gender theory Flashcards
(138 cards)
1
Q
context
A
the surrounding social issues of the day and the fact these shift
2
Q
taboo language
A
banned words
3
Q
closed language community
A
a shared language and knowledge
4
Q
idiolect
A
own personal language
5
Q
ideology
A
a system of beliefs
6
Q
filler
A
e.g. erm/so/err/like fill up awkward silence and create time
7
Q
sociolect
A
shared group language
8
Q
adhere to
A
follow the rules/expectations
9
Q
subvert
A
ignore or go against the rules/expectations
10
Q
accent
A
the way you sound; the manner of pronunciation and sound patterning
11
Q
dialect
A
the specific local words you use
12
Q
accent levelling
A
neutralise our accent and dialect
13
Q
prestige
A
powe
14
Q
pragmatics
A
the implied meaning
15
Q
rapport
A
creating relationships
16
Q
positive face
A
we want to feel valued and respected and able to communicate
17
Q
communicative competency
A
you know and can follow the rules of conversation
18
Q
inherent ideology
A
something that is passed through time, it is an inherent ideology that women are weaker than men
19
Q
semantic non-equivalent
A
implies a gap between men and women and that men are dominant
20
Q
marked form
A
connotes gendered terms i.e. police man
21
Q
unmarked form
A
gender neutral term
22
Q
back channeling
A
supportive noises
23
Q
phallocentric
A
language that ascribes men more power and dominance
24
Q
synthetic personalisation
A
companies/brands/people make you believe you have a rapport
25
jargon
complex language relating to a specific field, can result in individuals losing positive face
26
tag question
attach a question to a statement to keep conversation going
27
phatic talk
pointless talk (which is often necessary)
28
hedges
“do you not think”/“shall we not try?” when you appear to suggest other ideas
29
snowflake generation
implied meaning is weakness/laziness
30
gender
the binary of male and female assigned at birth, we are socialised from birth
31
socialisation
grouping, how to act and behave
32
adjacency pairs
question/response
33
overlaps
talking over someone, breaks polite principal
34
jargon
complex language relating to a specific field, can result in individuals losing positive face
35
tag question
attach a question to a statement and they keep conversation going
36
phatic talk
pointless talk
37
hedges
"do you not think" "shall we not try" when you appear to suggest ideas, implies hesitancy
38
covert prestige
we use and adapt our language in a smaller group to sustain rapports
39
overt prestige
we use and adapt our language to a larger group to sustain positive face, more accent levelling, super polite forms, women are said to use this in the workplace
40
what is meant by convergence?
we move our language closer to the context
41
what is meant by divergence?
when we move further away from language in context, linked to identity and representation
42
what is upwards convergence/divergence?
changing our language to be higher and closer to RP, sounding more highly educated
43
what is downwards convergence/divergence?
moving our language downwards, further away from RP, perhaps putting on a stronger accent and using more colloquialisms, sounds less educated
44
what is meant by dimunitive?
degrading
45
what is meant by gender?
the binary of male and female assigned at birth, we are socialised from birth
46
what is meant by socialisation?
how to act and behave based on social grouping
47
why is socialisation dangerous?
because men grow up with the fact that they are more powerful
48
what is meant by inherent ideology?
a system of beliefs that has always been there and always will be, pushed onto us from birth
49
what is meant by repesentation?
this can be an individual, a group, a business- essentially representation is an ideology, from a linguistic perspective representation comes through our word word choices (dialect), manner of pronunciation (accent) and our idiolects/sociolects because of who we are as people
50
what is the problem with 'men are from mars'?
it implies difference which is dangerous because it presumes that men will be privileged, men and women are alienated from each other, being presented as two seperate beings
51
what is the problem with the kenwood chef advert? (3 points)
shows the ideology that women belong in the kitchen, even more derogatory as it is a kitchen aid which implies that women aren't even good at that. her wedding ring is on show suggesting she is owned by him, the possesive pronoun 'my' also denotes ownership. she is clinging onto his back suggesting she is riding on the back of his success.
52
what does the bic advert say?
