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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE USE IN THE
TV–SITCOM "Everybody Loves Raymond"
Our use of language embodies attitudes as well as referential meanings.
Robin Lakoff, 19731
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Social Implications of Discriminatory Language
"Language both shapes and reflects social reality. Discriminatory language is therefore
both a symptom of, and a contributor to, the unequal social status of women, people with a
disability and people from various ethnic and racial backgrounds."2
This means that language may not be seen as simply a neutral tool for the transmission
of referential meaning, because it is an important instrument of social practice, which contrib-
utes to the communication, maintenance and change of ideologies, attitudes and stereotypes.
You may include or exclude other people from social occurrences only by means of language,
or its potential to build and protect or disrupt social relations.3
Discriminatory language is the one aimed at a range of different identity features like
sex and gender, sexuality, race, class, age, physical or mental disability, religious or political
beliefs, socio-economic status and background. It is used in order to create or intensify
1 Lakoff, R., Language and woman's place, Language in Society, Vol. 2, No. 1, Cambridge University Press, April 1973, pp. 45-802The University of Salford: A GUIDE TO NON-DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE. Taken from:
http://policies.salford.ac.uk/display.php?id=186, 15 November, 20113 Cfr. Hellinger, M., Guidelines for Non-discriminatory Langauge Use,The Sage Handbook of Sociolinguistic,sage Publications Inc., UK, 2011, p.565
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differences and intolerance among people. The complex social category of identity has great
implications for language, which becomes the most successful way of transferring a
discriminatory message.
Discriminatory language4 may have the following forms:
a) Stereotypes
A stereotype is a conventional and simplistic image of a person or a particular group,
usually formed by isolating or exaggerating certain features—physical, intellectual, cultural,
national, religious, occupational, personal, customary, and so on—which seem to characterize
a group or person, thus making that group or person extravagant or odd in a positive or
negative sense.
These are some of the common stereotypes5:
- Jews are greedy, nit-picky, stingy misers.
- Italians are delinquent, tolerant of violence and political corruption.
- Physically attractive people also possess other socially desirable personality traits.
- Nurses are commonly expected to be female and so male nurses are stereotyped as
effeminate and homosexual.
4 Cfr. What is discriminatory language? At: http://www.equity.uts.edu.au/language/inclusive/why.html, 15 November 2011
5Cfr. STEREOTYPE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype, 15 November 2011
37
- Females should marry and have children. They should also be loving, compassionate,
caring, nurturing, sympathetic and attractive.
- Males are financial providers. They are usually assertive, competitive, independent,
courageous, career-focuses, unemotional and authoritarian.
Derogatory labels
A derogatory label is an offensive term used to mark an individual or a group, usually
having unforeseen consequences, adversely affecting not only the person aimed at but also the
society as a whole.
As with stereotypes, labels are in most cases inaccurate, reductive and overly simplistic.
Usual examples include the imposed label ‘queue jumpers’ to refer to refugees or asylum
seekers, ‘welfare cheats’ for the unemployed, ‘wogs’ for European immigrants and their
children, ‘poofters’ for gay men, ‘abos’ for Indigenous Australians, ‘bimbos’ for blondes,
‘spazzes’ for people living with cerebral palsy, and ‘geriatrics’ for older people.
Offensive language
Sometimes discussions and debates over particular topics get heated, which results in
shouting and offences among participants. Such forms of language are referred to as
expletives- exclamations, swearwords or oaths and sounds expressing an emotional reaction
rather than any particular meaning (the F-word, but also “dummy subjects” like “it is”, “there
are” etc.).
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Trivializing language
Language that trivializes and makes the other person inferior. It reinforces differences in
power between the ‘in-group’ and the ‘out-group’ by using patronizing and demeaning terms,
comments and jokes such as:
a) ‘Girls in the office’, ‘just a housewife’, and ‘checkout chick’: trivialisation
along gender lines often disparages women’s work. Alternatives are: office
worker, homeworker, salesperson.
b) Dear, love, sweetie, for women, or gran for an older person: which are
inappropriate if there is no established familiarity between speaker and
addressee.
Extra-visibility
Mentioning people’s sex, sexuality, race, ethnic or national background, accent, or
disability, or drawing attention to their physical characteristics or features – however
unintentionally or unwittingly – contributes to the negative ways by which these people are
regarded and treated.
Invisibility
Discriminative language may also be noticed through invisibility. For example, the
word ‘man’ used to refer to all people erases women from the category of ‘people’.
