tielke vogt, hauptstudium, ln svenja follmann, hauptstudium, ln julia selzer, grundstudium, tn meike...
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Tielke Vogt, Hauptstudium, LN
Svenja Follmann, Hauptstudium, LN
Julia Selzer, Grundstudium, TN
Meike Tadken, Grundstudium, LN
Judith Mertens, Hauptstudium, TN
Sonja Schröder, Grundstudium, TN
Language and Gender
Prof. Penelope Eckert
Prof. Sally McConnell-Ginet
Contents
1. Constructing gender (Tielke)
2. Linking the linguistic to the social (Svenja)
3. Organizing talk (Julia)
4. Making social moves (Meike)
5. Positioning ideas and subjects (Judith)
6. Working the market: use of varieties (Sonja)
Constructing gender- Introduction
The study of language and gender got started as a result to an article by Robin Lakoff entitled “Language and woman’s place” Difference approach Dominance approach
Later: consideration of context What is the nature of the diversity among men
and among women? How do these diversities structure gender?
Constructing gender- Sex vs. Gender
Sex: biological categorization based primarily on reproductive potential
Gender: social elaboration of biological sex – gender as social construction
Constructing gender- Learning to be gendered (1)
Dichotomous beginnings: It’s a boy! It’s a girl By the (different) treatment and expectations
from others children learn to adapt to their gender role – a child learns to be male or female
Learning asymmetry Males are more engaged in enforcing gender
difference than females Result: behaviour and activities of boys are more
valued than that of girls, and boys are discouraged from having interest in girl’s behaviour or activities
Tomboy vs. Sissy
Constructing gender- Learning to be gendered (2)
The heterosexual market End of elementary school: beginning of a social market structured system of social evaluation Matches are initially short lived – the number of “trades”
(with the “right” Partner) establishing one’s value This activity precedes actual sexual activity
Developing desire Gender: conscious element of desire Girls: want to feel small and delicate, learn to display
their emotions to others at the appropriate time Boys: want to feel big and strong, learn to control their
emotions
Constructing gender- Conclusion
Gender is learned It is not only learned but taught and enforced
Gender is collaborative We can not accomplish on our own
Gender is not something we have, but something we do Children often do gender quite consciously, later
their gendered performances become second nature
Gender is asymmetrical Inequality is built into gender at a very basic level
Linking the linguistic to the social- Introduction (1)
Dominant ideology and linguistic conventions are not static
They are rather constructed, maintained, elaborated, and changed in action and talk
Change happens in the accumulation of action throughout the social fabric e.g. “Sir“ – not female aquivalent
Linking the linguistic to the social - Introduction (2)
Embedded in history are not only the things said and done, but also: identities and status of the people who have said
and done them Individual act enters into a broader discourse
Our contributions can be seen as an offer to a market
Linking the linguistic to the social - Social locus of change
Change comes in subtle ways Gender order and linguistic conventions exercise a
constraint on our thoughts and actions Change = interruption of patterns Change can be intentional or unintentional We perform gender in our minutest acts
Accumulation of those acts leads to maintaining gender order
Linking the linguistic to the social- The speech community
Def.: a community sharing rules for the conduct and interpretation of speech, and rules for the interpretation of at least one linguistic variety
Speaker of the same language may have difficulty communicating if they do not share norms for the use of that language in interaction e.g. English and Pakistani speakers of English in
London
Linking the linguistic to the social- Communities of practice
Participants develop ways of doing things together They develop practices: common knowledge and
beliefs, ways of relating to each other, way of talking within communities of practice linguistic may spread within and among speech communities
People participate in society through participating in a range of communities of practice
Linking the linguistic to the social- Face
Def.: the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others he has taken during a particular contact
Everyday conversational exchanges are crucial in constructing gender identities as well as gender ideologies and relations
Face can be “lost” and “saved” Link to gender order: desire to avoid face-threating
situations or acts
Linking the linguistic to the social- Linguistic resources
Language = highly structured system of signs Gender embedded in these signs:
Primary: gender can be content of a sign Secondary: associated meaning The way someone talks: tone and pitch of
voice, patterns of intonation, choice of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical patterns
Linking the linguistic to the social- Phonology
Phoneme /s/ In North America generally pronounced with tip of
tongue at the alveolar ridge behind the upper teeth A pronunciation against the edge of the front teeth
(slight lisp) is stereotypically associated with women or gays
Linking the linguistic to the social- Gender in grammar (1)
Some languages force the speaker to specify gender e.g. English: third person pronoun
Grammatical gender: when a language has noun classes that are relevant for certain kinds of agreement patterns In many Indo-European languages grammatical
gender has complex connections to social gender BUT: no perfect correspondence
Linking the linguistic to the social- Gender in grammar (2)
Especially problematic when referring to nouns wih a pronoun e.g. “le professeur” can refer to a woman, even if
it is a masculine form, but one tends to switch to a feminine pronoun (elle)
In English, cats are usually referred to as “she” and dogs as “he”
Speakers assign masculine respectively feminine attributes according to grammatical gender
Organizing talk- Introduction (1)
Men are encouraged to talk on all occasions, speaking being a sign of masculine intelligence and leadership
The ideal woman is submissive and quiet, silent in her husband‘s presence e.g. Araucanian culture of Chile: at gatherings
men do much talking, women sit together listlessly, communicating only in whispers or not at all
Organizing talk- Introduction (2)
A person‘s contribution to an ongoing discussion is determined not simply by the utterance the person produces, but by the ways in which that utterance is received and interpreted by the others in the conservation
The right to speak depends on the right to be in the situation, and the right to engage in particular kinds of speech activities in that situation
Organizing talk- Introduction (3)
Example:
Joking about men‘s impatience with discussing relationships has already made it to the top among discourses of gender, but joking about women‘s impatience with babies has not
Organizing talk- Men vs. Women
Men Most technology is
designed by men It is primarily men who
have the authority to engage in conversation that effect large numbers of people
Perform speech acts that change people‘s civil status
Women Women in medical
practice, schools, social work, etc.
