Gender and Language

Mac Stant and Stephanie Cotton

Introduction

Language and Gender research formally began in the 1970s. Contributions to the topic from other areasanthropology, education, womens studies, social psychology, etc. Different types of studies have looked at gender: variationist (quantifying gender differences), interactional studies (context, same-gender, mixed-gender), Fluid models (e.g. unisex), Alternative contexts for communication.

Main Points of Gender and Language Use

Direct relationships between gender & language (e.g. Japanese, Hopi, etc). Language & gender research concerned with:

Male and female differences Gender cultural difference verses power and dominance

Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting preexisting & maintaining social distinctions

Past: Gender roles were more well defined Present: Subgroups within those gender categories Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

Relationships Between Gender & Language

Labovs New York City

Not only did language vary based on socioeconomic status. . . But he found women use more prestige features (status conscious) , men more vernacular features (overt prestige)
Problems with methodologies Social class divisions not necessarily accurate Interpreting differences - lack of convincing evidence

Gender & Language Relationships (cont.)

Caribs (men) Arawak (women)

10% vocabulary not shared by both sexes Different verb forms in Koasati, Hopis Thank You Women- Formal pronouns in informal situations Women- Absence of deprecatory pronouns

Native American languages

Japanese

South African-Xhosa speakers

Hlonipha-womens language of respect

German women reference- Video

Main Points of Gender and Language Use

Male and female differences Gender cultural difference verses power and dominance

Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting preexisting & maintaining social distinctions

Past: Gender roles were more well defined Present: Subgroups within those gender categories Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

Gender Differences (cont.)

Differing features of conversational style

Amount of talk (Coates)

Mixed groups-men talk more especially in formal & public contexts Same sex groups- amt. talk equal Men interrupt women more than vice versa
Women gave more conversational support than men leaving more opportunities for mens stories to get expanded upon.

Interruptions (Zimmerman & West)

Conversational support (Fishman)

Tentativeness (Lackoff, 1975, Holmes, 1995)

Women use more hedges and tag questions, Women pay and receive more compliments 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)

Compliments (Metshire, et. al., 2001)

Topic of talk (Coates, Tannen)

What are your mixed-gender miscommunication experiences?

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 signal agreement -> 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

Gender Dominance

Lakoff (1975) Informal Observations and Intuitions

Deficit model of language use

Womens speaking style (uncertainty and hesitancy) denies them access to power.

Zimmerman & West (1975)- Empirical Study of Conversation

Interruptions- 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.

Main Points of Gender and Language Use

Direct relationships between gender & language (e.g. Japanese, Hopi, etc). Language & gender research concerned with:

Male and female differences Gender cultural difference verses power and dominance

Gendered language use interpreted as reflecting preexisting & maintaining social distinctions
Past: Gender roles were more well defined Present: Subgroups within those gender categories Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

Pre-Existing Social Distinctions

Past Concrete & Established Gender Identity

Men and Women had more defined gender roles Japanese pronouns & deprecatory words

Remember the Language Forms

Lack of Mobility - less interaction with different communication styles

Nichols (1979) the women who took less traditional work roles outside of the homes & further from their homes experienced language 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)

Individual Gender Fluidity

Past no mobility-meant there werent as many subgroups to identify with. Male, female, or undesirable. Present: Greater subgroups to choose from due to increased interactions/mobility (Nichols). More flexible gender roles

Milroy- language reflects community integration as opposed to gender differences German school girls Japanese school girls Women can violate gender rules more easily than men can (posture, etc. ) however, that gap is beginning to close (stay at home dads, dancing, etc.)

Female gender is more flexible

Maintaining Social Distinctions: Present

Childrearing Practices

Value of Identifying Gender Immediately Maltz & Borker

Single Sex Peer Groups from an early age

Media

Advertisements, etc. German classroom research The boys reported they would not say, were girls. Its not possible. girls forfeit gender for participation Were boys!

Sunderland (1995)

Changing Social Distinctions: Present/Future

People taking on different gender roles

Transexuals Electronic Communication lack of gender identification and adress on the internet may effect how people habitually interact (McAdams).

Japanese Girls using vernacular terms in school but not with their elders. In the future a heterosexual man may say to another heterosexual male friend, youre a diva and mean it as a compliment. Written Language Paradox- he/she. In the future will we create new vocabulary (shim)?

References

Metshire, Swainn, Deumert, & Leap (2000). Gender and Language Use. In Introducing Sociolinguistics. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. (216-247). Tannen, D. (1994). Interpreting interruption in conversation. In Gender & discourse. Oxford University Press (53-79).