"look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss"
53
what is implied by 'look like a girl' in the bic advert?
it is sexualisin women in the workplace, turning her into an aesthetic, suggests that women should look young and pretty, a false image, we have to be thin and beautiful
54
what are the pragmatics of 'girl' and 'lady' in the bic advert?
powerlessness
55
what is implied by 'act like a lady' in the bic advert?
suggests that women must adhere to the stereotype of being 'ladylike' ; reserved and polite
56
what do 'man' and 'boss' connote in the bic advert?
authority and prestige
57
what is ladette culture?
women were criticised by the media for being too manly
58
what is meant by the male gaze?
women being presented for male pleasure, they are presented as mere objects of male desire
59
what does montgomery say about the english language?
"the english language is systematically skewed to present women as second class citizens"
60
what does montgomery's theory mean?
there's a system in place which wrongly makes women the weaker gender, Montgomery is saying that this mistreatment is embedded into the english language which priviledges men.
61
why do we follow the rules of conversation?
because we want to save face (feel valued), we want to build and sustain rapports and maintain politeness.
62
what are the rules of conversation?
question-reply system, maintaining manners, polite laughter, return compliments, two way conversation, back channelling, pretence of interest
63
what are some of the problems with hasbro's 'ms monopoly'? (5 points)
adheres to the stereotype of learned helplessness of women (they are given money rather than working for it), it flips the balance rather than creating equality, presumes difference, implies women need head start to get to the place of men, 'ms' is derogatory and suggests that a man must be involved for female empowerment
64
how does the m&s mrs claus advert create gender equality? (4 points)
men and women have an equal role in making christmas special, the woman doesn't have to draw attention to her achievements signifying little difference, she got it done with no fuss (better than he could), redifines an age old stereotype
65
what are adjacency pairs?
question/response
66
what are overlaps?
talking over somene, breaks the polite principles
67
what is the stereotype of rabbiting on?
FALSE- women just go on and on and don't stop talking, the inference is that women are silly and don't know what they are talking about, it links to the inherent ideology that women are "second class citizens" implying difference while priviledging men, although men are just as bad
68
what are the problems with the Chaz and Dave song? (5 points)
sexualising women in saying the only good things are her looks (focuses on her lips, thighs, beauty), complaining that women won't shut up adhering to the stereotype that women shouldn't have a voice, phallocentric (it is on the man's terms), conforming to the inherent ideology that women should sit still and look pretty, implies that female value should be determined by a man
69
what are the stereotypes of women?
they are supportive, cooperative and use abstract nouns
70
what are the stereotypes of men?
they are aggressive, use non standard forms (colloquialisms), disagree, taboo language, competitive, dominate, concrete nouns, interrupt
71
what do the stereotypes of men and women suggest?
that men have the power and women by comparison are weak, dominant social ideology
72
what are the connotions of master vs mistress?
powerful vs whore
73
what is Robyn Lakoff's theory?
the deficit model, suggests women are weak in language
74
how does Lakoff suggest women use language to demonstrate weakness? (9 points)
super polite forms, speak in italis, empty adjectives, hyper correct grammar, tag questions (uncertainty), lack of sense of humour, avoid taboo language, speak less frequently, modal constructions
75
what are the problems with Lakoff's theory?
theorised in 1975, there has been huge contextual shift since then so it is not inclusive and representative of today's society, it is based on assumption not on evidence, it is offensive
76
what is meant by gender performativity?
conforming to a specific gender stereotype, we behave in terms of our gender, we are possibly limited by our gender, this is a form of socialisation, even drag queens are putting on a gendered performance
77
what is meant by the context of production?
the context of when it's made, this can never change; it is set
78
what is meant by the context of reception?
the context when it's watched/viewed, this can change
79
what does the context of reception link to?
political correctness
80
when was lakoff's theory published?
