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Gender and Language

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Gender and Language
Lexical Analysis of Gender and Language Theories

Muna Mohammed Abbas
College of Engineering/ Babylon University

1. Introduction The major thing that distinguishes human beings from animals is basically our way to communicate with each other by using language. We have words for specific things, emotions, expressions and it appears as though we have words for everything when thinking about it. In each language; words are constructed in a certain way. When working with language, it is quite possible to determine whether a word belongs to one stem or another just by looking at it even if the person has no clue of the word’s meaning which is quite fascinating. The question, Do men and women use language differently? played a central part in the emergence of feminist socio linguistics more than two decades ago, and it casts a long shadow. This paper focuses on the literature that has contributed to the understanding of the major research questions underlying two major strands, language and gender, concentrating on the development of the literature from the deficit and dominance models to the social constructivist era of post-modernism in order to provide a context for recent developments in language and gender theories.

2. Definitions of Sex Versus Gender In defining gender, the concept of sex, male and female with their accompanying nations of masculinity and femininity are also included within this definition. Eckert and McConnell – Cinet (2003) argue that sex is a biological categorization based primarily on productive potential, whereas gender is the social elaboration of biological sex. In their view, the definition of males and females, people’s understanding of themselves and others as male and female is ultimately social. They also show that gender is a learned behaviour which is both taught and enforced, and leading to the conclusion that gender is collaborative in the sense that it connects individuals to the social order. By this,



References: Bergvall, V. (1996). “The Question of Questions: Beyond Binary Thinking”. In V. Bergvall, J. Bing & A. Freed (eds.) (1996), Rethinking Language and Gender Research: Theory and Practice, pp.1-30.New York: Longman. Butler, J. (1993).Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”.New York:Routledge. Cameron, D. (ed.) (1990). The Feminist Critique of Language: A Reader. New York:Routledge. Cameron, D. (1995). “Rethinking Language and Gender Studies: Feminism into the 1990s”. In S. Mills (ed.), Language and Gender: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. London: Longman. Cameron, D. (1996). “The Language-gender Interface: Resisting Co-optation”. In V. Bergvall, J. Bing & A Freed (eds.), Rethinking Language and Gender Research: Theory and Practice. New York: Longman. Cameron, D. (1997). “Performing Gender Identity: Young Men 's Talk and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity”. In S. Johnson & U.H. Meinhof (eds.) (1997),Language and Masculinity. England, Oxford: Blackwell. Coates, J. (1986). Women, Men and Language. Harlow, Essex: Longman. Coates, J. (1998). “Thank God I 'm a Woman: The Construction of Differing Feminities”.In D. Cameron (ed.) (1998),The Feminist Critique of Language: A Reader, (2nd ed.), pp.295-320. USA & Canada: Routledge. Coates, J. & Cameron, D. (eds.) (1988). Women in their Speech Communities. London: Longman. Deuchar, M. (1988). “A Pragmatic Account of Women 's Use of Standard Speech”.In J. Coates & D. Cameron (eds.), Women in their Speech Communities: New Perspectives on Language and Sex.London: Longman. Eckert, P. & McConnell-Ginet, S. (1992). “Think Practically and Look Locally: Language and Gender as Community-Based Practice”. Annual Review of Anthropology , Vol.21, pp.461-490. Eckert, P. & McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003).Language and Gender. New York: Cambridge University Press. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and Power. London: Longman. Freeman, R. D. & McElhinny, B. (1996). “Language and Gender”. In S. Mckay & N. Hornberger (eds.), Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching,pp. 218- 280. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Goodwin, M. (1998). “Cooperation and Competition Across Girls’ Play Activities”. In J.Coates (ed.), Language and Gender: A Reader, pp.121-146.Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Henley, N. & Kramarae, H. (1991). “ Miscommunication, Gender and Power”. In N. Coupland, J. Wiemann & H. Giles (eds.),Miscommunication and Problematic Talk , pp.18-43. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Holmes, J. (1984). “Women’s Language: A Functional Approach”. General Linguistics, 24(3), pp. 149-178. Jaggar, A.M. (1983). Feminist Politics and Human Nature. Totowa: Rowman & Allanheld. Kramarae, C & Treichler, P.A.(1990).“Power Relationships in the Classroom.” In. S.Gabriel & I. Smithson (eds.), Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy, pp.41-59. Urbana-Champaign: Illinois University Press. Lakoff, R. (1975). “Language and Women’s Place”.Harper & Row, New York. Reprinted in D. Cameron (ed.) (1998), The Femininist Critique of Language (2nd ed.). London & New York: Routledge. Ochs,E. (1993).“Constructing Social Identity: A Language Socialization Perspective”.In Research on Language and Social Interaction,Vol.26, No.3, pp.287-306. O’Loughlin, K. (2000). “The Impact of Gender in the IELTS Oral Interview”. IELTS Annual Report, pp.1-28. Sunderland, J. (2004). Gendered Discourse. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tannen,D. (1990). You Just don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation.New York: William Morrow. Uchida, A. (1998). “When ‘Difference’ is ‘Dominance’: A Critique of the ‘Anti-power Based’ Cultural Approach to Sex Differences”. In D.Cameron (ed.), The Feminist Critique of Language. USA & Canada: Routledge. West, C. & Zimmermann, D. (1987). “Doing Gender”. In Gender and Society, Vol.1, June, pp.125-151.

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