Language & Gender Xmas Essay

Evaluate the notion that male language is superior and more authoritative when compared to female language.

Overtime, there has been a heavy and heated argument over male and female language and whose is more superior in this case. It has been indepthly studied by several linguists, some arguing on one hand that male language has and always will be more superior due to the twisted gender norms existent in our modern, patriarchal society today, but others still hold rigid views at the opposite end of the spectrum conveying that there is evidence that female language is not as incapacitated as many may think. Nevertheless, in this essay I will prove to you that in a body, despite immense progress in women's language throughout time, that male language is in fact more superior and more authoritative when compared to female language.

A debate to support this statement that male language is more superior and authoritative to female language is to firstly contrast their differences in language through a biological aspect. An article from newspaper 'The Guardian' called 'Male and Female brains: the REAL differences' helps to outline this as the confirmation proving the differences which came from the study has been roundly criticised by neuroscientists. However, they discovered some genuine differences that simply can't be denied. The article uses the lexical term 'confirms' in inverted commas to reinforce the idea that it's easy to 'confirm' even the most surreal of notions with brain imaging techniques, as well as putting emphasis on not only the term but the topic as a whole. However, more towards the point - The Guardian states there have been scientific factors discovered such as genetics, location, size, connections, pain sensation and specialisation which all link to the brain and how different parts of male and female's brains contrast. They suggest that male brains are bigger which could evoke they have more knowledge, as their brains are 'hardwired to be paid more, occupy more powerful roles and positions etc' whereas the female brain is 'hardwired to get more harassment and oppression, develop worrying obsessions with physical appearance'. The adjective 'hardwired' automatically makes the reader assume that men's authority is a natural trait, and society has only had a little influence in shaping their identity. It also makes out men to be seen as more superior to women not only mentally but physically too while trying to communicate.

A theorist who supports the view that women are the weaker sex in terms of language, automatically putting men in a position of authority and superiorness is Robin Lakoff. Lakoff, who created the Deficit Approach (1975) asserted that in a nutshell, women's language is more polite and because they are better well mannered, the features they use demonstrate their weakness. He also conveys the attitude that women are 'socialised to believe that asserting themselves strongly isn't nice or ladylike or even feminine' which could evoke why the amount of time women get to speak is sparse, due to women being held back over speaking up by men. Although a critism of Lakoff's approach is that it is outdated as it is over 40 years old, so the accuracy of his findings could be questioned as they may no longer be relevant. Despite this, the fact that women's femininity is being questioned here shows the extent of how inferior they are compared to the opposite sex which makes the age of Lakoff's findings inapplicable in this case.

Another reason that helps to prove that men's language is more superior is to look at how those labelled as an authority figure view gendered language. Let's take Professor Richard Lynn for example, who is known as one of Britain's 'top dons'. In an article he made for the daily mail, he highlighted in the title 'Sorry, men ARE more brainy than women'. Firstly, the adjective 'Sorry' at the beginning of this syntax demonstrates an unapologetic tone as clearly the writer does not want to apologise for admitting the truth. This is the followed by the conjunction 'ARE' in capital letters which reinforces the idea that this is a straight fact that deserves no argument. The adjective 'brainy' also used in this syntax suggests that again, men's authority and knowledge is being referred back to the power of science. The article then discusses the psychologists perspectives on the lexical term 'ingtellegence' - as it is described to be made up of a range of cognitive abilities including reasoning, problem solving, spatial ability, general knowledge and memory. In all of these, men outperform women which helps to explain why in terms of evolutionary psychology, men have emerged as the more intellegent sex. They have possessed far sharper minds of those of women and their superior foreign language skills also help to explain this. For that reason, this knowledge could imply why men hold such a high status as they use their intellgence over women in their everyday language to be more provocative.

