Gender and Language

1. Gender and Language Mac Stant and Stephanie Cotton

2. Introduction • Language and Gender research formally began in the 1970s. • Contributions to the topic from other areas-anthropology, education, women’s 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.

3. 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 pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions • Past: Gender roles were more well defined • Present: Subgroups within those gender categories • Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

4. Relationships Between Gender & Language • Labov’s 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”

5. Gender & Language Relationships (cont.) • Caribs (men) Arawak (women) • 10% vocabulary not shared by both sexes • Native American languages • Different verb forms in Koasati, Hopi’s “Thank You” • Japanese • Women- Formal pronouns in informal situations • Women- Absence of deprecatory pronouns • South African-Xhosa speakers • Hlonipha-women’s language of respect • German women reference- Video

6. 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 pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions • Past: Gender roles were more well defined • Present: Subgroups within those gender categories • Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

7. 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 • Interruptions (Zimmerman & West) • Men interrupt women more than vice versa • Conversational support (Fishman) • Women gave more conversational support than men leaving more opportunities for men’s stories to get 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?

8. Gender as Cultural Difference • MALTZ & BORKER • Gender Communication Differences Learned as Children. • I Just don’t Understand You • Minimal responses indicate attention for women, but for men they signal agreement -> why females use them more • Women- “mmmhmm” = “I’m listening.” • Men – “mmmhmmm” = “I agree.” • TANNEN- It’s 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 in another direction and take center stage byu telling a story, etc. Women’s overlapping agreements and support seen as interruptions • Women are irritated by men who interrupt to change eht conversational topic.

9. Gender Dominance • Lakoff (1975) – Informal Observations and Intuitions • Deficit model of language use • Women’s 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- Don’t call it dominance • You don’t have to ‘put down’ men to ‘bring up’ women.

10. 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 pre-existing & maintaining social distinctions • Past: Gender roles were more well defined • Present: Subgroups within those gender categories • Future: Lack of language-gender differentiation possible

11. Pre-Existing Social Distinctions • Past Concrete & Established Gender Identity • Men and Women had more defined gender roles • Remember the Language Forms • Japanese pronouns & deprecatory words • 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)

12. Individual Gender Fluidity • Past no mobility-meant there weren’t 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 • Female gender is more flexible • 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.)

13. Maintaining Social Distinctions: Present • Childrearing Practices • Value of Identifying Gender Immediately • Maltz & Borker • Single Sex Peer Groups from an early age • Media • Advertisements, etc. • Sunderland (1995) • German classroom research • The boys reported they would not say, “we’re girls.” It’s not possible. • girls forfeit gender for participation – “We’re boys!”

14. 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, “you’re a diva” and mean it as a compliment. • Written Language Paradox- “he/she.” In the future will we create new vocabulary (“shim”)?

15. 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).