Ladies & Language

Cheyenne - 23 - Student of foreign language & linguistics. This blog is focused on all things pertaining to women and language

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Animal Gender

I recently discovered that my pet, which I thought to be male, is female. And since that discovery, my entire view of her has changed. She is a bearded dragon, a species of lizard that’s behavior can often be considered masculine compared to humans. Bearded dragons eat things we think are gross, and they are not social animals. Bearded dragons could kill each other when paired, and bearded dragons do not stay with their mating partners.

Taking into account that thus far I have regarded my “aggressive” dragon as male, these facts were just an addition to his “badass-ness”. Now that I realize she’s female, it’s almost as if our bond is stronger. When I first found out she was female, I was disappointed. Females require more work (ha!) as they lay eggs and need more accommodations. Once I thought further, I realized that this is very difficult, uncomfortable, and harsh on female dragons and I instantly changed my perspective back to the “badass” regard I had in the past.

I was subconsciously gender biased toward my own pet. How ridiculous is that? Especially being a woman, realizing that members of the same sex can be gender biased toward each other! When we hear female, we think weak. We think females need to be taken care of. They go from being tough to cute or sweet. If they get angry, they’re aggressive. If they do something tough or enduring, they're strong.

When we hear male, we think strong. We think men need to protect. We think man is synonymous to savage. If they get angry or if they do something tough, they’re just male.

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Gendered Language in the Workplace

In addition to favoring men’s voices, men’s language styles take precedence. 

People unconsciously take bias toward the male gender in conversation. This can affect workplace environments, as women in superior positions won’t be acknowledged in the same light as men. Men receive praise, however, women are scrutinized. Men are depicted as “problem-solvers”, whereas women are depicted as “coming on too strong” or “aggressive. 

More below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-turner/unconscious-gender-bias-i_b_8603794.html

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How does sexist language affect women in day-to-day life?

As i briefly mentioned earlier, Male language generally dominates female language. The domination of male language often leads to bias in varying settings or situations. Studies have shown that audiences are more responsive to male voices. 

The following articles review this idea, and the effects on gender groups within an audience.

https://voicebunny.com/blog/male-or-female-voice-over-research/

https://www.thoughtco.com/women-lower-voice-pitch-authority-success-3533843

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What is sexist language?

Sexist language refers to a form of linguistic discrimination among the sexes, where one perceives a gender group’s language as being more superior than the other.  

Male language typically dominates female language in day-to-day life, as men have a tendency to be more direct and forthcoming and women do not. This is often favored by the listener, thus male language is “more superior”. 

The following article discusses in detail the sexism in language:

http://webspace.buckingham.ac.uk/kbernhardt/journal/5_1/5LingLei.pdf

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Gender & Language Processing!

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Women “Secret” Languages

Could you imagine having a secret language that only you and those of your gender could comprehend? The Chinese Nüshu Script is just that. 

Nüshu ( literally: ”Women’s Script” in Chinese) is an ancient syllabic script, which was used only among women from the Jiangyong County in the Hunan province of southern China. 

Nüshu script is primarily based on phonetics, each character represents a syllable, with approximately 600-700 characters. There is little known about this script, but the idea of a gender-only script is fascinating! 

Examples of this script can be seen here: 

http://www.ancientscripts.com/nushu.html

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talking about gender in a gendered language involves the use of gendered terms

English Literature, Cambridge

“I would like a word with you”: Constructing spaces & frameworks for non-binary gender through self-reference & auto-biographical fiction”

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More about Genderlects

https://prezi.com/jn9hklhltnlx/comm-100-genderlect-styles/?webgl=0#

Check out this Prezi comparing Genderlect styles of men and women.

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Genderlect?

Sociolinguist Deborah Tannen came up with the theory of the “Genderlect”. Tannen’s  “Genderlect” is used to decribe the differences between male and female communication as dialects of different cultures. 

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EMOJI COMMUNICATION & THE MALE/FEMALE CONNECTION

 How do the sexes communicate via emoji? Does the notion of women being more emotional correlate directly with female emoji use?

Articles mentioned: 

https://qz.com/938165/emoji-piece/ 

http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/10/women-twice-as-likely-as-men-to-use-emoticons.html