A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese

Instructor: Nguyn Ngc V
Student: Bi An Nh Qunh
Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

Introduction

Language, one of the most essential means of communication of human beings, does
not only reflect social reality but maintain the society as well. From this point of view,
especially in the field of sex, language serves the functions of both reflecting and influence
human conception of sex. This can be inferred that whenever there is sexism in the society,
it can be reflected in the way people use language and, vice versa, people can eliminate
sexism using language. As a consequence, being aware of this issue helps to make the
world equitable and this comes to the essential responsibility of language teaching.
Language teaching can help learners to understand not only the language itself but also get
to know the culture or the perception of people using the language in order to have a better
use of it. For that reason, in this paper, I would like to make use of my knowledge on
contrastive analysis to analyze similarities and differences in some situations in which
sexism occurs in the two mentioned languages and some solutions, which have been
conducted so far with a view to avoiding sexism in both languages.

First of all, according to University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), sexism
in language is the use of language that fosters gender inequity by devalueing, in most
cases, women. In other words, sexism discriminates against women by belittling their roles
in the society and, at the same time, maintaining male predominance. Actually there are
cases when sexist language has biased conception toward men, for example, people
sometimes say that: The girl is so rude as if she were a boy. This means boys are
considered to be rude while girls are commonly not. However, due to the fact that women
are not well appreciated, especially in eastern countries, sexism has greater effect on
female gender and this reflects in language. This doesnt mean that sexism exists only in

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

eastern coutries but it also occurs in western countries. That is the reason why a contrastive
analysis is conducted with a view to understanding how sexism occurs in Vietnamese and
English as well as finding ways to eliminate this inequity.

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese

Sexism in Vietnamese

In general, sexism in Vietnamese can be recognized in terms of uses of some

vocabularies and orders of words in some phrases. First of all, when talking about uses of
some vocabularies, sexist Vietnamese can be found in some names of jobs. Here are some
examples:

bc s doctor
lut s lawyer
thm phn judge
din vin actor
i s ambassador
anh hng hero.
Long ago, these jobs were considered to be for man only mostly due to the fact that
women didnt get enough education to be qualified for these jobs. In those cases, the word
n was added right in front of the job to indicate the female role. In the example of bc
s we might have n bc s or with lut s we might have n lut s. However,
nowadays, when education is almost equal to both men and women, the presence and
contribution of women in these jobs are increasing. The element n is no longer needed.
This not only shows changes in social concepts but also reflects improvement in the social
status and educational status of women. Moreover, there are some jobs that default to
women only such as y t- nurse h l nurse, ni tr housewife and so far there
havent been any official words to call these jobs for men. Nam y t male nurseand
ng ni tr- househusband seem to be awkward.
However, this case cannot reflect the most serious problem in sexism in Vietnamese
since it was just the matter of educational sufficiency. There is one more thing that needs

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

longer time to resolve: prejudice on gender. In Eastern cultures, the concept of valueing
men above women has rooted in people mindset for so long and it reflects on language. For
example, we have tit ph to refer to a woman whose husband was dead and decides not
to get married ever again but we do not have tit phu since men are not required to stay
as a widower for the rest of his life as women are expected to. Also, we only have go
ph/qu ph a woman whose husband was dead - but not go phu/ qu phu a man
whose wife was dead. One more example is trinh n virgin. A woman is expected to be
a virgin before she gets married and people will look down on her if she cant keep her
treasure (referred as ci nghn vng in Vietnamese) till the day she gets married.
However, we have never used something like trinh nam - a term refers to a male virgin to show expectation that men should also be virgin till the day they get married. Another
example is gi n dng. We use this phrase to talk about a woman who has married once
(or more times) but her husband has died or abandoned her. Normally, we dont have trai
n dng a male term for this situation. These examples show how society evaluates
women dignity: they have to be loyal to their husbands or future husbands (in the case of
requirement of virginity).
The concept of valueing men above women can also be found in some cases when
women are marked as mens properties either to their husbands or fathers. For example,
when a man named Du gets married, his wife is called Du too, or, when a woman is
married to a man whose job is teacher, she will be called as b gio a woman whose
husband is a teacher or b ngh a woman whose husband is a bachelor - due to her
husbands diploma. People dont call a man ng gio if his wife is a teacher. This is not
only the result of lacking women contribution in the field but it lies more in the thoughts of
people toward women: women are mens properties.