Cannot be priests in the Catholic Church, but the Protestant ministry is feminized
No woman has ever given a state of the union address in the US
Organizing talk- Looking like a professor
The words of a person who doesn‘t appear to be a professor are less likely to be taken as authoritive than the same words coming from someone who does look like a professor Many men don‘t recognise women as professors
Many women wrote novels and poems under a man‘s name in order to be published e.g. George Eliot - real name: Mary Ann Evans)
Organizing talk- Speech activity
Lecturing,sermonizing,gossiping,talking dirty,joking,arguing,therapy talk,small talk,etc.
There are some speech activities that occur in all speech communities, while others may be specific to, or more common in , particular communities
Organizing talk- Gossip vs. Arguing (1)
Gossip derives from Old English god sib
( = supportive friend or godparent) Gossip is supposed to characterize much of
women‘s talk Many people - esp. men - think that gossiping
means talking bad about others BUT: just any informal talk among close women
friends
Organizing talk- Gossip vs. Arguing (2)
Arguing: in most English-speaking countries- men argue, women quarrel or bicker (zanken)
Quarreling has a more personal orientation in general and is seen as more emotional
Arguing is essentially focused in the subject matter- involves giving reasons and evidence
In many Italian-speaking communities of practice lively and loud arguments involving both women and men are frequent
Making social moves- Contents
Speech act theory Functions of talk and motives of talking: gender
oppositions Politeness Affective and instrumental talk Intimacy and autonomy, cooperativeness and
competitiveness Speech acts embedded in social action
What is a compliment? Evaluation of face work “Do they really mean it?” What’s the key?
Conclusion
Making social moves- Introduction
Social move = speech act which is embedded in social practice, it is a continuing discourse among interactants
Speech acts consist out of two parts: talk and action Each utterance is part of a social situation in which it
occurs Kinds of speech acts: compliment, insult, request,
command, promise etc. A repeated move of a particular type can become an
activity
Making social moves- Speech act theory
Philosopher J. L. Austin initiated the systematic study of speech acts The main question was: How to do things with
words? Performative utterances: words starts a chain of events Judith Butler: speech acts consist out of performative
utterances and other performances which come off, acquire their meaning and do their work
All utterances are actions Three kinds of action:
Locutionary acts Illocutionary acts Prelocutionary acts
Making social moves- Politeness
Everyone has got two faces: positive face and negative face
Positive face: projecting a self that is affiliated with others
Negative face:projecting a self that is a separate individual
Two kinds of politeness: Positive politeness: addressing positive face needs Negative politeness:addressing negative face needs
Politeness depends on the context: what looks like the same kind of act might be positively polite in one context but not in another
Making social moves- Affective and instrumental talk
Three functions of talk: Affective function of talk Referential function of talk Instrumental function of talk
Affective and referential functions are closely interconnected
Women are more interested in affective talk Men are more interested in instrumental talk
Making social moves- Intimacy vs. Autonomy/cooperativeness vs. competitiveness
Women Most interested in
promoting intimacy with others
Women speak in ways that build egalitarian societies
In case of a struggle:girls try to negotiate and satisfy everyone
Men Are interested in
establishing their autonomy
Males engage in speech acts that build hierarchies
In case of a struggle:boys tends to engage in physical tussles over possession rights, raising their voices etc.
Making social moves- What is a compliment? (1)
Compliments: Social moves that live in a landscape of
evaluation Have different functions and possible motivations Are loaded with cultural values Are associated with cultural norms
Criticism and insults inhabit the negative area of the same landscape
A compliment must at least try to make the addressee feel good about themselves
Making social moves- What is a compliment? (2)
What is regarded as a compliment depends on the situation
Like other gifts a compliment can put the complimentee in dept to the complimenter
Classifying a move as a compliment is a matter of situating the move maker and the other participant in a larger social landscape
Making social moves- Evaluation of face work
Evaluation of one another is central to social interaction and to the construction and enforcement of social norms
Receiving a compliment increases self-esteem and warm feelings toward the complimenter
Compliments can flow down a socially asymmetric relation between complimenter and complimentee
But compliments given up the hierarchy are often classified as inappropriate
Compliments are important in constructing and regulating the gender order
Making social moves- “Do they really mean it?” What is the key?
