GENDERSosiolinguistics

Sonya Ayu Kumala, M.Hum

Gender and language?1. Gender is a key element of social relationships often loosely linked

to perceived differences between the sexes. Gender relations are encoded in linguistic and symbolic representations, normative concepts, social practices, institutions and social identities. 

2. Gender is a primary arena for articulating power, intersecting in complex ways with other axes of inequality, like class, race, and sexuality. Gender is understood as multi-faceted and always changing.

SEX vs GENDER

SEX• Biological and

physiological category/characteristics that define men and women.

• Objective/scientific criteria

• Male and female

GENDER• Social and cultural

category refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

• Social criteria• Feminime and masculine

Some examples of Sex and Gender Characteristics

• Women menstruate while men do not

• Men have testicles while women do not

• Women have developed breasts that are usually capable of lactating, while men have not

• Men generally have more massive bones than women

• In the United States (and most other countries), women earn significantly less money than men for similar work

• In Viet Nam, many more men than women smoke, as female smoking has not traditionally been considered appropriate

• In Saudi Arabia men are allowed to drive cars while women are not

• In most of the world, women do more housework than men

• Nursing is often seen as a woman's job, although many men enter the profession

• In some countries women have to cover their heads when they go outside the house

Exclusive and preferential features   

• An exclusive feature is one associated solely with a particular user or group of users or solely in a particular context.

• Example: He, she, his, her, Mr, Ms, etc.

• A preferential feature is one that is distributed across speakers or groups, but is used more frequently by some than by others.

• Example: Everyone, Everybody, People, Human, etc.

Direct and Indirect Index• A linguistic feature directly

indexes something with social meaning if the social information is a conventional implicature .

• Example: He, Susan, female,

• A linguistic feature indirectly indexes something with several other social meaning.

• Most variables associated with, e.g., male vs female speakers only indirectly index gender that their distribution is sex-preferential not sex-exclusive.

• Example: a. Cursing a lot, much of

vernacular prounciation, belching

b. Being very polite, putting on lipstick

Conventional Implicature

An inference that arises from the meaning (or semantics) of a word or phrase.

Example: 1.Red

2.Red bull3.Diligent students

Conversational Implicature An inference that arises from interlocutors’ shared

understanding of the norms of conversation. Not part of the semantics or inherent meaning of a

word/phrase.

Example:•Cindy: there is a bookstore over there•Linnea: no•Cindy: why not•Linnea: I‘m tired.

References:• Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2006. Introducing

Sociolinguistics. London : Routledge.