2. Background Language shapes the way we see the world around us. “Words not only express what we perceive but also help to determine what we perceive.” This theory is called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Gender is apparent in language. If gender inequality exists in the structure of a language it subsequently shapes our social reality. When linguists examine gender in language structure, they look at three main things(semantics, morphology, and lexicon).
3. Semantics 1. Semantics- logical or symbolic similarities in a word's meaning. For example, in Alamblak, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea, the masculine words include males and things which are tall or long and slender, or narrow such as fish, crocodiles, long snakes, penises, arrows, spears, and slender trees. In contrast, the feminine words include females and things which are short, squat, or wide, such as turtles, frogs, houses, fighting shields, and trees that are typically more round and squat than others.
4. Morphology Morphology- words with similar form. In Spanish, nouns that refer to males usually end in -o, or a consonant, and nouns that refer to females usually end in -a. Most other nouns that end in -o, or a consonant, are also treated as masculine, likewise, most nouns that end in -a are treated as feminine, whatever their meaning. Examples: chico/chica = boy/girl ; abuelo/abuela = grandpa/grandma; and esposo/esposa = husband/wife.
5. Lexicon Lexicon- refers to cases when gender markers have been so eroded by time that they are no longer recognizable, even to native speakers. When no clues about a word can be drawn semantically or morphologically, it must be memorized as taught with no real explanation as to why it is feminine or masculine. Many German nouns are classified in this way, as are many French nouns. The French word for table, for example, is feminine... la table... although there is nothing objective about a table which makes it feminine.
6. Examples of Gendered Language in French the French language, there are definite articles which serve as gender markers for nouns. These definite articles are le (masculine) and la (feminine). The uproar begins when these concrete definite articles apply to people, particularly occupations, thereby classifying jobs that should not have any kind of gender connotation as either for males or females. Here are a list of "feminine" and "masculine" jobs. Notice the rigid useage of definite articles le and la:
7. The English Language The English language, as it is spoken today is not similar to French, Spanish, or the other Romantic languages in regard to how gender markers can create in a language underlying ideas. English has no gender markers. And yet certain words hold gendered connotations.
8. Hypothesis The hypothesis around which this paper is centered deals with the concept of cultural lag, which refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations. Language is not technology, but it is a man-made invention directly connected to the consciousness of a society. Social problems and conflicts are a result of a lag between language and ideas just as it is between technology and ideas.
9. Hypothesis Continued The question is... which of the two is lagging? Language or our ideas? Have we conceptually outgrown our antiquated language, regarding gender? Or is our language moving faster, realistically speaking, than our ideas can move?
10. Methods I administered an online test to 50 people. The age range of participants was 12 to 71 years. Most participants fell between 25 to 45 years old. On the test itself were forty-five words in three sections, or columns, of fifteen. Column A refers to words that in the past have been commonly associated with masculinity. Column B words exhibit historical feminine connotations. And Column C were random words with no record of gender associations.
11. Methods Continued Of the words below, mark each one as either feminine, masculine, or neutral.
12. Results Over 80% used answers that fit within the confines of many of the word's gender stereotypes. The youngest members of my sample group... those ranging from 12-25 years old... showed the most progressive results, listing Neutral in the majority of words associated with occupations and personality traits. 20% showed progressive results that most definitely show, at least in the sample words, that certain gendered words are becoming neutral, as they well ought.
13. Conclusions It is with a lot of optimism that I say that even though many people still play into gender ideologies as presented in the antiquated aspects of modern English in America, a change is coming. The change is coming slowly, gradually mixing its way into the fabric of the language, and also the minds of those speaking and writing it, but that change seems inevitable. As one generation gives rise to the next, and so on, what was once a strange transition will be the norm. It won't solve the problem of gender inequality, of course, but it will serve the cause of viewing people as people, not people as male and female.
