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Sexism in the workplace and education
Gender Issues in School Education
Discuss gender essay
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1. Does the articles/websites discuss gender stereotypes in the language? If so what did you learn?
Gendered language is something that is all areas of my life from the day I was born and has continued daily since then. It is around us all the time but most of us don’t really pay much mind to or just don’t see it. I saw it growing up in school and even as a small child. My mom worked inside the house and my father was the bread winner he paid bills as well as did the work needed to be done on the outside of the house. This was the norm for me, yet interestingly enough I preferred working outside of the house unless it was cooking. My dad was the strong firm silent type that showed minimal emotions and my mom was the sensitive loving emotional one.
Neerja and Swati refer to various words in the English language that specifically target women in a not so complementing way, yet the similar word towards a man more of a positive implication. Many words degrade the women while when speaking of a man it’s a good term. (2009). I find it interesting that the word man is in the word woman and yet we are not the same creatures. In school the boys always played the rough sports and the girls would play badminton. Men and women are viewed differently and hopefully one day we can change this through gender conditioning and using gender neutral language. (2013). If a man is an executive secretary that does not mean he is gay nor does it mean that if a woman is an electrician that she is gay. Those specific occupations may tend to have more gays and lesbians in them but they are obviously not exclusive. We need to change our perception and stay open minded in life.
I go to Home Depot often and it seems to always be assumed by the employees ...
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...or girls those are giving our children wrong messages. Boys should be able to express their emotions as girls do. The reason my father never showed much emotion was because that was the way he was raised and was told he was weak if he did. Being his daughter was very difficult because he never expressed anything but anger and would have been nice if I knew how he really felt. We are damaging our children and grandchildren when we don’t allow them to express themselves freely.
References
Dasanti, N. and Swati, R. (2009, November 05). Gendered Language http://www.countercurrents.org/print.html Parminter, G. (2013, March 18). The language of gender. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/n8LHKPaJgG4 Villness, Z. (2013, February 9). How gendered language affects perceptions.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/how-gendered-language-affects-perceptions-0209137
In recent years, gender differences have already been one of the most controversial issues in various research. As an important communication tool of mankind, language is inevitably involved in controversies. However, Rachel Rafelman, a Canadian journalist and the author of “The Party Line” express her thought and opinion in her essay. She not only have some great points on what and how women and men are likely to talk, but also have different points on the talking environment. She comes up with facts and fit real and particle examples in her essay to make it understood. Whereas, Ronald Macaulay, a professor of linguistics and the author of “Sex Difference” uses words of novels to argue and promotes them as a cause of reinforce to men’s and women’s stereotypes in his essay. He argues through his whole as rebuttal and gives some examples to oppose the preconceived notion of sex differences. Over all, both Rafelman and Macaulay are the good writer but Rafelman is having upper to prove her essay better organized using her tones as per requirement.
Women get typecasted based on varied issues, which causes many to think why females are the only ones being addressed. One stereotype that challenged assumptions of many is the stereotype of how much men and women like to speak (“Stereotypes Against Women”). A great number of people think women are more excessively communicative than men. The stereotype is so pervasive that it is said men supposedly speak about 7,000 words per day while women speak about 45,000 words per day (“Stereotypes Against Women”). Although this is just an estimate of how much speaking is done by both the genders, this wasn’t even near as to what the actual result was when microphones were put on them to record how much they communicate throughout the day. “The stereotype was proven inaccurate as both men and women speak about 17,000 words per day” (“Stereotypes Against Women”). It’s not offensive to think women are talkative, but what gives it that impression is the way people compare men and
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.
Most societies have been patriarchal historically, and the feminist movement has only occurred relatively recently. There cannot be ideological equality while there is still a stigma to being born differently, or of the “inferior sex.” People make assumptions on others based entirely on their sex, such as females are supposed to be nurturing and weak while males are supposed to be dominant and strong. The vernacular language use implies a sexist attitude that is prevalent in society. There are several solutions to reduce the apparent sexist lexicon.
According to Borker and Maltz (1982) women and men of America are from varied sociolinguistic cultures and have learnt conversation rules differently. Language rules are taught to children at an early age. Little girls work and interact within small homogeneous boys-girls groups and make supportive comments whereas boys go for bigger groups and make challenging comments. When they group up, these patterns continue and sometimes misunderstandings occur due to such differences. Women nod head to encourage speaker whereas men consider it to be a gesture for agreement. Men do not nod and women consider they are not listening. Women tend to use questions to continue or start off a conversation and men think it is because of less knowledge of women. Even though females give more affective response, still where nonverbal communication is concerned...
The movie Babel (2006), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, is an interesting and impressive film. This movie shows four different episodes, which are all related to each other. This movie is about the relationship between stereotypes and communications of people, and the way the film discusses the topic to the audience is very interesting, because there are many episodes. There are four episodes in this film; first is Susan and Richard’s story, second is Yusef’s episode, third one is Amelia’s episode, and the last one is Chieko’s story.