However, not everyone would agree with this viewpoint as some hold the belief that simply not all women's language is inferior and in some cases can even be seen as superior to men's. This is coincidential as a male individual who argues this who again, is known as an authority figure, is the previous president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, who has had high experience in language in various regions and nationalities from all the speeches he's made and political debates he has encountered. In an online opinion article taken from The Guardian, author Julie Bindel, a lifelong feminist, freelance journalist and political activist, proposes that due to the forcefulness of patriarchy, women are evidently more competent than men. She believes that after years of living in an unequal society, women have developed certain skills as a result of this tyranny, and she even enforces that as Barack Obama argues, women make better bosses and leaders because "men seem to be having some problems these days". As well as this, linguist Deborah Cameron shares this different perspective with her modern (2008) Dynamic Approach. Cameron challenges the ideas by Lakoff that language between men and women is different as she expresses "the idea that men and women...use language in very different ways and for very different reasons is one of the great myths of our time."  The lexical term 'myth' metaphorically used here is implying that she doesn't believe in the idea of supposed miscommunication. Almost as if it's a fairytale. Her work is also representative of recent language and gender studies that have moved away from categorising male and female speech styles as polarised, as well as analysing gender identities, how speakers perform and construct them and how language is influenced by stereotypes. Similarily, theorist and psychologist Janet Hyde, also contributed to the Dynamic Approach in 2005 but with her gender similarities hypothesis. She practically refuses that men are indeed more superior as she states there are more similarities than differences in male and female language and that gender does not really make much of an impact. She says where there are differences, they may be due to other variables such as age, class, ethnicity etc.

To conclude, it is obvious that men's language is more superior and authoritative than women's. Despite gendered language reflecting the enduring issues society faces on a day to day basis, and therefore helping to imply sexist ideas, there still remains an abundance of evidence to support this statement and further research has too. It is highly likely that this notion will stay relevant for years to come regardless of gradual change or progress in language.

Accent and Dialect Exam Question

To what extent do you agree that accent and dialect is a performance of our identity?

I completely agree that accent and dialect is a performance of our identity and has been progressively over time. This is because in modern society, different types of groups speak with different ethnolects. This is most evident in grime artists outside London who have hugely increased in popularity as the culture has become much more widespread.

Furthermore, I also believe that the growth of MLE transforming into MUBE (Multicultural Urban British English) has produced further evidence to suggest that our accent is a performance of our identity, which is often a conscious decision. I maintain this because adding to the impact grime music has on modern society, many artists from various ethnicities and different backgrounds have become more well known as they seem to have the bigger influence on listeners. Initially, grime artists from other regions adopted MLE as a way of emulating the successful London movement, however gradually regional variation began to slip through which eventually made some grime artists outside London decide to rap in their own dialects, with some not choosing to mask this part of their identity. Therefore they are using their ethnolinguistic repertoire of music to identify themselves in a powerful way.

However, the performance of our identity being controlled by accent and dialect can not always be portrayed in a positive way. Instead, it sometimes has the ability to expose individuals true identities. This is proven by the controversial hip-hop persona Iggy Azalea. In a post published on 'Linguabishes', linguists reveal the false identity that Azalea shows through being a part of the music industry. She is not only conveyed to perpetuate several stereotypes but shows her complete ignorance and obliviousness through the non-regional lexical terms she uses in the content she produces and by not sticking to her true language background which several other white rappers have demonstrated they are capable off.

So, in conclusion, despite accent and dialect illustrating the pros and the cons of them being a performance of our identity, I still completely agree that is what it really is in any circumstance, as it can also be interpreted as a type of socialisation that helps us develop into a community and shapes us as an individual in society.

Iggy Azalea LinguaBishes Article Summary

In this article, it is discussed through in depth linguistic analysis by linguists such as Maeve Eberhardt and Kara Freeman about how music artist Iggy Azalea, also known as a hip-hop persona, is a reference for linguistic appropriation as she uses her white privilege to identify herself but in an ignorant way that doesn't meet cultural standards or expectations. It suggests that in this era, 2018, there are plenty of artists in the industry successfully monetising hip hop and black culture who are white, which is significant as white people now comprise the majority of listeners. There are also many white rappers such as Eminem who is approved of as they stay true to their language backgrounds by only using the linguistic features he grew up with and not trying to portray another image or cross over into linguistic varieties from groups they don't belong to. This is comparison to people such as 'linguistic blackface' Azalea who is described to not only promote several stereotypes including her hyper-sexuality and support subvert standards as for example she stated in one of her interviews 'everybody loves a pretty white girl' which implies her lack of knowledge towards the importance of race in the US. Therefore the article as a whole criticises the fact Azalea uses her music as a way so obliviously to make herself known and more popular by using non-regional lexical items so freely and using AAE (African American English) features in her performances, ignoring their grammatical rules which is an issue as it can be seen as supporting a racist status.