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

There is one more case in which sexist language can be recognized in terms of uses;
that is the case of using words for either sex. Some words like cu, hn, thng are
supposed to be for men only but in most cases, are used for woman also. Thng, as is
defined in the Vietnamese dictionary, is used to refer to a male individual in an informal way.
However, in spoken language, as in By gi n lt thng no? Whose turn is now?
- this word is used for female individuals as well. (There is a word con which is considered
as equivalent to thng to refer to female individuals but it is used for women only, not ever
for man). Moreover, some words like thy gio, ngi thy are used for either sex
although there is also c gio which is used to refer to female role. This kind of sexism
subconsciously influences the way people use words in daily conversation or contexts such
as: ng trc mt vn nh vy, anh ta phi la chn cho mnh mt gii php an
ton. Facing a problem, he has to find a safe solution. - or Doanh nhn, anh l ai?
Businessman, who are you? as in the title of an article. Anh in these examples refers to
either sex and people cant find any more neutral terms to use in such cases.
Last but not least, sexist Vietnamese can also be seen in some oders of words in
some phrases. Here are some examples: nam n not n nam, thy c not c thy,
ng b not b ng. In these phrases, the elements that indicate male role (nam, thy,
ng) are placed first, which show how people value men over women. However, there are
some exceptions such as c ch not ch c, v chng not chng v where the
female characters are placed first. To sum up, social concept and prejudice place great
influence on language, which, in the case of sexist Vietnamese, results in the way people
use language that trivializes women subconsciously. Although great improvement has been
made to eradicate sexism in the language, there is still work to do.

Sexism in English

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

Sexism in English can be classified into 2 types: word structure and uses of words.
First of all, the most common situation related to uses of words where sexist English can be
found is The Singular Masculine Pronouns: He, His, Him. While these forms are also used
with the specific meanings of third person singular male pronouns and male human
beings people more often use them as third person human pronouns or human beings
or humanity. Here are some examples:
-

When a reporter covers a controversial story, he has a responsibility to present both sides

of the issue.
Each student should bring his notebook to class every day.
If a customer has a complaint, send him to the service desk.
Obviously in these cases, he, his, him refer to either sex but they appear to be
masculine terms, not feminine terms.
Another similar case is the use of the generic masculine to refer to all humanity in the
terms man, father, brother and master. These terms default to men but are used to refer to
alll humanity including both genders as we can see in these words: mankind, forefather,
masterful, brotherhood of man.
Like sexist Vietnamese, sexist English also have some words, especially names of
jobs that are supposed to be used for men only like doctor, writer, lawyer, athleteand
some feminine modifiers are needed to indicate the female participation. For instant, lady
doctor, woman writer, female lawyer, girl athlete are used to refer to women. In these
cases, such modifiers imply that they (women) are not real doctor, writer, lawyer
There are also languages that marginalize or belittle women role, such as, fair sex,
weaker sex, little woman (wife), young girls, chick (girl, woman), maids, These terms
imply that women are weak and inferior in comparison to man.

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

Another case happens when there are terms that express unequal gender relations
through unparallel use of words. Men and wife, men and ladies are some good example
of this case. This some how, like in Vietnamese, has an implication that women are inferior,
dependent and are sticked to men as their properties.
Sexism in English also occurs when there is uses of terms that call attention to a
person's sex in designating occupations, positions, roles, ect. This means some words
relating to jobs, roles, positions, when spoken or written, direct the attention of the hearers
or readers to a particular sex such as motherhood/father hood, delivery boys/delivery men
The second type of sexist English involves with the word structure. The first case is
when the masculine element man is added to a word to refer to individuals of either sex.
Lots of examples can support this idea such as chairman, businessman, craftmen,
fishermen, ect. The second case happens when, as Janet Holmes stated, English
morphology takes the male form as the base form and adds a suffix to signal female for
examples: hero/heroine, actor/actress, lion/lioness, count/countess, aviator/aviatrixJanet
Holmes also commented that the use of an additional suffix to signal femaleness is seen as
conveying the message that women are deviant, abnormal and not important. It has also
been suggested that suffixes like ess and ette trivialise and diminish women and when
they refer to occupations such as authoress and poetess, they carry connotations of lack of
seriousness. This attitude doubtless derives from the meaning of the associated diminutive
suffixes in terms such as launderette and maisonette.

Reason and Solutions

On the whole, sexism in Vietnamese and English may have some differences in terms
of forms. However, the reason for which it happened and its consequences are the quite the
1 (Holmes)
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A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

same. Looking back into the human history, there are times that the world was ruled by
matriarchy and after that patriarchy took the place. Thanks to the better ability to be the
breadwinner, status of men improved. Meanwhile, being busy with household chores and
child caring, status of women descended from the one who governs to the one who is
governed. All of these changes not only influence the way people think and acknowledge
but the language they use as well. Some people may say that Eastern countries seem to
have more serious problems with sexism; indeed, this issue exists everywhere, consciously
or subconsciously. Fortunately, the improvement in human concept led to the evolution in
eradicating sexism, which naturally changed the way people use language. Vietnamese and
English also try to reform the language so that it shows equality between men and women.
The most two common ways to eliminate inequality are reforming and creating. Reforming
means trying to reform some words so that they can be used non-sexistly and creating
means finding other words that can be used for both sexes. In the first solution, reforming,
for example in English, actor now can be used for both men and women, not only for men
as it used to be before and actress is less preferred. This solution is not seen clearly in
Vietnamese, yet it can be seen in the way people use some words for both sexes,
especially jobs, such as bc s doctor, lut s lawyer, ect. The use of sex-indicator
n female is no longer needed. However, personally, I think this solution needs more
time to hit the mark since people have gotten so accustomed to its use for men. Whenever
people read or listen to these words, they would nearly think of a male image. However, for
people cannot create so many words in a short time, this solution is a good one and a
simple one. In the second solution, creating, for example in Vietnamse instead of using
thy gio or c gio to refer to male teacher and female teacher, people use gio vin
as a neutral word. Likewise, in English, chairperson can replace chairman and
chairwoman or flight attendant for steward and stewardess and so on. This solution

A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

can also solve the prolem of using generic masculine terms such as he, his, man Instead,
people use they, he or she, or nouns to specify the objects.

