER
Gender Communication Differences Learned as Children.I Just dont Understand You
Minimal responses indicate attention for women, but for men they signalagreement -> why females use them more
Women- mmmhmm = Im listening. Men mmmhmmm = I agree.
TANNEN- Its Just a Difference Men and Women just have different communication expectations.
Men say to women fight for your right to topic
Men want women to mount resistance when they lead the conversation inanother direction and take center stage byu telling a story, etc. Womensoverlapping agreements and support seen as interruptionsWomen are irritated by men who interrupt to change eht conversational topic.
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Gender DominanceLakoff (1975) Informal Observations and Intuitions
Deficit model of language useWomens speaking style (uncertainty and hesitancy) denies themaccess to power.
Zimmerman & West (1975)- Empirical Study of ConversationInterruptions- more occurred in mixed-sex groups, most by men.
Women are not inadequate but men oppress women with their interruptions, denying them an = status as a communication partner
UCHIA & TROEMEL-PLOETZ- Men are BAD!CAMERON- Men are BAD!COATES- Dont call it dominance
You dont have to put down men to bring up women.
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Main Points of Gender and LanguageUse
Direct relationships between gender & language (e.g.Japanese, Hopi, etc).Language & gender research concerned with:
Male and female differencesGender cultural difference verses power and dominance
Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions
Past: Gender roles were more well definedPresent: Subgroups within those gender categoriesFuture: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible
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Pre-Existing Social DistinctionsPast Concrete & Established Gender Identity
Men and Women had more defined gender rolesRemember the Language Forms
Japanese pronouns & deprecatory wordsLack of Mobility - less interaction with differentcommunication styles
Nichols (1979) the women who took less traditional work rolesoutside of the homes & further from their homes experiencedlanguage variation different from those who stayed home. Older women and men stayed in local community and maintained their Creole language
Value placed on upholding traditions (language)
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Individual Gender Fluidity
Past no mobility- meant there werent as many subgroups toidentify with. Male, female, or undesirable.Present: Greater subgroups to choose from due to increasedinteractions/mobility (Nichols).More flexible gender roles
Milroy- language reflects community integration as opposed togender differences
Female gender is more flexibleGerman school girlsJapanese school girlsWomen can violate gender rules more easily than men can(posture, etc. ) however, that gap is beginning to close (stay athome dads, dancing, etc.)
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Maintaining Social Distinctions:Present
Childrearing PracticesValue of Identifying Gender ImmediatelyMaltz & Borker
Single Sex Peer Groups from an early age
Media Advertisements, etc.
Sunderland (1995)German classroom research
The boys reported they would not say, were girls. Itsnot possible.girls forfeit gender for participation Were boys!
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Changing Social Distinctions:Present/Future
People taking on different gender rolesTransexualsElectronic Communication lack of gender identification andadress on the internet may effect how people habitually interact(McAdams).
Japanese Girls using vernacular terms in school but not withtheir elders.In the future a heterosexual man may say to another heterosexual male friend, youre a diva and mean it as acompliment.Written Language Paradox- he/she. In the future will wecreate new vocabulary (shim)?
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ReferencesMetshire, Swainn, Deumert, & Leap (2000).Gender and Language Use. In Introducing
Sociolinguistics. Philadelphia: JohnBenjamins Publishing. (216-247).Tannen, D. (1994). Interpreting interruptionin conversation. In Gender & discourse.Oxford University Press (53-79).