Yieke, F. (2001). Gender as a Sociocultural Construct: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Journal of Cultural Studies, 3(2), 333-347.
Raising boys to never cry hurts them, not helps them. According to Charlie Hoehn, an American author and speaker at the Pentagon and military bases, "Boys in the United States-just like all human beings- need touch, caring, warmth, empathy and close relationships" (Hoehn). When we teach boys that they need to be tough, we teach them things like not to cry, punching people when they want to "stick up for someone", not being vulnerable to others, and being strong. But when we teach them this they don't open themselves up to people or show empathy because they are scared it will make themselves look weak, and according to what we've taught them, being weak is bad.
Each gender is separated by untold rules or guidelines that they must abide by. This in turn creates inner tensions that inhibit personal growth. For males this may be, or is, an extraordinarily arduous task. More often than not it is other male figures, such as the father, that administer and enforce these certain rules. The most common of these rules include the fact that boys cannot cry, and if he does, he is considered to be acting like a girl, and therefore made fun of. Those mere statements may compel boys to set aside their emotions, in other words, to put them “on the back burner.” This could affect the child's effort to grow, and also create problems with the ability to understand their emotions as well as others. Traditionally boys are prohibited to do anything that is immensely feminine, such as ballet or dance. Even though these both are advertised primarily for girls, boys are included in these activities. For instance, in the movie called Billy Elliot, there is a boy struggling between his love for dance, and his fathers expectations of him. Billy's father wants him to continue with his boxing classes (though ...
Descriptive gender stereotypes. Literature regarding the descriptive gender stereotype is primarily focussed on the female gender stereotype and its complications. One of the most prominent theories, the Social Role Theory by Eagly (1987) states that women are expected to be communal whereas the defining characteristic for males is agency. Communal attributes describe a
The primary explanation for the differences in how people express their emotions rests on biology. First of all, our biological sex is the best predictor of the ability to detect and interpret emotional expressions (Swenson & Casmir, 1998). Our gender can shape how receptive we are of other people’s feelings, whether that person is of the same or different sex as us. Usually, people are generally better at recognizing the emotions of the member of the same sex (Adler, Rosenfeld, Proctor, 2007). The definition of being a man or a woman is also influenced by the culture one grows up in. Typically, most boys are taught to be tough even at a young age and are even encouraged by most fathers to play roughly with other boys their age. Crying is one emotion that is greatly discouraged because it is seen as a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it is acceptable for girls since society teaches them to be gentle and nurturing. This probably explains why males are usually more aggressive and competitive than females. These also go hand in hand with the social roles of men and women in society. Our occupations can also get in the way of expressing our emotions, as we are expected to act pleasant even though we don’t really feel that way. For example, ...
The English language has evolved through history in a male-centered, patriarchal society. The male orientation of English carries two complementary implications: being male is normative and natural; and therefore, not being male is abnormal and unnatural. The shifting of our language from masculine to gender-neutral may be awkward at first, and our children may wonder what all the fuss was about. The English language is always changing and the future will hold a gender-neutral language.
Have you ever wondered who taught you to talk the way you do? People learn to talk and express themselves everyday of their lives. Starting from the day you were born you used language or some form of it to communicate with those around you. As a baby you usually show your displeasure with your new surroundings by crying, and if you don’t the doctor will make sure you do. Everyday we express our point of view to others in some form of language. Whether it is through verbal communication, written discourse or through body language, you can tell if a person is upset, angry, or happy. We as human beings don’t realize how much language has to do with our lives. How can you determine if one of your friends is angry with you? Is there a different tone to their voice? Do they have a stern look on their face? Of course they do, your friend feels the need to express their anger to you by these different forms of language. Where do we learn to use these different forms of language? How are our uses of these languages shaped? The three main contributing factors to how we express ourselves through language come from our schooling, our friends, and most of all from our families.
How does language affect our interaction with other genders? Language is the basis of all interaction. The language we use is essential to other’s perceptions of us. We instinctively know this, so we cater our language to suit how we want to be perceived by others. Language is not the only factor in perception though. Other’s interpretation of our language is as important an ingredient in their perception of us as the language we use is. Our perceptions of each other, more than anything else dictate our interactions with each other. The essential question is does interpretation of language vary between genders?
Wardhaugh states different social norms defining the standards of being men or women, which has a profound influence on the language behavior shown by different genders. In other words, both men and women should possess the ability to show either masculinity or feminity through the language they use. When this ability overlaps with the other gender, however, one might be considered as as outsider of their own gender. He then lists the main differences between males and femals with the connection with language: genetic differences, social differences (e.g. various roles people take within a certain society), and linguistic differences (e.g. speech style and word choice). Doing so, he gives readers an indepth idea about how gender differences link to various language behaviors. He further explains how these differences are possibly created and constructed in society. Wardhaugh also examines a few common gender stereotypes, such as women talk more than men, and proves most of the stereotypes are wrong.