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A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

Teaching Implication

People got the solutions. Here comes the biggest question: Who will make them
real? The answers can be: the whole community, the government, publishers, media,
legislature, linguistists, and, of course, educators. Of all the mentioned groups of people
who can solve the problems, educators, undeniably, are one of the most important groups.
As we have discussed before, when a child learn a language, he or she will also absorb the
cultural assumptions and biases that are implied in language use and he or she will accept
these as an index to their societys values and attitudes. If there is social inequity, it
definitely will reflect in language and as a consequence it can powerfully affect the childs
later behavior and beliefs. Children are futures of humanity. If we want to change something
in the humanitys beliefs, we should begin with children beliefs. Understanding sexist
language will enable educators to describe situations, in which sexism occurs, in order to
find appropriate solutions to eradicate it. Moreover, educators should also take forms of
language, including written and spoken language, into consideration. Learners should be
aware of this issue whenever they write or speak. The same recommendation is raised
when learners acquire another language. For example when a Vietnamese learn English,
he or she should be aware of situations when sexist English occur and how to avoid it. The
same thing happens when an English learn Vietnamese. Moreoever, when learning another
language, translation is one of the most important skills. There is a common tendency that
when translating a language into another one, people try to find equivalent words without
considering whether they are suitable or not. Take this situation as an example: A
Vietnamese student may read a sentence like this: It was a matter of convenience, that a
man coming out of a shop or house or tavern would have his horse aimed toward the left,
otherwise hed have to walk into the mub and slop of the street to mount, and he or she

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A Contrast of Sexism In Language in English and Vietnamese.

may translate the sentence in this way: V l do tin li m mt ngi n ng khi ra khi
nh hoc mt ca hng, hoc qun ru s leo ln nga ca ng y t bn tri, nu
khng ng y s bc phi vng bn hoc vng nc trn ng. Actually, all the
generic masculine terms (a man, his, he) in the origin sentence do not refer to one gender
only as the student translated. If the student is aware of sexist English, he or she will
translate the sentence differently: V l do tin li m mt ngi khi ra khi nh hoc mt
ca hng, hoc qun ru s leo ln nga ca mnh t bn tri, nu khng ngi y s
bc phi vng bn hoc vng nc trn ng As we can see, to make the translation
natural, it is required that students be aware of both sexism in English and in Vietnamese.
As in the example, he or she should know that the use of man, his, he is one of the
situations where sexism occurs. After that, he or she should make a translation into
Vietnamese in a way that the sexist language will not be shown in Vietnamese.

Conclusion

To sum up, sexism is a serious problem, which should be considered seriously in every
society. Sexism can be recognized everywhere. It can be in the way people treat each other,
it can be in the way companies pay their employees, and, it can also be in the way people
use language. The resonsibility of eradicating sexism does not belong to any particular
individuals or groups or countries but its the reponsibility of everybody. One of the most
effective way people can do to eliminate sexism is changing the way they use language.
Being aware of sexism in languages will help to solve this problem. There is also one more
advantage for students to know about sexism in languages in that it will help them in
translating texts from one language to another naturally and properly.

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References

GS.TS Nguyen, K. V. (n.d.). X hi hc ngn ng v gii: S k th v s chng k th

i vi n gii trong s dng ngn ng (Phn 1). Retrieved from Vin Ngn Ng Hc:
http://www.vienngonnguhoc.gov.vn/?act=Science&do=Detail&nid=166

GS.TS Nguyen, K. V. (n.d.). X hi hc ngn ng v gii: S k th v s chng k th

i vi n gii trong s dng ngn ng (Phn II). Retrieved from Vin Ngn Ng Hc:
http://www.vienngonnguhoc.gov.vn/?act=Science&do=Detail&nid=167
GS.TS Nguyen, K. V. (n.d.). X hi hc ngn ng v gii: S k th v s chng k th
i vi n gii trong s dng ngn ng (Phn III). Retrieved from Vin Ngn Ng Hc:
http://www.vienngonnguhoc.gov.vn/?act=Science&do=Detail&nid=168
Sexism in language. (n.d.). Retrieved from University of the Philippines Open
University: http://www.upou.edu.ph/gender/gender_fair.htm

Holmes, J. Sexist Language. In J. Holmes, An Introduction to Sociolinguistic.

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