Gender

(Week 11)

Dr. Azianura Hani Shaari

azianura@ukm.edu.my

Aims
Differences between men and women
in conversations
Gender identity
Womens language (Lakoff, 1975)
Womens language: Liberal feminism
subcultural theorist

Introduction
According to the stereotype, women talk
too much (Tannen 1990: 110)
Foxes are all tail and women are all tongue
(Proverb).
The North Sea will be sooner be found
wanting in water than a woman be at a loss
for a word (Proverb).
Throughout history, women have been
punished for talking too much, or in the
wrong way.
Is it true?

Who talks more, then, men or

women?
According to Tannen (1990):
More men feel comfortable doing public speaking while
more women feel comfortable doing private speaking
(in classrooms- men ask more questions and longer
questions).
For most women, the language of conversation is
primarily a language of rapport: a way of establishing
connections and negotiating relationships.
Emphasis is placed on displaying similarities and
matching experiences.
From childhood, girls criticize peers who try to stand out
and appear better than others.
(Tannen, D. 1990: 111)

Who talks more, then, men or

women?
For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve
independence, and negotiate, and maintain status, in
a hierarchical social order.
This is done by- exhibiting knowledge and skills, and
by holding central stage through verbal performance
such as storytelling, joking, or imparting information.
From childhood, men learn to use talking as a way to
get and keep attention.
More comfortable speaking in larger groups-made up
of people they know less- public speaking.
(Tannen, D. 1990: 112)

Who talks more, then, men or

women?
Private speakingwhen we are at home- the
wordy woman and the mute man.
Dale Spender suggests that most people
believe that women should be seen and not
heard.
Men think women talk a lot because they
hear women talking in situations where men
do not-on the phone, in social situations with
friends (discussing topics that men find
uninteresting/ not important), at home aloneprivate speaking.
(Tannen, D. 1990: 112)

The Conflict
Women: Men dont communicate; He
doesnt tell me anything.
Men: We are wrongly accused; She
talks too much, I have nothing left to
say.

 Women and men have different ways of

talking.
Men and women use language differently.
The differences between women and men in their
ways of interaction could be due to the result of different
socialization,
cultural
values,
expectation
from
the
societies
and
acculturation process.
Jariah Mohd. Jan (2003) believes that there are major
differences in conversational style embraced by
males and females in their style of conversations
among each other which seems to get less attention
in communication research.

Cultural Values and Societies

Expectations
Women use more standard forms than men
as the society tends to expect better
behaviour from women than from men.
Little boys are generally allowed more
freedom than little girls. Misbehaviour from
boys is tolerated where girls are more quickly
corrected. Women are designated the role of
modelling correct behaviour in the
community (Holmes, 1992: 158)- This is
relevant in some social groups, but certainly
not true for all.

Men vs. Women

By the time women and men reach adulthood,
they have acquired two different cultural norms of
communication (Hannah and Murachver 1999:
155).
Women and men have different purposes and
intentions in their conversations, thus these
differences are reflected in their responses upon
interpreting certain speech acts or behavior
(Hannah and Murachver, 1999) .

Gender Identity
Gender identity- a personal conception of oneself as male or female.
This concept is intimately related to the concept of gender role, which is
defined as the outward manifestations of personality that reflect the
gender identity.
Gender identity-is self-identified as a result of a combination of inherent
and extrinsic or environmental factors; gender role, on the other hand, is
manifested within society by observable factors such as behavior and
appearance.
Femininity and masculinity or one's gender identity refers to the degree
to which persons see themselves as masculine or feminine given what it
means to be a man or woman in society (Stets & Burke 2000).

(Gender is our social and legal status as girls and boys, women and men. Gender identity is how you feel about and express
your gender. Culture determines gender roles and what is masculine and feminine)

Masculinity
Masculinity -Doyle (1997):
1. To not think, act or feel like girls or
women
2. To be tough & aggressive
3. To be successful
4. To be self-reliant

Femininity
Wood (2007) identifies several
themes surrounding femininity and
womanhood.
1. Appearance slender & attractive
(Bordo 1998)
2. To be sensitive and caring
3. To be a superwoman

Womens Language
(Lakoff, 1975)
For Lakoff, the idea of an appropriate
language
for
women
symbolizes
discrimination.
The overall effect of womens language, meaning
both language restricted in use to women and language
descriptive of women alone, is this: it submerges a
womans personal identity, by denying her the means
of expressing herself strongly, on the one hand, and
encouraging expressions that suggest triviality in
subject and uncertainty about it (Lakoff, 1975:7).

Womens Language
Womens speech is characterized by linguistic features
such as:
Women use large stocked words closely related to their
specific interests such as precise colour terms, or sewing
terms that do not even exist in mens dictionary
The precise way of describing colors, using specific terms
such as beige or lavender instead of blue or yellow
positioned women in a lower hierarchy, as compared to menA clue is contained in the way many men in our society view
other unworldly topics, e.g. high culture and the Church
Men tend to relegate to women things that are not of concern
to them, or do not involve their egos (Lakoff 1975: 49).

Womens Language
Empty adjectives such as divine, charming and
cute.
Super polite forms- avoidance of strong swear
words, e.g. my goodness
Finally, the substitution of absolute superlatives in
womens interaction such as by using so instead
of very- as in I like him so much or I feel so
unhappy!-to

prevent

from

making

comments towards certain things.

strong

Womens Language: Liberal

Feminism Subcultural Theorist
From the perspective of subcultural
theorists-women and mens languages are
separated by their own subcultures, and
not power (Maltz & Borker 1982; Jones
1980; Cameron et al 1988; Coates 1989).
The differences of speech use by both
men and women-a result of different
subcultures

What do you think..?