An Approach to Sexist Language in English
An Approach to Sexist Language in English
BA.Yainier Moreno Rivera & BE.Yaima Riveri Ruiz
Abstract
Language is a perfect tool for communication, much older than any of our institutions, which was not designed or created by any particular man, woman or group of people, but rather was a perfect example of the work of an invisible hand in society. It came to be spontaneously over the millennia of human history, serving all different needs of all kinds of societies. The current work aims at presenting some considerations on the linguistic phenomenon of sexist language and how writers could face the issue.
Key words: communication, sexist language
Introduction
Language, culture and society interact to give members of different genders different levels of power and recognition in society. The different way boys and girls are socialized has significant ramifications on the way they communicate as adults because this encoding of social behavior is carried on into adulthood. In other words, it is consistently reflected in the different social and communicative styles of women and men.
According to Tannen (1995), “communication isn 't as simple as saying what you mean”. The way people say what they mean is crucial, and differs from one person to the next, because using language is a learned behavior: how individuals talk and listen are deeply influenced by cultural expectations. Women and men are like people who have grown up in two subcultures. They have two broad different styles of speaking and establishing social status.
In the process of socializing with peers, children generally tend to play with other children of the same gender, resulting in different ways of creating rapport and negotiating status within their group: childhood play is where much of our conversational style is learned.
The main distinction between the way boys and girls communicate is that girls generally use the language to negotiate closeness, which is, to establish intimacy as a basis of
BA.Yainier Moreno Rivera & BE.Yaima Riveri Ruiz
Abstract
Language is a perfect tool for communication, much older than any of our institutions, which was not designed or created by any particular man, woman or group of people, but rather was a perfect example of the work of an invisible hand in society. It came to be spontaneously over the millennia of human history, serving all different needs of all kinds of societies. The current work aims at presenting some considerations on the linguistic phenomenon of sexist language and how writers could face the issue.
Key words: communication, sexist language
Introduction
Language, culture and society interact to give members of different genders different levels of power and recognition in society. The different way boys and girls are socialized has significant ramifications on the way they communicate as adults because this encoding of social behavior is carried on into adulthood. In other words, it is consistently reflected in the different social and communicative styles of women and men.
According to Tannen (1995), “communication isn 't as simple as saying what you mean”. The way people say what they mean is crucial, and differs from one person to the next, because using language is a learned behavior: how individuals talk and listen are deeply influenced by cultural expectations. Women and men are like people who have grown up in two subcultures. They have two broad different styles of speaking and establishing social status.
In the process of socializing with peers, children generally tend to play with other children of the same gender, resulting in different ways of creating rapport and negotiating status within their group: childhood play is where much of our conversational style is learned.
The main distinction between the way boys and girls communicate is that girls generally use the language to negotiate closeness, which is, to establish intimacy as a basis of
Bibliography: Tannen, D. (1995), The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why, article from Harvard Business Review, September, v. 73, n5, pg 138-148. Wardhaugh, R. (1986), An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Poynton, C. (1989), Language and Gender: Making the Difference, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tannen, D. (1991), How to Close the Communication Gap between Men and Women, article from McCall’s May, v. 118, n8, pg 99-102, 140.