Dominance model Flashcards
(13 cards)
What does the dominance model suggest?
men use language to maintain power in society and women show a lack of power through language
Which theorists support the dominance theory?
Zimmerman 1975
Spender 1980
Fisherman 1983
Describe Zimmerman’s study and results in 1975
-Recorded 11 conversations between men and women from white, middle-class people under 35.
-they found men interrupted and overlapped (46 times) significantly more than women (twice)
he concluded that men spoke more, spoke for longer and interrupted more than women suggesting they were dominant and competitive
Describe Zimmermans and Wests later study
-studied conversations between children and parents
-found that parents interrupted more
-shows interrupting is due to power not gender, he agreed with Obarr’s study
Which theorist wanted to prove Zimmerman wrong?
Beattie 1982
Describe Beatties study and results in 1982
-He conducted 10 hours of discussion and recorded 557 interruptions
-found that women and men interrupted the same amount
-argues that interruptions don’t necessarily reflect dominance as men and women use them equally
Why may Beatties study be more reliable than Zimmermans?
Beattie used a much larger sample (10 hours of convo) in comparison to Zimmerman (11 convos)
What did Spender state in 1980
-Male dominance in society is sustained and upheld by language and its difficult to break free from as its a fundamental part of the patriarchal society
Give 2 examples of Spender’s evidence to show language works to assert male dominance
-men have historically constructed the English language
-Intercourse is described as penetrative which is something a man does
Describe Fishmans study in 1983
and what he proposed
-Looked at convos between 3 heterosexual couples who were all professional, white, and aged between 25-35
-he wanted to see how power impacted speech between partners
-she proposed that women work harder to suggest conversations until men are interested and if men aren’t interested in a topic they will not pick it up
What were the results of Fishman study?
-Women asking questions doesnt show they are powerless but instead, women use questions because of their power in demanding a response (argues with Lakoffs theory)
-men use minimal responses (mhm) to show a lack of interest and women use them to show interest
What did Anderson and Daniels analyse?
Over 2000 Disney film scripts
What were anderson and daniels results?
-Alladin 90% dialogue male orientated
-Frozen which is female orientated film: 55% male dialogue
BUT
snow white: female dialogue 50-70%
