The Impact Of Gender In Social Linguistics

Brief Introduction

The study of linguistics should not only be made from the symbol perspective but should also be more people-oriented. Studies of modern languages deal with significant differences between human beings, among which is the gender language difference and that is the main focus of this topic. Moreover, they have shown that linguistic practices of men and women can not only be marked for gender quite easily, but can also distinguish humans for other preferences. This particular study collects and explores the incidence of gendered markers in both male and female characters’ speech and shows that not only gender is characterized by these features, but also social class and sexuality, which makes it an intersection of different aspects of identity. These features include the usage of particular phrases, obscenities and politeness strategies. The significance of gender differences in language is concluded by analyzing and studying on the connotation of gender differences and their social sources of it.

Gender and Language

Gender identities are shaped by many different factors – individual and collective: biological and social. The ways we construct our identities is strongly influenced by a set of rather stereotypically feminine and masculine characteristics and traits that we often associate with gender categories. Sociolinguistics is the 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 usage on society, while language and gender itself is an area of study within sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and related fields that investigate varieties of speech associated with a particular gender, or social norms for such gendered language use.

Language and gender consist of minimal response, question, turn-taking, changing the topic of conversation, self-disclosure, verbal aggression and politeness.

• The minimal response is one of the ways in which the behavior of men and women differ when it comes to the communication. Women for instance, use paralinguistic features such as ‘’mhm’’ and ‘’yeah’’ more often, while men have respond less than women when they have a conversation and they generally use phrases like these less frequently.
• Men and women differ in their use of questions in conversations as well. Men usually ask something to make a point, their language is hard, which expresses their toughness, lack of affect, competitiveness, independence and etc. Women use questions more frequently and avoid making strong statements, to reflect their conservatism, prestige consciousness, upward mobility and sensitivity to others.
• Turn-taking is another difference between genders. Female linguistic behavior 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.
• Changing the topic of conversation may as well be at the root of the conception that women chatter and talk too much, and may still sparker the same thinking in some males. In this way lowered estimation of women may arise.
• Self-disclosure is the process that was originally defined as telling others about the self. Men have tendencies for non-self-disclosure and professing advice or offering a solution when confronted with another’s problems, while women have tendencies to share their problems and experiences with others, often to offer sympathy.
• Verbal aggression is more common with women, as they engage in ‘’kros’’ or ‘’angry talk’’, which is typically characterized by vituperative and brazen displays of insults and shouting, while men are most commonly focused on the downplay of conflict in order to maintain – or at least give the illusion of harmony.
• Another difference is politeness, which is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. According to Lakoff (1975), there are three forms of politeness. Formal politeness represents formal standards that usually denote professionalism, whereas the absence or lack of standards would be seen as casual. The second one is deference politeness, which is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one’s superior or superiors. Camaraderie is the third form which is goodwill or lighthearted rapport between or among friends (comradeship). It is usually used among friends.

Social Roots of Language Gender Differences

The phenomenon of language differences in men and women are not accidental, there is a profound social root and historical origin behind it. Men and women have different statuses and play different roles, so they have different rights and duties as well. These differences are the fundamental facts of social life and differences among humans. Researchers that engaged in sociolinguistics explained this phenomenon and they think that formation of these differences is due to the unequal status of different genders.

For thousands of years some traditional concepts of how men and women should live their life have dominated people and men are mainly seen as dominators of status and power, while woman’s place was mainly ‘’inside’’. The duty of a woman was to serve her husband, children, take care of the family and was almost unable to be a part of social activities. Therefore, it has been believed that men have absolute authority in society and their control was in compliance with their positions in society. The characteristic of always interrupting other’s conversations is considered to be an obvious sign that reflects their social power and controlling force.

As for women, their subordination results in the ruled position in conversations. Even though they were slaved in a subordinate position and only played a decorative role in the society, women cut a striking figure in politics, economy and own the same occupation in many fields as the men, but the primitive social psychology is still present. There are men who still discriminate against women and the idea of holding women inferior to men is still bound to them today. These are mainly the reasons for women using appropriate language, as another method to get higher positions.

Sociocultural factors have high impact on a person’s behavior and mentality in general, people have different recognition and expectation for different gender roles and behaviors. This being said, women’s language seems to be polite and kind while men’s is simple, firm and arrogant. Normally, men talk eloquently in all kinds of competitive topics like sports while women’s topics are usually about family life, individuals and emotions. So women have dialogues about one’s inner world more frequently while men are inclined to hide their feelings. For example, men mainly talk about work or working conditions, in order to show their leading abilities and roles, while women prefer to harmonize and soften relationships talking about family and family members.

The Significance of Language Gender Difference Studies

Language reflects all kinds of social relationships during communication. There are gender differences in sociolinguistic phenomena mainly because of social structure types, pragmatic mentality and cultural backgrounds. The difference is objective and even in societies that use the same nation language or region dialect, it is common to see different languages because of physiological, sexual and social factors.

Researchers have found that even women’s pronunciations are more close to pronunciation standards. This implies that women’s pronunciations are more correct and concise. It is believed that because of the lower social position and high expectations, females were inclined to use different methods and make sure they can make pure pronunciation while males undisciplined and free pronunciation reflect their prestige. For some reason men are not willing to show their high position in that aspect.

There are various vocabulary differences as well, for instance, males will not add more emotional colors to salutations while females add more individual inclination and preference like luckier, bookie and etc. In addition, regarding syntactic differences, some researchers pointed that women are more likely to use tag questions and it can be regarded as an obvious sign that the speaker is female. The question makes the tone more euphemistic and modest. It also avoids making mistakes and offers approaches to avoid conflicts, which implies the uncertain views of a speaker and asks for opinions. On the contrary, men usually speak more bluntly and will not give many rights to others.

The gender language phenomenon is not only a matter of linguistics, it has a close relationship to other subjects as well. Lots of other fields like psychology, social science, education, philosophy and media are also involved. As for sociolinguistics, the gender difference has at least three contributions. FIrstly, it builds a gender pattern research paradigm. Secondly, it indicates correlation between class-based versus sex-based differences and thirdly, using a quantitative method of studying gender language, it contributes to finding the origin by using complicated linguistic phenomena and improves the credibility of linguistic studies.

Conclusion

Lots of social factors can be reflected from language and at the same time specify and limit the contents of specific language. The cultural psychology and social value orientation of language users are reflected and affected by social and environmental stress, as well as family culture and experience. The gender differences are also influenced by the education degree, age, occupation and status and they mostly change with social development. Therefore, this study has a crucial theoretical and practical significance. Language differences based on gender will decrease with the development of education levels and the similarities between these will increase. This development will be helpful in comprehending similarities between males and females as well, which changes the perspective completely. It will also benefit the social culture studies, promote and predict development trend of language and make policies. Moreover, it has a positive effect on the social spiritual civilization development. As an example, there is the brand-new field, femaleology, which researches this matter more closely and tries to review human culture by writing the female one. It offers an extensive field of research when it comes to the relationship between gender and language in linguistics. As one great thinker and philosopher once said, society’s civilization degrees are closely related to the degree of female liberation.

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