Gender Differences In Gender Identity

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Language is a key component of the expression and construction of both group and individual identity. Differences in gender identity has resulted in the parallel development of genderlects and gender roles within society. Gender stereotypes and societal pressures of conformity heavily influences linguistic behaviour of different genders; leading to the generalisation where ‘women like silent men. They think they’re listening’ (Michael Achard). The further division between language choices between genders is stylised by the variation in their perceived functions for language. However, depending on the contexts of the linguistic exchange, other sociolinguistic factors (eg. Age, occupation, ethnicity etc…) may have a more profound effect on language variation. Without a doubt, gender is a prominent influence in the variation of linguistic choice, but under certain conditions gender will not be the largest influence.
Gender stereotypes and conformist pressures in society enforces the development of genderlects and variation of language use between different genders. Stereotypes play an influential role in the communication within society, it predetermines certain prejudices what may be associated with different things and groups of people. Hence, over time society has developed different roles and social expectations for different genders. As the dominant gender in western …show more content…

Though without a doubt, gender does have a sound impact on the way language is used, in the forms of social stereotypes, societal pressures and functional differences in the use of language. Under certain situations, however, gender may not be defined to be in its apical role, instead other sociolinguistic and socioeconomic factors may have the greatest influence. Whether or not silent men are more attractive depends on the context and domains

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