LANGUAGE AND

GENDER
PART 1
Some definitions: sex and gender
 What is gender? What is sex?
 Sex = a biological or anatomical
category
 Gender = a social category
 When we’re talking about language and
power, the issue really is gender, not
sex.
Some definitions: sexist language
 Sexist language represents men and
women unequally
 Sexist language can be about content or
about form
 Linguists are primarily concerned with
the latter (in terms of research focus)
Sexism in the language system
 Insult terms
 Symmetry vs. assymetry
 Terms for horses have symmetry in
English
generic: horse
female: mare
male: stallion
young: foal (male or female)
young female: filly
young male: colt
Sexism in the language system
 Terms for humans have assymetry in
English
generic: man/person/human
female: woman
male: man
young: child
young female: girl
young male: boy
 Titles
Sexism in the language system
 Marked and unmarked terms
waiter/waitress
host/hostess

 Semantic derogation
master/mistress
sir/madam
bachelor/spinster or old maid
Exam template
From the syllabus
Tips for taking the exam
 Expect to USE YOUR BRAIN
 Choice in which questions to answer
 Do not use ANY materials from outside of
our class (this will only hurt you if you do!)
 Do not contact each other
 How to prepare for an open-book, open-note
exam?
How to submit your finished exam
 Go to eclass to submit it in the “exam
and assignment submission” section
 Due by 11:59pm (one minute to
midnight) on Monday (the same day you
received it on)