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Another form of discriminatory invisibility is the false generic, denoting that the word is used
generically when it refers to all the members of a class. But, while implying to refer to all
those members, actually leaves some members out. For example, the following statement by a
woman comes from a daytime television show:
‘All the women in our audience will be thrilled by the firemen’s calendar this year.’
This claim uses ‘women’ as a false generic by assuming that the audience is composed of
heterosexual women only; lesbians are made invisible by the statement, as are any men in the
audience who might be interested in the calendar.
1.2. Motivation
This paper grew out of a desire to investigate the relation of gender and discriminatory
language in the American TV-sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond .₺ ₺
A situation comedy or sitcom is a TV- show in which "setting and a group of characters
provide the opportunity for a comic narrative, usually resolved in 25-30 minutes (although the
‘situation’ remains open to future disruption), and broadcast in a series of five or more
episodes."6
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond₺ ₺ is an American TV- sitcom that originally ran on CBS
from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Situations from the show mainly present the real-
6 Stafford, R.: TV Sitcoms and Gender, Media Education Magazine, Riddlesden, Keighley, 2004, pp. 1-5; http://www.mediaculture-online.de, 23 October, 2011
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life experiences of the main actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the
show's writing staff. The main characters on the show are also created on Romano's and
Rosenthal's real-life family members.
The sitcom describes the life of an Italian-American newspaper sportswriter called
Raymond Barone, who lives with his family in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York.
Disorganized and light-minded, Raymond makes jokes all the time, no matter how troubling
or problematic the situation were, and constantly avoids responsibilities as a husband and
father.
1.3. Area of Investigation
Language is one of the most notable features that sets ₺Everybody Loves Raymond₺
apart from many other similar American sitcoms. The language of the five main characters
reflects everyday expectations about masculine and feminine ways of speaking, but also how
discriminatory utterances may affect people around us. Theories on language and gender, but
also on depricating humor use keep pace with this assumption.
The five main characters of the show are completely different from each other in their
behavior and personality. "Is it possible to distinguish different linguistic behavior in the
characters? Are the individual characters’ personalities manifested through their language? " 7
These are only a few of the questions that made the author interested in investigating and
analyzing the language used in this TV-sitcom. Another important motive is the action on the
screen as a representation of the real world.
1.4. Hypotheses
7 Skov, Andersen M. L. at al :Blurred Sex and the City - An Analysis of Language and Gender in Sex and the City, http://rudar.ruc.dk/handle/1800/1653, 23 October 2011
37
a) There are some preconcieved ideas about women and men incorporated into the script of
the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond .₺ ₺
b) Men and women do act differently in discriminatory language use.
1.5. Research Questions
a) How is gender represented through the main characters’ use of discriminatory language?
b) Does the language in ₺Everybody Loves Raymond₺ reflect how women and men talk to
each other in reality?
1.6 Methodology
Exploring the gender differences in discriminatory language used in the TV-sitcom
₺Everybody Loves Raymond₺ required several methodological proceedures described as
follows:
Preparation for this sociolinguistic analysis included watching 10 randomly chosen episodes of
the show found on the Internet. It also required re-watching the episodes and taking notes into a
special coding sheet.
In addition, we went through a detailed linguistic analysis of the discriminatory features in
the characters' language, which led us to giving some suggestions and discussing a few
implications for the future reseach.
1.7. Limitations
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the discriminatory language features in the
language of the 5 main characters of the sit-com "Everybody Loves Raymond , so other₺
conversational elements including pauses, interruptions and nonverbal communication, are
left out of this study. The paper analyzes only 10 different episodes, so we are aware of the
fact that it cannot portray the series as a whole in terms of language. But the scenes that were
chosen seemed as valuable examples of meaningful gender characteristics within
discriminatory language use.
Finally, the series "Everybody Loves Raymond," was produced in the USA and reflects
the cultural reality of an American family. If it were a British or other production, there would
certainly be some cultural differences, but, in this context, they would probably be negligible.
2. THEORETHICAL FRAMEWORK
"Watching television is a way to both escape from physical reality and learn social
actions. People may or may not admit imitating behaviors they are exposed to on television,
but (...), there is modeling occurring constantly."8
TV-sitcoms mostly deal with situations that are familiar to the ordinary people like making
and having dinner, dating, shopping, working and spending free time, which makes them very
popular source of entertainment.