1975
81
what do lakoff's assumed stereotypes of woman suggest?
that women are weak- they recognise that they have boundaries and do everything in their power to stay within these boundaries in order to gain the respect and appreciation of society, especially men
82
what is Pamela Fishman's 1990 theory?
the average amount of time a man will speak in a mixed sex conversation is approximately twice as great as the time a woman will speak, assumption that women are weaker and men will damage positive face, neither gender will come off well, this is OUT DATED
83
what is Fishman's 1983 theory?
she coined the phrase 'conversational shitwork' meaning women work the hardest to keep a conversation going, men are less likely to be embarressed about losing positive face, inherent socialisation (gender performativity), women feel the pressure to keep conversation going SOME MERIT
84
what is Zimmerman and West's 1990 theory?
in mixed sex interactions they found that 96% of the interruptions were from men
85
what are the problems with Zimmerman and West's theory?
they only recorded 11 segments of conversation, this is a small sample size and would not be representative of all people, their sample only included people who were white, middle class and under the age of 35, they mainly focused on men
86
why are women more likely to use accent levelling than men?
prejudice against women is inherent therefore women feel the need to 'improve' their language, accent and dialect are judged- the fact that women are already "second class citizens" potentially makes them atempt to bridge the gap in their defecit, particularly the case in the workplace, linked to prejudice and prestige
87
what does gender theory say about colours?
women are more descriptive than men when naming colours, men use comedy, insults and taboo language for solidarity
88
what were tannens six versus?
status vs support, independance vs intimacy, advice vs understanding, information vs feelings, orders vs proposals, and conflict vs compromise.
89
what model does Tannen's theory come under?
difference
90
what is the problem with Tannen's theory?
based on anecdotal evidence
91
where was Tannen's theory reviewed?
in the workplace, based off colleagues perception of male and female language
92
what was zimmerman and wests theory?
in mixed gender conversation men talk 96% of the time and interrupt more using overlaps
93
what model does zimmerman and west's theory come under?
dominance, shows men are dominant in conversation
94
what is the problem with Zimmerman and West's theory?
only recorded 11 segments of conversation, of white, middle class people under the age of 35
95
what did montgomery say?
"the english language is systematically skewed to present women as second class citizens"
96
what is Howard Giles' theory?
the accomodation theory that we adapt our language to fit in with the context.Women are more likely to use convergence in general to save positive face, women use overt prestige to sustain positive face to a larger group in the workplace
97
what is Koenraad Kuiper's theory?
1991 all male rugby team use insults, comedy and banter to express solidarity, performance using downwards convergance
98
what is the problem with Kuiper's theory?
limited data set does not consider mixed gender or female only conversations
99
what is spender's theory?
male language is 'better' and the 'norm' because we live in a patriarchal society.
100
where did spender present her theory?
wrote man made lanuage in 1980 nexploring the impact of the patriarchal society on women's language, suggessting it is due to socialisation, sparking the nature vs nurture debate
101
what model does spender's theory come under?
the dominance model
102
what is judith butler's theory?
gender performativity how men and women put on a performance to save and maintain face, even the trans/gay community is a performance
103
what is jennifer coates' theory?
in 1989 she said women use hedges to avoid face threatening acts "women are more likely to favour cooperation in their bonding"
104
how does Jennifer Coated day peer groups of a child affect language?
directly influences their linguistic development, boys are based on joint activity and girls are based in talk
105
why does jennifer coates have limited merit?
doesn’t consider mixed sex peer groups and recent theory suggests childhood socialisation isn’t as bad as it was
106
when was Deborah Jones’ theory?
1990
107
what did deborah jones categorise women’s ‘gossip’ into?
house talk, scandal, bitching, chatting
108
what does Deborah Jones mean by house talk?
female role in the domestic
109
what does Deborah Jones mean by scandal?
judging behaviour of others
110
what does Deborah Jones mean by bitching?
anger at their expected role, wanting to make it known in an understanding environment
111
what does Deborah Jones mean by chatting?
most intimate form of conversation, own advantage skills to nurture other women
112
why does Beattie have more merit than Zimmerman and West?
recorded 96 hours of mixed gender conversation next to Zimmerman and West’s limited data set (11 segments of conversations)
113
what did Geoffrey Beattie find?
little difference in language between the genders with more robust data
114
what was Jane Pilkington’s theory?
in 1992 she found that women in same sex talk were more collaborative than men in all male talk, women aim for more positive politeness strategies but men are less complimentary and supportive in all male talk (has merit)
115
what was Jenny Cheshire’s theory?