https://linguabishes.com/2018/01/01/first-things-first-im-the-realest/

Regional Variations: Changing London Dialects Tasks

Task 1: Cockney Accent Article Summary - James Orr
In the article, the writer immediately states that Cockney rhyming slang is dying out 'amid London's diverse, multicultural society'. This is due to almost half of the people who polled, which were Londoners, having a lack of recognition towards certain words spoken in their society. It is also becoming noticable that much more new rhyming slang is being invented, so the idea of Cockney rhyming slang dying out is becoming much more widespread due to this and the fact that it orignially started out as a code language for London thieves who stopped using it once people began to find out what particular words meant.

Task 2:

1. Nikesh Shukla believes that 'Cockney rhyming slang is nang' as the title of her article suggests. He thinks Cockney is no longer spoken in East London and that it has moved to Essex with the minority.

2. He believes that rhyming slang is being replaced by the entry of different communities making the language more multicultural.

3. The reasons he gives for this is because people are moving from elsewhere to Cockney and they all 'need a new language' to represent us and our 'manors, our yard, our ends'.

4. The origins of MLE (multicultural London English) are that at first rhyming slang was in the East Ends of London, but ever since it has moved due to society becoming more multicultural, therefore people of other languages and cultures who have migrated have influenced slang making it more widespread.

Task 3: Paul Kerswill:
Summary of his ideas:
- Paul Kerswill was a professor of socio-linguistics at York University who said that there are two things going on, youth slang that many people use but also core users of MLE and to them it is a dialect and an accent. It doesn't have to have slang in it. He states 'it's a new kind of Cockney in a way.'

1. The main linguistic elements of MLE are...
- Linguistic researchers / professors identified the 'new cockney hybrid dialect
- It has West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots. (What the dialect has been influenced by) and it was originally named Jafaican - fake Jamaican .
- The dialect is most prevalent in East London, among people with few oppurtunities.

2. It has developed from West Indian, South Asian, Cockney and Estuary roots and the dialect has been helped to popularise by famous individuals such as rap artist Dizzee Rascal and Hackney born actor Idris Elba.

3. People use it because if they are one of the core speakers in the East End of London, where they have low opportunities, they use MLE to speak differently, using it as an 'exclusionary strategy' as one of the mechanisms when people find themselves unable to make progress in life or are discriminated against.

4. You can relate this to William Labov due to his findings on Martha's vineyard in 1961. This is because Labov was interested in how social class affected language usage, therefore it can be related as MLE is used in places such as the East End of London, a place where people have low opportunities, so you can investigate how the less fortunate people are affected in contrast to different parts of the population - to see how the results vary and if your social class actually determines this.

Language and Gender Exam Question

Discuss the idea that women and men use language differently.
In your answer you should discuss concepts and issues from language study. You should use your own supporting examples and the data in Table 1.

There is a heavy, long winded debate over the fact that women and men use language differently, held by several linguists. Many argue that women's language is inferior, and the linguistic techniques they use in attempt of communicating are seen as weak or unnecessary therefore they are belittled for it. This is in large comparison to male's whose language is seen as more authoritative, in a more naturalistic way as they are labelled to be the more dominant sex, who are less likely to be criticised or questioned for every little thing they do. Simultaneously, men and women do hold some similarities in their language but these are not as common as the differences both of the genders portray. Nevertheless, in this essay I will argue that in a body, the idea that men and women hold a variety of differences is a certainty and a number of theorists will also help me to explain why...