8 Hummel, L.; Shake, S.:Exploring gender differences in deprecatory humor use: Discriminatory utterances aimed at women. Hanover College, April 2007 AT: http://psych.hanover.edu/research/thesis07/HummelShakePaper.pdf
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However, a few studies discussed that such shows might breed and encourage social
inequality, especially due to the fact that modern society is mostly consisted of people in
₺higher₺ and ₺lower₺ positions. This social inequality is rather evident considering the
discriminatory language used in tv-sitcoms.
Hummel and Shake9 say: ₺Television is one medium that allows reality to be both
reflected and later afected₺, which makes it a great source of information for sociolinguists.
The use of discriminatory utterances aimed at different social groups, has probably been a
major problem since the invention of sitcoms.10
Most theorists report that this kind of humorous language has extremely negative
consequences for the society as a whole.
Berger11 says: ₺the ability to direct laughter at individuals, groups, institutions, ideas, what
you will, is really a form of power... ₺
However, this "power" might be dangerous in cases where it breeds and encourages social
inequality and intolerace towards social differences. This has been well-described by Ford and
Ferguson12, who developed the Prejudiced Norm Theory claiming that "when exposed to
prejudical jokes, people may begin to accept the norm of prejudice implied by the joke."13
This leads to uncriticalness considering the discriminatory jokes aimed at different social
9 Ibidem…, p. 9
10 Pinwright's Progress was a British sitcom that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1946 to 1947 and was the world's first regular half-hour sitcom. Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwright's_Progress:Pinwright's Progress, 11 January 2011
11 Berger, A.A., The Anatomy of Humor, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, 1993,p. 9; At:http://books.google.hr/, 22 November 2011
12 Viki Tendayi, G. at al,The Effect of Sexist Humor and Type of Rape on Men's Self-reported Rape Proclivity and Victim Blame, Current Reseach in Social Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 10, Iowa University, 2007; At: http://www.uiowa.edu, 22 November 2011, pp.123-12413 Ibidem, p.124
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groups. For example, men become more tolerant of a sexist event after being exposed to
sexist humor.14
Breeding and encouraging social inequality or prejudices through humor
"communicates a message of tacit approval of tolerance of discrimination against members of
the targeted group."15
Kaschak gives a perspective that is focused on society's role in shaping gender
inequality, claiming that "men grow and develop in societies that give them power in the
household and in the workplace; women grow and develop in these societies where they are
viewed as subservient and as males' possessions."16
Hummel and Shake present a new way of exploring depricatory humor use, with a
special accent on gender-specific humorous language features, showing that popular tv-
sitcoms, which greatly influence young generations, do encourage and perpetate social
(especially gender) ineaquality.17
Newman at al pointed out that "gender differences in language use likely reflect a
complex combination of social goals, situational demands, and socialization"18, which is,
actually, taken as the guiding principle of the current study.
This particular study investigated discriminatory humor used in the TV-sitcom
"Everybody Loves Raymond", also trying to indicate the possible negative effects of such
humor on the future generations.
14 Ibidem, p.124.
15 Ford, T. E., Ferguson, M. A., Social Consequences of Disparagement Humor: A Prejudiced Norm Theory, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2004, Vol. 8, No. 1, 79-94. Taken from: http://psr.sagepub.com at UNIV OF MINNESOTA DULUTH on February 19, 200816 Hummel, L.; Shake, S.:Exploring gender differences in deprecatory humor use: Discriminatory utterances aimed at women. Hanover College, April 2007 AT: http://psych.hanover.edu/research/thesis07/HummelShakePaper.pdf17 Ibidem,
18 Newman, M. at al, Gender Differences in Language Use:An Analysis of 14,000 Text Samples, Discourse Processes, No 45, Routledge, 2008, pp. 211–236
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3. ANALYSIS
Investigating the discriminatory language used in the TV-sitcom "Everybody Loves
Raymond", with a special review of the gender differences in application of such utterances,
required a few analytical proceedures: watching the sitcom, recording and re-listening the
characteristic utterances, completing the forms adopted from the Hummel and Shake coding
scheme19, doing statistical analysis and, finally, discussing the findings.
While doing the total analysis of the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond we bore in₺ ₺
mind the fact that comical situations in the sitcom are actually created through interpersonal
conflict defined as“ a struggle between two people because they have conflicting goals or
needs or because of some misunderstanding”.20 Interpersonal conflicts are an interesting " part
of everyday life and may be seen from minor disagreements with friends, families, spouses,
and others to major disputes, which may be deciding factors for the future of certain relation-
ships."21 These conflicts are represented through the language, as the most important vehicle
of discriminatory humor in the sitcom mentioned, which will be shown in the further analysis.
