Gender Barriers For Men And Women

(2009) gives the very new and clearly point that “Whereas Lakoff’s analysis was political in nature and stressed how women’s language needs to change and become stronger in order to disrupt inequalities between the sexes, Tannen’s explanation stressed that the differences needed to be revealed and understood so that communication between the sexes could be improved. Tannen engages the concept of culture to bolster her central proposition. She has likened the impact of male-female differences in language codes to the challenges of intercultural communication by introducing opposing key concepts that guide women’s and men’s production and interpretation of language.” Tannen asserts that women stress connection and intimacy, and men stress status and independence. This “two languages/two cultures” approach stressed female and male differences, contrast to Lakoff’s socialization approach, male dominance be

"Gender Stereotyping in the English Language" written by Laurel Richardson in 2003, Richardson argues people use the English language in such a way that limits, depreciates and ultimately dehumanizes women . Richardson develops and supports this theory by proposing the notion that historically, women have not only been limited by the terms used to describe them, but women are raised to think they must be confined to subservient jobs,  that customarily require less skill. Richardson's purpose through writing this article is to highlight an issue often overlooked, in order to promote the appropriate and equitable use of the English Language. The author intends for this principle to be turned into practice among women, men and children developing linguistic habits.

Years later McConnell-Ginet (1989, as cited in McConnell-Ginet, 2011) began to study about language and gender in which it focused on speeches of men and women. Later in 2002, in investigating the characterisation of men and women in language, a study has been conducted that covered the sexism in language (Weatherall, 2002). Thus, the foundation of this research is based on the study of language and gender and its effect on

Men and women speak the same language, but there are multiple speculations that women talk differently compared to men. Women are constantly seen as super talkative, while men try to control conversations. Deborah Cameron, a professor of language at Oxford University, wrote an essay titled, “What Language Barrier?” where she discusses the similarities and differences men and women have when they talk. Cameron begins her essay by stating women and men do not communicate differently, she claims, “The idea that men and women ‘speak different languages’ itself has become dogma” (Cameron 268). Cameron believes there are no differences in the way males and females talk and she continues to prove her claim by using examples of the female/male brain, power between sexes, and research. She essentially discusses the biological and social reasons why we talk and how gender does not matter when communicating. She concludes the folk-belief that women talk more than men is only a social prejudice; therefore, it depends on each person whether they talk more or less (Cameron 267-273). I disagree with Cameron, the dogmas that women are more talkative and men are controlling are true because there is a difference in empathy, power, and topics that allow us to become better in different areas when having conversations.

The reason gender effect ways of speaking is because women and men communicate differently. Women are more sympathetic and men tend to be more problem solvers. For example, women wallow in their problems and constantly talk about them, whereas the men find a solution to the problem or leave it alone. According to Deborah Tannen book, You Just Don’t Understand, She mentions that “Trying to solve a problem or fix a trouble focuses on the message level of talk”. (52) It means that solving a problem is an expression of understanding; having women and men more understanding of their use of language will decrease the complaint “You just don’t understand.”

Deborah Tannen studied at the University of California at Berkeley and received her PhD in linguistics, which is the study of language and its structure. In her essay “Sex, Lies, and Conversations: Why is it So Hard For Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?” , Tannen reports how our gender, different social situations, and the knowledge of particular topics adds to a long list of things that can affect communication between a man and a woman.

Politeness in the use of language are disregarded very often. Individuals do not seem to notice the difference in tone when it comes to speaking. In readings, and writing forms, some people do not notice the impoliteness and the sexist messages in the context. One can see how language can affect one’s manners. For instance, there has been a debatable argument of what gender tends to be politer than the other. In the reading: Sex Politeness and Language, Janet Holmes reveals the division in politeness between men and women. Holmes also spoke on the distinctions in the use of words and tone, and how they affect what is being said. These distinctions reveal both impoliteness and sexism. In addition, Sara Mills, author of Language and Sex, demonstrates the amount of sexism found within language and how it is promoted in the context of

Deborah Tannen, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, wrote the book You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (1990), the book included an essay titled “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” about differences in how both genders interact in classrooms differently and how it affects their learning. In her essay she claimed that males use language to fight for dominance, or the spotlight, while females use language to create personal relationships with others. Tannen used research from sociologists and anthropologists that claimed that

During the Feminist Movement in the late 19th century and present day, leading women in America and all around the world have stood up for the rights of their gender in order to eradicate the social inequalities and stereotypes that have been formulated over hundreds of years to convey the impression that women are the inferior gender. This movement stimulated many ideas on the treatment and perception of women as a gender and came with progress but also with opposition. While many acknowledged the oppression toward women in society, others accepted the divide between men and women as only immutable differences and not prejudice. Although both Jamaica Kincaid, author of “Girl,” and Anna Quindlen, author of “Between the Sexes, A Great Divide,” agree that there is a great social divide between men and women, Kincaid establishes a demanding, harsh tone in her passage to demonstrate that the gender divide is absolutely unacceptable whereas Quindlen establishes a lighter tone to demonstrate that the gender divide should just be accepted as differences rather than prejudice. Additionally, the two overlapping but contrasting ideas can be attributed to the background of the authors; Quindlen is a white American while Kincaid is Caribbean and from a poor family, thus it is safe to assume that the girl in Kincaid’s story is actually Kincaid as a little girl who was perhaps told by her mother to emulate someone like Quindlen, a white woman.

Since the beginning of time, women have been thought of as less when compared to men. In fact, women are constantly having to fight for equality whether that be equality in opportunities or equality in the workforce including wages or certain jobs. Language is no different, women “use” different language than men. In fact, according to Candance West and Don H. Zimmerman’s article Women’s Place in Everyday Talk, women and children speak in a similar fashion. In a nutshell, women and children share the same concept of “powerless language” while men sit on a higher pedestal when it comes to language. Research has shown that some of the biggest differences in speech between men and women are that women tend to ask more questions, use tag questions with more frequency, and overemphasize more often. These are only some of the characteristics of “women’s language” (O’Barr and Atkins, 1980, p. 453). Men on the other hand, tend to interrupt more often, they may also “overlap” speech, and are said to swear more in conversations (West and Zimmerman, 1983, p. 146). The characteristics of both genders mentioned above, were the characteristics that dominated the conversation which was analyzed. They were used with more frequency when compared to others listed in the textbook which is why the emphasis of this analysis will be on these unique characteristics.

Aspects of form, topic, content, and use of oral and spoken language have been identified as something associated with sex. Either men or women are more likely to make and produce specific utterances. In this paper the researcher focused on women language and investigated the women's features of speech as well as the power of feminine discourse in the

Question: What factors contribute to the persistent gender gap present in the workplace and politics in the United States? Which policy instrument(s) should be used to ameliorate the gender gap? Explain.

It's not that journalists, other writers, or everyday speakers are deliberately, or even unintentionally, "sexist" in their use of

From a very early age, males and females are taught different linguistic practices. For example, communicative behaviors that are considered acceptable for boys may be considered completely inappropriate for girls.

Language plays an important role in society. In large extent it is a mirror of it while at the same time it functions as means of constructing and maintaining that society. As a phenomenon of society, language reflects all the perspectives of human society. Sexism in language has been a controversial topic in sociolinguists since its inception. In this chapter, a historical overview will be made and a definition of sexist language will be provided.