Les One/Two Gender Language and Media

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Language and Gender

Speech practices associated with gender.

Not all members of a particular sex may follow the specific gender roles that are prescribed by society. The patterns in gender and communication that follow are only the norms for each gender, and not every member of the corresponding sex may fit into those patterns.

Minimal responses[edit]

One of the ways in which the communicative behavior of men and women differ is in their use of minimal responses, i.e., paralinguistic features such as ‘mhm’ and ‘yeah’, which is behaviour associated with collaborative language use.[23] Men, on the other hand, generally use them less frequently and where they do, it is usually to show agreement, as Don Zimmerman and Candace West’s study of turn-taking in conversation indicates.[24]

While the above can be true in some contexts and situations, studies that dichotomize the communicative behavior of men and women may run the risk of over-generalization. For example, "minimal responses appearing "throughout streams of talk", such as "mm" or "yeah", not only function to display active listening and interest and are not always signs of "support work", as Fishman (1978) claims. They can - as more detailed analysis of minimal responses show—signal understanding, demonstrate agreement, indicate scepticism or a critical attitude, demand clarification or show surprise".[25] In other words, both male and female participants in a conversation can employ these minimal responses for interactive functions, rather than gender-specific functions.

Questions[edit]

Men and women differ in their use of questions in conversations. For men, a question is usually a genuine request for information whereas with women it can often be a rhetorical means of engaging the other’s conversational contribution or of acquiring attention from others conversationally involved, techniques associated with a collaborative approach to language use.[26] Therefore women use questions more frequently.[11][27] In writing, however, both genders use rhetorical questions as literary devices. For example, Mark Twain used them in "A War Prayer" to provoke the reader to question his actions and beliefs. Tag questions are frequently used to verify or confirm information, though in women’s language they may also be used to avoid making strong statements.[3]

Turn-taking[edit]

As the work of Victoria DeFrancisco shows, female linguistic behaviour characteristically encompasses a desire to take turns in conversation with others, which is opposed to men’s tendency towards centering on their own point or remaining silent when presented with such implicit offers of conversational turn-taking as are provided by hedges such as "y’ know" and "isn’t it".[28] This desire for turn-taking gives rise to complex forms of interaction in relation to the more regimented form of turn-taking commonly exhibited by men.[29]

Changing the topic of conversation[edit]

According to Bruce Dorval in his study of same-sex friend interaction, males tend to change subject more frequently than females.[30] This difference may well be at the root of the conception that women chatter and talk too much. Goodwin (1990) observes that girls and women link their utterances to previous speakers and develop each other topics, rather than introducing new topics.[31]

However, a study of young American couples and their interactions reveal that while women raise twice as many topics as men, it is the men's topics that are usually taken up and subsequently elaborated in the conversation.[25]

Self-disclosure

Female tendencies toward self-disclosure, i.e., sharing their problems and experiences with others, often to offer sympathy,[32] contrasts with male tendencies to non-self disclosure and professing advice or offering a solution when confronted with another’s problems.[9]

Verbal aggression[edit]

Aggression can be defined by its three intersecting counterparts: indirect, relational and social. Indirect aggression occurs when the victim is attacked through covert and concealed attempts to cause social suffering. Examples are gossiping, exclusion or ignoring of the victim. Relational aggression, while similar to indirect, is more resolute in its attentions. It can be a threat to terminate a friendship or spreading false rumors. The third type of aggression, social aggression, "is directed toward damaging another’s self-esteem, social status, or both, and may take direct forms such as verbal rejection, negative facial expressions or body movements, or more indirect forms such as slanderous rumors or social exclusion." [37] This third type has become more common in adolescent, both male and female, behavior.[38]

Listening and attentiveness[edit]

In a conversation, meaning does not reside in the words spoken, but it filled in by the person listening. Each person decides if they think others are speaking in the spirit of differing status or symmetrical connection. The likelihood that individuals will tend to interpret someone else's words as one or the other depends more on the hearer's own focus, concerns, and habits than on the spirit in which the words were intended.[9]