19 Ibidem,
20 Fernandez, A., Conflict Analysis on Everybody Loves Raymond, Farquhar Student Journal, Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2008, p.2 At: www.fcas.nova.edu/arts/...fall/Fernandez.pdf -21 Ibidem, p.2
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3.1. Data collection
As mentioned earlier, the study of discriminatory humor in the American TV series
"Everybody Loves Raymond", included watching some randomly chosen episodes from
different seasons of the sitcom. We watched at a total of 10 randomly chosen episodes from
the first 5 seasons. During the preliminary watching of these episodes, special attention was
devoted to relation of the discriminatory statements and gender. Due to the needs of the
research, selected episodes were watched again in order to carefully record each characteristic
linguistic behavior of the characters. Discriminatory statements were recorded in the so-called
coding scheme, adapted from the scheme that had been made by Shake and Hummel, whose
work dealt with a similar linguistic issue.
3.1.1.Coding scheme
Development of the Coding Scheme (see Appendix 1) has greatly facilitated this study
because we recorded all the characteristic discriminatory statements of the characters, taking
into account the time when something was spoken, gender of the speakers and interlocutors
and the discriminatory contents of the statement. All these items are shown in tables in
separate columns in order to facilitate the readers’ reference.
3.1.2.Data
The sit-com "Everybody Loves Raymond" was selected for this study because it shows
almost a typical middle class family of the father, who is the family’s bread-provider, and a
full-time housewife and mother, who live in a typical American home with their three
children. An emphasis is put on marital relations of Raymond and Debra and their everyday
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family life, which is regularly violated by Raymond’s demanding and intolerant parents and
unmarried and historically jealous older brother.
The fact that there are stil re-runs of this sitcom in many European countries is very
important because this means that it is very close to the ordinary people for reflecting their
own everyday family lives, which also makes it a very appropriate material for investigation
in social sciences and humanities.
3.1.3.Apparatus
The total of 10 episodes of the series were watched via the Internet service YouTube,
which has proven as an extremely useful source of information, since it contained almost all
episodes of the series with the English subtitles included. In addition, the reproduction of the
series on YouTube may be paused when necessary, which greatly facilitated the recording of
the characteristic discriminatory statements that were investigated in this study.
3.1.4.Data Analysis
a) Coding schemes analysis
After coding the data relevant to the analysis of discriminatory language spoken in the
series "Everybody Loves Raymond", we presented the total number of characteristic
utterances in a table, as well as the number of such utterances in relation to the speaker and
addressee's gender. From this review it is evident that the males in the series speak in a
discriminatory way more often than the females, as shown in the table below:
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Table 1: The number of discriminatory utterances according to gender and aim
COMPLETE
NUMBER OF
UTTERANCES
SPOKEN
BY MALES
SPOKEN
BY
FEMALES
AIMED
AT
MALES
AIMED AT
FEMALES
AIMED
AT
BOTH
73 47 26 32 37 4
We may also notice that discriminatory utterances in this series are more addressed to females
than to males.
After that we looked at the topics that were mostly discussed by the characters and
classified them according to gender of the speaker and frequency of occurrence. We have also
chosen the topics mutually used by both male and female characters in order to compare their
occurrence. This comparison also showed that males were more apt to speak in a
discriminatory way, which may be seen from the table and diagram below:
Table 2: The topics mutually used by both male and female characters
MALES FEMALES
masculinity vs femininity 9 3
sexual orientation 4 2
one's personality 31 11
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Chart 1: The graphical presentation of the topics mutually used by both male and female
characters
b) Language analysis
In this section a qualitative analysis of discriminatory language is given regarding the
following components of such a language: stereotypes, derogatory labels, offensive language,
trivializing language, extra-visibility and invisibility.
All these elements were analyzed taking into account the gender of the speakers and
"targets" to which discriminatory remarks were addressed.
Male Language
The analysis of the particular statements given by the male characters from the series
"Everybody Loves Raymond" shows that they often use discriminatory language, mentioning
37
gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or physical appearance of the person to whom the
statement is addressed, which is usually a woman. In these statements, one might notice
stereotypical views that men are the measure of all things, and that their physical and mental
characteristics as well as their deeds, thoughts and beliefs make the image of the human race
in general. We will take a few expressions in order to show how language may act as a
"vehicle for discrimination".22
Some statements of the male characters go deep into the area of basic human rights,
promoting inequality among people, especially gender inequality. Man stands out as the head
of the family and masculine as the superior gender, which is best seen from the following
example:
SEASON 4 EPISODE 2: YOU BET
Frank: Well, let me tell you something. God programmed man to sow his seed where he
may. He programmed woman to limit the crop to one farmer.This broad didn't get with
the programme.