studied the language of boys in a playground, found they used more non standard forms than girls, the leader of the group used the most non standard forms and those at the bottom of the gang hierarchy used the fewest, she suggested boys are members of denser social networking
116
why does Jenny Cheshire have limited merit?
doesn’t account for girls
117
what was Janet Holmes theory?
in 1992 she suggested tag questions may not suggest uncertainty, but may maintain a discussion or be polite, she said that hedges and fillers may act as politeness or boosting devices
118
how does Deborah Cameron suggest that male and female language has evolved differently?
whereas gathering and childcare responsibilities allowed women to develop verbal skills, hunting inhibited this development in men because it required them to spend long periods without talking
119
how have studies shown that you can reverse the men talk more pattern? (Deborah Cameron - the myth of mars and Venus)
Experimental studies have found that you can reverse the 'men talk more' pattern or at least reduce the gap, by instructing subjects to discuss a topic which both sexes consider a distinctively female area of expertise, in a discussion of fashion or pregnancy, men will more readily cede the floor to women, status then , is not a completely fixed attribute, but can vary relative to the setting, subject and purpose of conversation
120
what is the commonest finding in informal contexts where status is not an issue? (Deborah Cameron - the myth of mars and Venus)
not that women talk more than men, it is that the two sexes contribute about equally
121
what does Dale Spender say about why people think women talk too much?
people overestimate how much women talk because they think that ideally, women should not talk at all
122
what is Jesperson's theory about how men and women construct their sentences?
the shallowness of women's minds is also apparent in the way they construct their sentences, men use subordinate clauses to express logical relationships between ideas, whereas women simply string ideas together with the all purpose conjunction 'and'
123
why does Lakoff suggest is the function of tag questions?
to seek approval and the reason women use more of them is insecurity or lack of confidence in their own opinions
124
what does Holmes suggest to be the function of tag questions?
to give the person being addresses an opportunity to speak, this type of tag question is called a facilitative tag question as it was used to facilitate the participation of other speakers in a conversation
125
what did Holmes find about the use of facilitative tag questions?
women used facilitative tag questions more but not due to lacking confidence, rather it was because it reflected women's preference for a cooperative style of interaction in which everyone was actively encouraged to contribute
126
What is lakoff’s 1975 theory about women’s work words?
Women’s vocabulary includes trivial words because they are relegated to decisions about such unimportant subjects
127
What is Mira Komarovsky’s 1962 theory on women’s work words?
58 working class US couples, women spoke about family, personal matters, men spoke about money, business, sport, work, local politics
128
What is Jennifer Coates’ 1996 theory about women’s work words?
Men prefer topics that allow participants to take turns at being the expert, women are more personal
129
What is Deborah Tannen’s 1992 theory about women’s work words?
Men usually assume role of information giver or fixer because this reinforces strength and status
130
What is Lakoff’s 1975 theory on weak expletives?
Women use ‘oh dear’ instead of taboo terms
131
What is Cheris Kramer’s 1974 theory on weak expletives?
Cartoons in the New Yorker represented male characters swearing more than females
132
What is Lakoffs 1975 theory on tag questions?
Adds uncertainty to a statement so a speaker doesn’t impose her point of view
133
What is Fishman’s 1980 theory on tag questions?
Women use three times more tags not because of uncertainty but because they were trying to keep the conversation going (conversational shitwork)
134
What is Janet Holmes’ 1984 theory on tag questions?
Model tags seek information, affective tags for softening/concern, facilitating tags draw listeners in, 61% model tags used by men, 75% facilitating tags used by women
135
What is Cameron and Coates’ 1988 theory on tag questions?
Monitor whether others are in agreement, respect the face needs of others when discussing sensitive issues
136
What is Jennifer Coates’ 1996 theory on tag questions?
Men use questions to seek information from each other
137
What is Lakoffs theory on qualifiers (perhaps, maybe)?
Women use them to avoid strong statements or commit to an opinion, expresses uncertainty
138
What is Dale Spender’s theory on qualifiers (perhaps,maybe)?
Show uncertainty when used by women but authority when used by men