It appears that women attach more weight than men to the importance of listening in conversation, with its connotations of power to the listener as confidant of the speaker. This attachment of import by women to listening is inferred by women’s normally lower rate of interruption — i.e., disrupting the flow of conversation with a topic unrelated to the previous one[45] — and by their largely increased use of minimal responses in relation to men.[24] Men, however, interrupt far more frequently with non-related topics, especially in the mixed sex setting and, far from rendering a female speaker's responses minimal, are apt to greet her conversational spotlights with silence, as the work of Victoria DeFrancisco demonstrates

Dominance versus subjection[edit]

This, in turn, suggests a dichotomy between a male desire for conversational dominance – males speaking more verbosely than their female counterparts – and a female aspiration to group conversational participation.[46] , that males are afforded more attention in the context of the classroom and that this can lead to their gaining more attention in scientific and technical subjects, which in turn can lead to their achieving better success in those areas, ultimately leading to their having more power in a technocratic society. Women feel it is crucial that they be liked by their peers. Their communication is based on building and maintaining relationships. Men place a high priority on power and their communication styles will reflect their desire to maintain their status in the relationship. Men tend to tell stories – joke that focus on themselves. Women are less concerned with their own power and their stories revolve not around themselves but around others. They tend to downplay their own roles.

Politeness[edit]

Lakoff (1975) identified three forms of politeness: formal, deference, and camaraderie. Women's language is characterized by formal and deference politeness, whereas men’s language is exemplified by camaraderie.[3]

It is a truism that men and women do not
communicate in the same way. But is there really any evidence to support this Mars-and-Venus theory?

In 1975 Robin Lakoff identified a "women's register," which she argued served to maintain women's (inferior) role in society.[3] Lakoff argued that women tend to use linguistic forms that reflect and reinforce a subordinate role. These include tag questions, question intonation, and "weak" directives, among others

Directives – way of giving instructions

But remember the glottal fry of Kim Kardashian we looked at in September. There is a change. But many don’t take this change seriously and we still look down upon the way a woman talks. Vocal fry has been criticised for making women sound 'ditsy' and 'unintelligent'. Academics have even been known to describe it as a speech impediment

Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. Sociolinguistics differs from sociology of language in that the focus of sociolinguistics is the effect of the society on the language, while the sociology of language focuses on language's effect on the society. It is historically closely related to linguistic anthropology and the distinction between the two fields has even been questioned recently.

Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of study that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems

Genderlect A variety of speech or conversational style used by a particular gender.

Homework - look at selections below and write a 500 word summary / analysis of your ideas in your notebook. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuJ4SdJCPoo (men vs women :speech)

http://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/classes/sum07/myths/myths4-gender.pdf

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books

 

Lesson Two

Close eyes. Imagine your room as a square. You are standing in the middle facing NORTH 

For women, as for girls, intimacy is the fabric of relationships, and talk is the thread from which it is woven.

STRONGLY AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE

Little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets; similarly, women regard conversation as the cornerstone of friendship. So a woman expects her husband to be a new and improved version of a best friend. What is important is not the individual subjects that are discussed but the sense of closeness, of a life shared, that emerges when people tell their thoughts, feelings, and impressions.

Some men really don't like to listen, because being the listener makes them feel one-down, like a child listening to adults or an employee to a boss.

STRONGLY AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE

Deborah Tanner

The irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.

Linguistic Battle of the Sexes  research showing that children's development is most influenced by the social structure of peer interactions. Boys and girls tend to play with children of their own gender, and their sex-separate groups have different organizational structures and interactive norms.

 these systematic differences in childhood socialization make talk between women and men like cross-cultural communication, heir to all the attraction and pitfalls of that enticing but difficult enterprise. My research on men's and women's conversations uncovered patterns similar to those described for children's groups.

Little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets; similarly, women regard conversation as the cornerstone of friendship. 

Bonds between boys can be as intense as girls', but they are based less on talking, more on doing things together. Since they don't assume talk is the cement that binds a relationship, men don't know what kind of talk women want, and they don't miss it when it isn't there.

Boys' groups are larger, more inclusive, and more hierarchical, so boys must struggle to avoid the subordinate position in the group. This may play a role in women's complaints that men don't listen to them. Some men really don't like to listen, because being the listener makes them feel one-down, like a child listening to adults or an employee to a boss.