As the data in table 1 suggests, female speakers contrast a considerable amount to the five male speakers. This is proven through the difference in the average number of seconds per turn. Like Table 1 shows, women get a lot less time to speak in comparison to men which could immediately illustrate the dominance men hold over women. A theorist who then supports this idea that this is the attitude conveyed is Robin Lakoff, who created the Deficit Approach (1975). Lakoff asserted that women are 'socialised to believe that asserting themselves strongly isn't nice or ladylike or even feminine' which could suggest why women get a sparse amount of time to speak than men because they are held back over speaking up. This is again established through the theorist's identification of faulty characteristics in women's language, more specifically through their use of hedges, fillers alongside tag questions which Lakoff says women only use to seek validation from men or because they are too talkative and indecisive. Therefore this could evoke the significant difference in social status between men and women, however this approach is argued against by linguist Pamela Fishman who declares tag questions are only used to start dialogue, arguing against the fact that women use them to seek validation from men and instead accepts this is primarily down to male dominance as they are reluctant to the usual conversation starting as they label it as 'shitwork'. So, there is a shorter average for women in the time they have to speak than men as demonstrated in table 1 because asking questions requires longer responses.

Another point to show that women and men use language differently is through Zimmerman and West's dominance approach (1975). This theory discusses that during mixed-sex conversations, men are more likely to interrupt than women, and this concluded is then proven in table 1 as the men's 'did interrupt' average was once again higher than women's. They argue that this is again a reflection of male dominance in society, however Beattie criticises this approach as he questioned interruptions being a reflect of interest and involvement and interestingly when he repeated the experiment, the results contradicted the findings of Zimmerman and West as he found that women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency. Table 1 also reinforces this idea as Woman D and Man E have the same average result of 2.0 on interrupting per meeting, so this disproportionate result could change everything. It's agreeable, the majority of theorists help to prove that there is a difference between how men and women differentiate but additionally, multiple sources such as newspapers, online articles or even documentaries have helped to support this idea too. Take 'The Guardian' for example, and it's article 'Do men and women speak the same language?'. This is where it is debated whether there is a language barrier in communication between men and women and if it is truism or not. It endorses that this difference is a 'Mars-and-Venus theory' reinforcing the idea that the gap between the two could be so big that it could be elucidated as being even worlds away. Although this could be disputed as throughout time, the topic of male and females and the stigma that surrounds the equality between theme as made sufficient progress. But who really knows?

Furthermore, the hypothesis that dominance is the main lead to miscommunication in language between men and women, likewise to Zimmerman and West's theory as mentioned previously, and resulting in their differences is again supported by another linguist, Deborah Tannen. Tannen created the Difference Approach in 1990 where she claimed six main differences between the ways men and women use language, one of which that assists the data given in the first column of table 1 is 'status vs support'. Men on one hand see language as a means of asserting dominance, whereas women see it from a more positive perspective as a way of confirming or supporting ideas, but sometimes by unintentionally encouraging men. This proposes that women aim for more positive politeness strategies and that men are less supportive and complimentary to each other. This then could be an accurate evaluation as it is proven multiple times in different forms of speech that men usually take control over many conversations, but in the theory alone she is missing concrete evidence to back this statement up, therefore this approach could be criticised as Tannen is perpetuating stereotypes as it is clear that not all gender's are the same and in society, communication and language skills are bound to differ based on different cultures, classes or ethnicities so it is wrong to imply your gender is the only feature that determines this. Maybe this topic as a whole is simply just one big misinterpretation.

Language and Gender - Opinion Article

NEWSFLASH: WOMEN'S EXISTENCE CRITICISED (AGAIN?)

Now, let me introduce to you the problem with gendered language. At first, women, do you really appreciate being labelled with the terms 'chick', 'sugar', or even 'tart'? A few of these terms can be seen as very endearing to a woman from the perspective of a man. But when it comes to certain nicknames for men such as being called 'sweetheart', it can be taken as very patronising as it somehow questions their masculinity, as linquist Janet Holmes also argues. For centuries, the English language has discriminated against women, and many theorists have contributed to this oppression. Just for a minute, could men stop using their advantage to portray women as the weaker sex? Please? Also, how has semantic derogation always been acceptable in society over time? I support Dale Spender's belief in his Dominance Approach that language is inherently antrocentric. Meaning that although women have progressively made their turn in language throughout time, the power and control men have always seemed to have over each other and especially women, unfortunately proven through emotional abuse and domestic violence, has always been there. Always will. Although this does not mean I agree with a 'man made language' in the slightest! I believe that both genders should have an equal say in their language, and there is pages full of evidence to prove that this is a widespread opinion for many.

