Gender and Language Variation

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Gender and Language Variation

• Wolfram Schilling-Estes
• Chapter 8

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Why would we expect to find linguistic
differentiation between men and women?

• Social differentiation is reflected in linguistic
  differentiation
• The phenomenon exists in other languages

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The role of language ideology

• Two clear-cut categories
• Biological sex (cf. race)
• Characteristics grounded in natural features of
  two groups
• Pitch difference
• Directness
• A caveat research shows that there is always
  more variation within each category than across
  categories

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gender as social construct/practice

• Not What gender differences will I find?
• Rather What sorts of language features do
  people use to present themselves as women vs.
  men, or as particular kinds of women of men?
• Gender is something that one does rather than
  has

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Problems in dealing with gender

• Lack of social separation as with other social
  categories
• Intersection of class and ethnicity

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8.1 Gender-based Patterns of Variation as
Reported in Dialect Surveys

• Principle I For stable sociolinguistic
  variables, men use a higher frequency of
  nonstandard forms than women.
• Principle Ia In change from above the level of
  consciousness, women favor the incoming prestige
  forms more than men.
• Principle II In change from below, women are
  most often the innovators.
• An apparent contradiction that women are
  simultaneously more linguistically conservative
  and more innovative??
• sociolinguistic variables involved
• social class of woman

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8.2 Explaining General Patterns

• The Prestige-based Approach
• Labov women are more prestige-conscious than
  men
• Trudgill more on prestige
• Women transmit culture through childrearing
• Womens social position more insecure, so they
  attempt to signal social status linguistically
• Women judged not by what they do, but by how they
  appear (linguistic cosmetic of prestigious
  language)
• Women avoid vernacular forms associated with
  masculinity in symbolic value
• PROBLEMS studies that provide contradictory
  evidence

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8.3 Localized Expressions of Gender Relations

• Eckert because women have little power in most
  communities they seek to acquire such power in
  symbolic ways
• Standard language variants power by association
  with the most powerful socioeconomic classes
  symbolic capital
• Innovative vernacular forms symbolic membership
  in important local social groups
• COROLLARY those who have the real power dont
  need to worry about symbolic power

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8.4 Communities of PracticeLinking and Local
and the Global

• How is individual behavior (the local) linked to
  larger social structures (the global)?
• Qualitative studies based on communities of
  practice involve in-depth analysis of the
  language use of individuals and small groups
• Studies based on large-scale quantitative samples
  of language use by social category provide
  information on the norms that individuals
  orient to
• Although people may mix and match various
  linguistic features to project individualized or
  situationally specific meanings and identities,
  they cannot do so randomly, since linguistic
  features often derive their social meanings from
  association with particular groups, or particular
  situations of use. (p. 247)

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8.5 Language-Use-based Approaches The Female
Deficit Approach

• Male speech as the norm

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8.6 The Cultural Difference Approach

• Boys and girls are socialized into different uses
  of language

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8.7 The Dominance Approach

• Men have the power in the society and exercise it
  (consciously or unconsciously) through their use
  of language

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8.8 Further Implications

• Social roles
• Gender as social construct
• Relation of gender to other social factors
• More focus on mens language
• The idea of meaning as context-dependent (i.e.
  certain language forms are not inherently
  strong or weak)

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8.9 Talking About Men and Women

• 8.9.1 Generic he and man
• 8.9.2 Family names and terms of address
• 8.9.3 Relationships of association
• 8.9.4 Labeling

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8.10 The Question of Language Reform

• Alternatives to he or she
• Alternatives to generics
• Avoidance of sexual stereotyping