The whole utterance above is totally discriminatory towards women, but the usage of
the personal pronoun he is the most important indicator of gender stereotyping in this case. It
is obvious that he in this particular utterance is used on purpose in order to emphasize that
even God is a male, so that the masculine gender must be the generic gender.
The pronoun woman is also used as a marker of female inferiority and ignorance, as
shown in the example below:
22 Cfr. Inclusive Language at :www.adcet.edu.au/StoredFile.aspx?...
37
SEASON 4 EPISODE 10: LEFT BACK
Frank: That's right. I schmoozed her. Hey, she is a human being. And a woman.
Ray: Oh, no.
Frank: And being a woman...she's a sucker for the old „look how many photos of the
children grandpa has in his wallet “ bit.
What may also be noticed in the language of the male characters in the sitcom analyzed
is an opened discriminatory portrayal of sexual identity, especially referred to males.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 13: CIVIL WAR
Frank to his pall Jeb: Yeah. You know what my son's doing while I'm out fighting? He's
going to a baby shower.
Jeb: Oh, yeah? Back in Civil War days we had names for guys like you. They're prettly
much like the names we have for you today.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 13: CIVIL WAR
Frank (to Ray): Have a nice shower, Nancy!
SEASON 3 EPISODE 14: PANTS ON FIRE
Ray (to Frank): I'm cold, too.
Frank: Oh, you cupcake.
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The descriptive expressions guys like you, Nancy, or cupcake from the examples above
appear in order to present sexual identity as an indicator of interests or abilities, which is to-
tally unacceptable in contemporary world.
Offensive, ironic and derogatory utterances or expressions at the expense of women,
homosexuals and everything else that is unusual or "different" in any sense act as a spice
added to the true "male humor" in the series, as follows from the lower examples:
Derogatory labels
SEASON 4 EPISODE 3: THE CAN OPENER
Robert to Ray: You stick to your guns, Deb, OK? Raymond's a jerk. I know the whole story,
jerk. One little drop of fish juice, and you squeal like a stuck pig.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 10: LEFT BACK
Ray: Ha, ha. Very funny. You have a stupid kid, you don't even care.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 11: THE CHRISTMAS PICTURE
Robert: Excuse me , Ray, can I ask you something?
Ray: what?
Robert: Amy (Robert's girlfriend) can't be in the picture, but there's plenty of room for hoity
and toity (Debra's parents)?
37
SEASON 4 EPISODE 13: BULLY ON THE BUS
Ray: See? Right there. That's what I'm talking about. That attitude. That smarty-pants, stick
up for yourself...
...
Ray: That's right. Every jerk I ever met was self-confident.
...
Ray: See? You're bringing Ally into the family business. Debra Barone's Ass Kicking
Incorporated.
Pushing people down since 1972.
....
Ray: Bully! You bully!
...
You're stupid, idiot, stinker BM!
SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Ray: Either way, your perfect little Connecticut „cut the crust of my cucumber
sandwich“ parents are frauds.
37
Offensive language
SEASON 2 EPISODE 13: CIVIL WAR
Ray: Couples? Well, since when does the guy have to go to that? Oh, come on , they're
screwing with nature now.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 3: THE CAN OPENER
Frank: Ray…I'm going to give you the secret to marital bliss.
…
You see, son, when your mother got pregnant with Robert, the hormones turned her into a nut
case. She'd cry for no reason, two seconds later she'd want to cuddle. She was, like,
demented.
Frank: Did it bother me? No. Because you cannot get upset with a crazy person. I decided
fro that day on never to waste time on trying to understand your mother. I just accept she's
insane.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 10: LEFT BACK
Frank: And being a woman...she's a sucker for the old „look how many photos of the
children grandpa has in his wallet “ bit.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 14: PRODIGAL SON
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Frank: We don't need you part-timers droppin' by whenever you feel like it. It screws up the
parking.
Male characters are also prone to using expressions which bring extra-visibility into the
conversation, which means that they include irrelevant information about the addressee.
Including irrelevant information can be discriminatory where that information:₺
Overemphasizes a particular characteristic that is irrelevant or of minor importance, or
sensationalizes aspects of a person's life or life style.₺23
The following examples show how extra-visibility may give a lot of importance to irrel-
evant information, and put the person in the background, emphasizing the person’s physical
appearance or sexual orientation, which have no impact on the quality of one’s personality.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 14: PANTS ON FIRE
Marie: I'm freezing. (to Frank) What is it with you, we all have to get pneumonia so you can
save 3 cents?