There are several theorists who published reports in the late 20th century to prove the evidence that women are deficient, therefore state all the continuous biases women experience over time.  One of which is Deborah Tannen, who created the idea of the 'difference approach' which, as the title indicates, the theory is about how males and females truly differ, and how men and women belong to different subcultures and preferences. She expresses this in her book 'You Just Don't Understand' where she claims she identified six main differences between the ways men and women use language. However, this approach avoids 'blaming' men for being dominant, and avoids suggesting women's speech is inferior. It can therefore be criticised for not only perpetuating stereotypes and missing concrete evidence, but it also separating men and women into binary groups and excluding transgender and non binary people. Theorist Jennifer Coates then looks at all female conversation and builds on Deborah Tannen's ideas as she argues all female talk is cooperative and that speakers negotiate discussions and support each other's rights as speakers, but these patterns are not found in mixed sex talk.

However, on a not so positive note, there are also theorists who unequivocally criticise women for pretty much everything they do. Would it be possible for individuals to tone down on making women feel inferior just this once? Let's take Robin Lakoff and his 'Deficit Approach' for example. Lakoff says that women use less assertive language such as the common use of tag questions to seek validation from men, and take longer to get to the point solely because of this. But maybe we just take longer getting to the point through natural instinct? I personally don't see how a male's influence could contribute to this, and neither does a criticiser of this approach, Pamela Fishman, who argues against the fact women use tag questions to seek validation and instead accepts this is primarily down to male dominance, as they are reluctant to conversation starting as they label it as 'shitwork' so instead use tag questions to start dialogue. Furthermore, O'Barr and Atkins support this as not only did they study the language of the courtroom and found that female lawyers to be assertive and interrupt, but also found that witnesses of both sexes would use Lakoff's weak 'female language' and concluded these 'weak' language traits are actually a 'powerless language' rather than a 'female language'. Deficient? Dominated? DONE. This is laughable now really.
For the record, I'm female. Though just because I'm female, doesn't mean I hate men. It also does not make me insensitive. Yes, I agree men's authority can be taking over the rights of women's language, and the prejudice women receive from this is happening on a frequent basis. Too often. And certain linguists are certainly not helping. But just because this is happening doesn't mean we're going to hold ourselves against the opposite sex forever, right? We have a choice, to be critical and react to this issue in an nonsensical way or to be a part of the solution. Isn't equality what we want?

Language and Gender Article Summary

'Is Your Communication Style Dictated By Your Gender?' https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2016/03/31/is-your-communication-style-dictated-by-your-gender/#dbcc3d5eb9d3

This article was written by Carol Kinsey Goman who opens her piece with a reference to the research she conducted. She conducted research in different countries such as the United States, Europe and Canada to see how gender differences in communication were displayed in the workplace. An advantage of this research is that it shows cultural validity, as the research was not only conducted in one country but another two others. The variation of this will give a clearer indication of how gender differences truly differ and if they differ in some countries more than others. Although the fact she firstly found the same sets of strengths and weaknesses identified in both men and women in themselves and each other may prove otherwise. Although the fact that these results were taken from a workplace, they may be bias in comparison to how men and women communicate in every day life as men are seen to be more authoritative at work as they feel they have more power and dominance over women as they're the original 'business owners' and want to stick to their status. Whereas women, as stated in their top three weaknesses by the writer, may be 'overly emotional' as they have a lot more on their plate such as domestic duties, 'meandering', they won't get to the point as women tend to commonly go off topic in their speech about other things or they're interrupted by the man and 'not authoritative' as that is portrayed as the male's role only. However despite what Goman's research suggests in this article, and that being all very accurate describing men and women's different ways of communicating, it has changed immensely overtime where women have gained more freedom of speech.