AUCS 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Diminutive, Tag Question, Interrupt
9 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Expresses Cultural Views of Gender
● Language is most complex symbol system
● Language reflects and reinforces cultural views and values
Male Generic Language
● Includes men and women but only refers to men
● Research shows generic language leads many to assume only male included
● Evidence male language not perceived as generic
● Major dictionaries and newspapers now avoid it
● Writing manuals caution against its use
Discourage spotlighting
● Highlighting a person’s sex
● Lady doctor
Language Defines Men and women Differently
● Women defined by appearance or relationship with others
● Men defined by activities or positions
Coverage of women’s sports
● Focuses more on women’s appearance than skill
Coverage of rape or abuse
● Irrelevant descriptions of victims
Language Defines Men and Women Differently
● Language reflects social views of women as passive and men as active in terms of
sexual activity
● Men expected to initiate
● Language makes that seem acceptable
● Language reflects view women defined by relationship with others
● On TV, women depicted in interpersonal contexts
● 2016 primary, comments on Hillary Clinton’s appearance
● In past, American unmarried women called spinsters and old maids
● Alternatives to traditional ways of naming ourselves:
● Some women choose to retain birth name when marry
● Some men and women adopt hyphenated names
Language Shapes Awareness of Gendered Issues
● Naming is important
● Previously sexual harassment not named
● Not visible, making difficult to stop
● When coined public recognized as unwanted behavior
● Women raped on date had no way of naming
● Language not static
● Change language to change understandings
● We reject terms
● We create new ones
● As modify language, we change our world
Language Organizes Perceptions of Gender
● Stereotype is generalization about entire class of phenomena
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Language reflects and reinforces cultural views and values. Includes men and women but only refers to men. Research shows generic language leads many to assume only male included. Evidence male language not perceived as generic. Major dictionaries and newspapers now avoid it. Women defined by appearance or relationship with others. Focuses more on women"s appearance than skill. Language reflects social views of women as passive and men as active in terms of sexual activity. Language reflects view women defined by relationship with others. On tv, women depicted in interpersonal contexts. 2016 primary, comments on hillary clinton"s appearance. Alternatives to traditional ways of naming ourselves: Some women choose to retain birth name when marry. Some men and women adopt hyphenated names. In past, american unmarried women called spinsters and old maids. When coined public recognized as unwanted behavior. Women raped on date had no way of naming. As modify language, we change our world.
