Language and Gender

Language and Gender Submitted to Mam Rehana Submitted by Maha Sarfraz Roll no 10070602-030 Discipline BS(Hons) English Department English Language Course Title Feminine Linguistics University of GujratContents TOC o 1-3 h z u HYPERLINK l _Toc390269756 1.1 Sexist Language PAGEREF _Toc390269756 h 2 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269757 1.1.1 Symmetry PAGEREF _Toc390269757 h 2 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269758 1.1.2 Use of Vocabulary PAGEREF _Toc390269758 h 3 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269759 1.1.3 Semantic derogation PAGEREF _Toc390269759 h 4 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269760 1.1.4 Insults and obscenities PAGEREF _Toc390269760 h 4 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269761 1.2 Linguistic differences between men and women PAGEREF _Toc390269761 h 5 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269762 1.2.1 Levels of analysis PAGEREF _Toc390269762 h 5 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269763 1.2.2 Possible explanations for differences PAGEREF _Toc390269763 h 6 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269764 1.2.3 General problems with language and gender research PAGEREF _Toc390269764 h 7 HYPERLINK l _Toc390269765 1.3 References PAGEREF _Toc390269765 h 8 Language and gender What is gender The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably but the term gender was originally introduced to have a slightly different meaning to sex. In this way, sex refers to biological differences whereas gender refers to social differences. So for example, the fact that men have lots of facial hair and women dont is a sex difference but the fact that women wear skirts and men dont (in Western cultures) is a gender difference. Sexist Language Sexism means that the sexes are represented unequally. Usually, we associate sexism as a notion that represents women as being less able or skilled in some way than men. Symmetry One way in which English is sometimes considered to be sexist is in the asymmetry of the vocabulary and how words are applied. System of vocabulary For example, the generic word for horses is horse, for male horses it is stallion and for females mare. For