Frank (to Marie):You know, most of the bodies heat escapes through the head, so you
might want to seal up any large openings.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 2: YOU BET
Ray: I was in the Giants' locker room. I ended up in shower with Joe Taggert.
...and you know what he says to me?
23 Ibidem…
37
Frank: „Do my back?“
SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Robert: There's something about Debra's mom. She gives me the willies.
Frank: What about the husband? He's the weird one.He's got all that lotion on him.All
slick and moist like a beaver running through the woods.
Male characters in the sit-com mentioned use partial invisibility as their discriminatory
language strategy as well.
The word ₺ invisibility is used in here to indicate that a certain group of people (women,
for example) is linguistically subsumed under a label, name or term predominantly used to de-
scribe another group. The use of words and phrases such as "chairman", businessman", "man
in the street" and others, as well as the pronoun "he", makes the presence of women in lan-
guage invisible. ₺24
The term partial invisibility refers to the example below:
SEASON 1 EPISODE 22: WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
Raymond (after Debra told him that they are having twin boys): Am I a man, or what?!
Huh!Oh!
From this example it is clear that the word man is the most prominent word in
Raymond’s sentence, and masculinity is restated as the best human attribute. So, women are
24 Ibidem…
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not linguistically subsumed under the term, but the repeated and strong emphasis on the word
man makes women invisible and unimportant in the whole picture.
Finally, we should say a few words about the trivializing language used by men in order
to minimize the importance of women, their deeds and accomplishments.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 13: CIVIL WAR
Debra: You can recite a poem, do a skit. The proud parents will tape it as a tribute to the child.
Ray: A tribute? Who's she's got in there, a Gandhi?
SEASON 4 EPISODE 2: YOU BET
Frank: Well, let me tell you something. God programmed man to sow his seed where he
may. He programmed woman to limit the crop to one farmer.This broad didn't get with
the programme.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 10: LEFT BACK
Frank: That's right. I schmoozed her. Hey, she is a human being. And a woman.
...
You know, those teachers don't make squat.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 13: BULLY ON THE BUS
Robert (to Ray):Yeah. All right, all right, here's the one you can use: „Debra, Debra real
good lookin', never wanna try her cookin'.“
37
This kind of language trivializes females’ existence and portrays males as superior
gender.
If we take only the word broad from the second example below, we might be surprised
at some of the definitions of the term in the Urban Dictionary25 which say:
1
broad
A term originated in the 1930's meaning woman; derived from the fact that the most
defining characteristic of all females are their hips, which are proportionally wider than the
hips of their male counterparts.
"Look at those broads."
2
broad
A lot of Italians and Italian-Americans use this.
It is a word you use to describe a female. Used alot durring the 1930's - 1950's. Now it is not
as popular because most guys aren't respectable anymore. There are some guys who still use
the term today.
John: Hey you see that broad over there?
Tommy: Yeah thats one good
The above examples show how women in the series, but also women in general, are not
treated as whole human beings and with equal respect and dignity as men.Women are mostly
25 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=broad
37
presented through bodily images, despite of their intellectual capacities or other qualities.
Female Language
Generally speaking, women in the series "Everybody Loves Raymond" use
discriminatory language less than men. However, they are not resistant to the use of
stereotypical or insulting expressions if they come into conflict, especially with members of
the opposite sex.
Stereotypical remarks used by female characters in the series are less focused on the
opposite sex, and more on the family relationships or perpetual conflict between the mother-
in-law and daughter-in-law, which is expressed in the examples below:
SEASON 4 EPISODE 9: NO THANKS
Debra: Yeah, today was nice. But I can't be in the kitchen with your mother. That's the
belly of the beast.
SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Marie: Aw, isn't that nice? Connecticut grandma and grandpa and regular
grandma and grandpa.
However, after watching some episodes of the series, we suggest that women characters
are able to speak in a very powerful and innovative way considering the use of offensive or
derogatory terms, which is supported by the following examples:
Derogatory labels
37
SEASON 4 EPISODE 13: BULLY ON THE BUS
Ray: That's right. Every jerk I ever met was self-confident.
Debra:Yeah. Not every jerk.
...
Debra: That's better than working at Ray's House of Wuss.
...
Debra: Hey, Lay-mond, gay-mond go away-mond!
SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Debra: Or, they're trying to work out some problems before their marriage turns into a
screaming match, like your parents'. Arguing about how deep pan is before it's a pot.
(Imitates Ray's parents) "If it's three inches, it's a pot, everybody knows that, Marie!"
"If you can't boli an egg, then it's not a pot, you jackass!"
...
Debra: If my parents lit an orphanage on fire on Christmass Eve, they wouldn't be as bad as
your parents!
Offensive language
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SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Debra: (Imitates Ray's parents) :
Frank: "If it's three inches, it's a pot, everybody knows that, Marie!"
Marie: "If you can't boli an egg, then it's not a pot, you jackass!"
Women in the series are an endless source of sarcastic remarks and interesting
metaphors that contribute to the quality of humor in the series. Specifically, comparing Frank
and Marie’s marriage to a "screaming match" or make a whole lot of sarcastic derivatives
from the name Raymond, as lay-mond, gay-mond, go-away-mond, serve as an evidence of the
screenwriters’ sophisticated linguistic skills. However, we must not ignore the fact that these,
seemingly harmless jokes, might have some far reaching consequences in terms of public
attitudes towards the groups affected.
Furthermore, we could say that women in the series are highly sophisticated and skilled
considering the trivializing language. They put people down unmercifully with just a few
simple words used in the right moment as follows from the examples below:
SEASON 3 EPISODE 22: WORKING GIRL
Debra: oh, my God. Oh, my God. I have to iron.
Marie: Don't panic, dear. I'll walk you through it.
...
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Marie: Oh, yes, dear. I can't stop wondering about the children, though. They're already
so thin.
...
And I'll wait for them here. Someone has to be home now they are latchkey children.
...
Marie (to Debra): Oh, I'm sorry you've got fired. But, you know, it's probably for the
best. If you want to expand your horizons, how about taking up gardening? I mean,
you yard could use a lot of work.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 9: NO THANKS
Marie: Debra, I don't know why your rolls are all left. I liked them. The burnt part gave
them some flavour.
Oh, and don't worry about that pots and pans, honey. I know how to do those.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 10: LEFT BACK
Ray: Come on, don't you see? That's what I passed on to Michael. That's my legacy, the
dumbness.
Debra: No...You've passed on other things. You lack of tushie.
The patronizing expressions above starting with oh or oh, dear, and fullfilled with false
compassion, may be devastating considering the self-esteem and self-respect of the addressee.
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Female characters in the series are also prone to giving additional descriptions for each
topic, even if it meant giving extra information that does not contribute to the quality of the
expression:
Extra-visibility
SEASON 2 EPISODE 13: CIVIL WAR
Debra (to Ray): Oh, loook, as bad as this shower might be, it doesn't even compare to
your dad's Civil War thing....
Can you imagine being stuck in a tent with your dad? That's where you need the ax.
SEASON 4 EPISODE 13: BULLY ON THE BUS
Debra: Listen. I know the idea of being independent is very different than your mother
raised you.
SEASON 5 EPISODE 8: FIGHTING IN-LAWS
Debra: Would you just go to sleep? You should be happy to have normal people in the
house for a change.
...
Debra: And my parents, unlike yours, don't feel the need to inflict their lives on
everybody else.
Debra: Or, they're trying to work out some problems before their marriage turns into a
screaming match, like your parents'. Arguing about how deep pan is before it's a pot.
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(Imitates Ray's parents) "If it's three inches, it's a pot, everybody knows that, Marie!"
"If you can't boli an egg, then it's not a pot, you jackass!"
Debra: If my parents lit an orphanage on fire on Christmass Eve, they wouldn't be as
bad as your parents!
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5. Conclusive Remarks and Implications for Future Research
Although there were a few previuos research26 considering the relationship of gender
and discriminatory humor in tv-sitcoms, we might say there has been a gap in the existing
bibliography in regards to the topic mentioned.
In support to our first hypothesis supposing that there are some preconcieved ideas
about women and men incorporated into the script of the sitcom Everybody loves Raymond,
we did find many examples of such ideas incorporated into the text spoken by the characters
in the sitcom, especially among the male characters.
As opposed to Hummel and Shake's findings27, we found that males did say significantly more
discriminatory utterances than females (see Table 1). We believe the reason for that lies in the
fact that males exibit their social power and privileges over females through the language.
"Just as male dominance is exhibited through male control of macro-institutions in society, it
is also exhibited through male control of at least a part of micro-institutions"28, which is, in
this case, their linguistic ability to show power.