Compliments can be suspected on several different grounds
Compliments are often routine and formulaic Sarcastic compliments Deceptive compliments
People can have mixed motives
Making social moves- Conclusion
There are various kinds of speech acts A conversation between interactants depends on
different influencing factors Women are more polite than men because they are
more other orientated Men are more interested in establishing their
autonomy Social moves are not only in face-to-face
conversational interactions, they can also occur in the mass media
Positioning ideas and subjects- Contents
1. Introduction
2. Women‘s language and gendered positioning
3. Showing deference or respect?
4. Addressing
5. Conclusion
Positioning ideas and subjects- Introduction
Positioning ideas and subjects Discourse: What happens when we talk? How do we “take positions“? Two aspects of discourse positioning:
1. We position ourselves through meaningful content
2. Through the “role“ we take: pupil, judge, clown, sympathetic friend, storyteller, etc.
Positioning ideas and subjects- Women’s language and gendered positioning
Robin Lakoff (American linguist) made experiments in the early 1970s
Typical for women‘s language: Tag questions (e.g. It is terrible, isn‘t it?) Rising intonation on declaratives (e.g. Husband:
When will dinner be ready? Wife: Six o‘clock? The use of various kinds of hedges (“That‘s
kinda sad“ or “it‘s probably dinnertime“)
Positioning ideas and subjects- Women’s language and gendered positioning
Boosters or amplifiers (“I‘m so glad you‘re here“) Indirection (saying something like: “ Well, I have got
a dentist appointment then“.) Diminutives (e.g. panties) Euphemism (going to the bathroom instead of pee
or piss)
powerless language
Positioning ideas and subjects- Showing deference and respect
Showing respect generally looks very much the same as showing deference
Deference involves not only respect: it also implies placing others‘ claims above one‘s own, subordinating own‘s own rights to those of others
Ritual deference Question of position and also status
Positioning ideas and subjects- Addressing (1)
Sensitive indicators of how speakers are positioning the addressees
Comparison: English vs. German English:
Sir, ma‘am, social titles like Dr., Mr. or Mrs.
assign high position and respect First name: indicates familarity, solidarity or that
you do not respect the other person
Positioning ideas and subjects- Addressing (2)
German: “du“ (singular) and “Sie“ (plural) “du“: more intimate, familiar or when you talk to
children “Sie“: shows respect
Several centuries ago: hierarchy was more important
English had distinction, too: “thou“ (singular) and “you“ (plural)
Positioning ideas and subjects- Conclusion
Positioning is a very important part of discourse Differences between women and men Differences because of age and social status as well Question of respect
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Contents
1. Languages, dialects and varieties
2. The linguistic market
3. Language ideologies and linguistic varieties
4. Gender and the use of linguistic varieties
5. Whose speech is more standard?
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Language, dialects and varieties
Children learn a particular language with a particular variety
Children, who have contact to different communities might grow up speaking more than one variety
Bilingualism: learning two languages with two varieties not just grammatically, but strategically
Differences in dialects can be very subtle Grammatical differences Phonological differences by which we
distinguish regional dialects
Working the Market: Use of varieties- The linguistic market
“Right” linguistic varieties can facilitate access to positions and situations of societal power
“Wrong” linguistic varieties can block such access Standard language is normally the language of
societal power also used at the global market Locally based varieties are commonly referred to as
vernaculars and are used at the local market Vernaculars may be distinct languages from the
standard or they may be alternative varieties of the same language
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Language, ideologies and linguistic varieties (1)
Members of elite classes are and speak a more global / standard language Is designed to unite diverse populations Is associated with rationality, stability and with
impersonal and formalized communications Symbolizes the objective knowledge from global
sources Is associated with refinement
One’s linguistic variety can enhance one’s chances in economic life
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Language, ideologies and linguistic varieties (2)
Local language represents membership and loyalty to a local community
Is associated with personal and affective engagement
Knowledge and judgement function in a different realm
Is associated with physical, practical knowledge, roughness and toughness
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Gender and the use of linguistic varieties
Requires access to the communities in which the variety is used and the right to use it
Being in the workplace may provide greater access to certain varieties
Marriage opportunities may also play a role Social networks may also lead to differential
linguistic patterns Modernization tended to affect men´s work before it
affected women´s work Different employment opportunities for women in
general
Working the Market: Use of varieties- Whose speech is more standard?
It is commonly claimed that women’s speech and grammar is regularly more standard than men’s
Possibly the educational patterns put women more in the standard language market than men
Men use reductions more often than women Socio-economic difference is greater among women
than among men