Use of language new forms of communication, such as email, text messaging and instant messaging are also gender focused.

STRONGLY AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE

Could this be a starting point for a higher level essay?

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl". 

                          Shirley Chisholm. 

Men are dogs and women are cats. Women are from Venus and men are from Mars. Writers, filmmakers, psychologists, and advertisers all have used the idea that men and women are different to develop stories, create conflict, and provide persuasive imagery. Not only do advertisers view men and women differently, but men and women also bring different perspectives to advertising. Thus, we can assume that men and women create different meanings from the advertisements they see. Gender roles in our society have changed dramatically since the 1950’s.

In the 1940’s women represented about 20% of the workforce. Women stayed home and men were the breadwinner. Women worked very hard but few were employed. Often through facial expressions, body language, captions, diction and other stylistic and structural devices the stereotype was constructed through association.

This Tide ad from the 1950s errs on the side of the stereotypical, by assuming that all women want to get Tide detergent, under the broader assumption that all women are responsible for the cleaning duties in their homes (as if all men didn't want their clothes cleaned). I guess political correctness was a distant concept for ads during the '50s

What was the housewife culture in the 1950s?

Crazy things we told housewives in the 1950s | CBC Life

Not only did the women of the 1950s have to make exciting meals, ensure their children are well behaved without disciplining them excessively, keep their home smelling lemon fresh and always look appealing for their husbands, they had to make it all look easy.

This association and then appeal to probability. Texts depict and describe situations in which the reader must make various assumptions in order for the text to be meaningful. It is an argumentation fallacy in which something is taken for granted because it would probably be the case. Consider the attitudes of the readers who would read the ketchup advert in the 1930's. Look at the title and his smile. In the text below it speaks about your husband being not unreasonable and he can be satisfied with simple, inexpensive foods. So that's why thoughful housewives are never without a bottle of Heinz. There is also a signature from the President of Heinz about how tasting is done - Ethos

Change in status – now world wide 70% of women are in the workforce. And more importantly there is a huge change in their power as consumers.

Advertisers want to get their message across. They provide the message and then see what the consumer does with it. So they take great pains to study how men and women receive and evaluate information.

Stereotypes are built through association. For example, tv shows constantly depict male police officers eating doughnuts and fatty foods. Consequently viewers assume that most police officers are overweight men - a stereotype is born. .

What should we be aware of in stereotyping Stereotypes can often lead to prejudices—which are formed opinions about a person that are not based on actual experience or reason and could lead to favoring one person or group against another. Remarks about race, politics, sex and gender are often based on the most common stereotypes.

On the other hand why do we need them?we use stereotypes to simplify our social world and reduce the amount of processing (i.e. thinking) we have to do when meeting a new person by categorising them under a 'preconceived marker' of similar attributes, features, or attitudes that we observe.

https://www.quebec.ca/en/family-and-support-for-individuals/childhood/child-development/effects-stereotypes-personal-development/definition-stereotypes

Read from phones

Men look at the message and want direct instruction - BUY this beer.

Men process ideas and make decisions more quickly. Men have a more linear thinking and reasoning style, focus on one message and take in little other information during the process. More task oriented.

Neurologically men’s processing is done throughout the brain.

Women wish to create meaning from the message. They get – buy this beer and then you will be popular and trendy.

They evaluate the primary message but also using intuition pick up clues. Women focus on the visuals, music, mis een scene and then evaluate and weigh the various sources to what has been said. Women have a non-lineair process and build on the previous information that is being processed.

This process appears on the frontal lobe which is generally used for planning and multi-tasking.

The tendandancy of women to being shown as assertive and masculin in ads appeal to the younger women.

Women rarely see themselves in athletic sports only if they actually play that specific sports. Where as men have images of themselves as athletes even if they don’t play any sports at all.

Surprisingly society still tends to focus on the ‘goodness of the 1950’s’ Women are still in the role of homemaker even though many hold corporate jobs and are leading in the medical and teaching field.

Therefore women are used to promote not only the household products but also cars and computers

Karl Lagerveld on fashion models.

How does this apply to this lesson?

scoop.upworthy.com

If time - check this out as homework. Possible BOW but then you must write your thoughts on the ideas and apply the theory learned today.