Considering our second hypothesis, supposing that men and women do act differently in
discriminatory language use, we revealed that there was a higher percentage of discriminatory
utterances used by the male characters in the sitcom, wheteher aimed at females or different
social groups, especially homosexuals.
26 See: Hummel, L.; Shake, S.:Exploring gender differences in deprecatory humor use: Discriminatory utterances aimed at women. Hanover College, April 2007, p.15
27 Hummel, L.; Shake, S.:Exploring gender differences in deprecatory humor use: Discriminatory utterances aimed at women. Hanover College, April 2007 , p.15: "We found that females did say significantly more deprecating utterances than males (see Figure 1)."
28 Zimmerman, Don/West, Candice: "Sex Roles, Interruptions and Silences in Conversations". In: Thorne, Barrie/Henley, Nancy (eds.): Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance, 1975, p.125
37
However, this may not be taken as a general truth, due to the fact that only one sitcom was
analyzed, but might serve as an interesting basis for the future studies dealing with similar
social issues.
In addition, the current study revealed that female characters in the sitcom „Everybody
Loves Raymond“ do use discriminatory language in order to achieve humoristic effect, but
they seem to do that in a more refined way than the male characters. Respecting the findings
above, we could say that they do confirm our second hypothesis.
Finally, the researcher found the analysis of the sitcom „Everybody Loves Raymond“ as
an inspiring source of information about interpersonal relationships in a typical suburbian
American family.
However, the comical effect which is achieved mainly through crude and discriminatory
humor should get more researchers interested in similar analyses, especially considering the
influence of such television shows on younger generations, who are prone to identify with the
shows' characters.
So, the producers should bare in mind the influence of their work on the audience in general,
especially children going through the sensitive period of puberty due to the fact that modern
teenagers are being bombed with different information and influenced by the mass media₺ ₺
representation of what is correct and socially accepted.
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6. Bibliography
1 Berger, A.A., The Anatomy of Humor, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New
Jersey, USA, 1993, p. 9
2 Fernandez, A., Conflict Analysis on Everybody Loves Raymond, Farquhar Student
Journal, Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2008, p.2
3 Ford, T. E., Ferguson, M. A., Social Consequences of Disparagement Humor: A
Prejudiced Norm Theory, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2004, Vol. 8,
No. 1, 79-94.
4 Hellinger, M., Guidelines for Non-discriminatory Langauge Use,The Sage Handbook
of Sociolinguistic,sage Publications Inc., UK, 2011, p.565
37
5 Hummel, L.; Shake, S.:Exploring gender differences in deprecatory humor use:
Discriminatory utterances aimed at women. Hanover College, April 2007
6 Lakoff, R., Language and woman's place, Language in Society, Vol. 2, No. 1, Cam-
bridge University Press, April 1973, pp. 45-80
7 Newman, M. at al, Gender Differences in Language Use:An Analysis of 14,000 Text
Samples, Discourse Processes, No 45, Routledge, 2008, pp. 211–236
8 Skov, Andersen M. L. at al : Blurred Sex and the City - An Analysis of Language and
Gender in Sex and the City, RUDAR - Roskilde University Digital Archive, Projectre-
ports and master thesis, 2005
9 Stafford, R.: TV Sitcoms and Gender, Media Education Magazine, Riddlesden,
Keighley, 2004, pp. 1-5
10 Viki Tendayi, G. at al, The Effect of Sexist Humor and Type of Rape on Men's Self-
reported Rape Proclivity and Victim Blame, Current Reseach in Social Psychology,
Vol. 13, No. 10, Iowa University, 2007, pp.123-124
11 Zimmerman, Don/West, Candice: "Sex Roles, Interruptions and Silences in
Conversations". In: Thorne, Barrie/Henley, Nancy (eds.) (1975): Language and Sex:
Difference and Dominance. Rowley; p 125.
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WEB PAGES
1 The University of Salford: A GUIDE TO NON-DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE. Taken
from: http://policies.salford.ac.uk/display.php?id=186, 15 November, 2011
2 What is discriminatory language? At:
http://www.equity.uts.edu.au/language/inclusive/why.html, 15 November 2011
3 STEREOTYPE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype, 15 November 2011
4 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND,
http :// en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Everybody _ Loves _ Raymond , 15 November 2011
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwright's_Progress:Pinwright's Progress, 11 January 2011
6 http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gordon_Allport
7 Inclusive Language at: www.adcet.edu.au/StoredFile.aspx?...
8 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=broad
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