Some Language Issues in the Study of Gender


By

Obododimma Oha

Some people may be wondering why language study or linguistics has to carry its trouble to the study of gender. This lecture answers the query briefly and outlines areas that a language study of gender may be interested in.

***
One area that excites language scholars in their research is interruption in discourse, which involves imposition of power. It is claimed that men tend to interrupt women who have the floor and right to speak. See this material, for instance :

https://time.com/5898144/men-interrupting-women/#:~:text=A%202014%20study%20from%20George,as%20opposed%20to%20another%20man.

The issue is that this tendency is

-- widespread and universal
-- psychological
-- attempts by men to signify that they are superior or more important
-- common in spoken discourse but suggested also in other media
-- seen at the workplace where competence is at play but also present in other contexts
  --  etc.

Obviously, this is a fertile area to do research. The researcher in a patriarchal context would have a lot of interesting data and relate the practice to institutions of power in the cultures.

Another common issue is the typical linguistic habits of men and women in n some contexts. It isnot surprising that men and women exhibit some typical linguistic behaviors. Here is an articulation of this, in spite of its stylistic errors :

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323450567_MEN_AND_WOMEN_DIFFERENCES_IN_USING_LANGUAGE_A_CASE_STUDY_OF_STUDENTS_AT_STAIN_KUDUS

It understandable that men and women exhibit certain unique behaviors in language. Some reasons are as follows :

(1) Differences in training and socialization
(2) Peculiarities of interest
(3) Inclinations created by cultural context

Etc.

There is also the gendering of experiences and things. This also attracts scholarly attention. Read this :

https://behavioralscientist.org/what-happens-when-we-give-everything-a-gender/

https://www.4sonline.org/the-gender-of-things-how-epistemic-and-technological-objects-become-gendered/

There is,  very important, the encoding of gender-related logic in the choices we make in language and the need to filter out gender-related expressions of sentiment in all languages. Even revered discourse forms like proverbs can hide gender-related sentiments. They, too, need overhauling.

There are some subtle presuppositions in the gendering of things and experiences. For instance, what makes a devastating storm feminine? What makes the crafty tortoise a man? So, that the tortoise is rational is something to be admired?

There are other interesting trajectories.

***

The issue is the gender has become significant. It has also reached every discipline and calls for a change in the use of language.

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