2. Sexism as a concept and behaviour
• The term sexism coined by Pauline M. Leet in
US in 1965 . Sexism a model on Racism.
• Sexism in language involves words or
expressions that carry negative,
discriminatory attitudes towards people on
gender basis.
• People’s gender: involving mainly males and
females
• Male sexism and Female sexism.
3. The most apparent form is Language
male sexism
• Theories and constructs have been developed, since
the first feminist wave.
Worth mentioning:
• Intentional and unintentional language sexism
• Hostile and benevolent sexism
- Hostile sexism: manifest in people’s words and actions.
- Benevolent sexism: perceiving women as “pure
creatures who ought to be protected, supported, and
adored and whose love is necessary to make a man
complete” (Glick and Fiske, 2001: 109). Averts criticism
4. Generic “he”
• Dear Ladies and gentlemen, if someone loses his
way, no one can help him; he can help himself by
using the map which has now become his.
• Dear fathers, if someone loses his way, no one
can help him; he can help himself by using the
map which has now become his.
• Dear mothers, if someone loses his way, no one
can help him; he can help himself by using the
map which has now become his.
5. Generic “she”!
• Dear ladies and gentlemen, if someone loses
her way, no one can help her; she can help
herself by using the map which has now
become hers.
7. Alternatives to generic “he”
• Reformulation:
plural they, generic you, plural
If someone loses his way, they can use the map…
• Replacement:
“he or she” -- “he/she” -- “s/he” --
“(s)he” -- “she or he” -- she/he
“thon”, “co”, “se”, “yo”, “e” , “hu”,
“zhe” , “phe”
8. Other sexist words and expressions
• Generic “man”:
All men are mortal, Sara is a man; therefore, Sara is
mortal. Mind a feminist riposte time!
• Asymmetrical pairs:
[bachelor – spinster]
- Bachelor: a man who has never been married.
- Spinster: a woman who is not married, especially
an older woman who is not likely to marry.
9. • Longer statements:
- Women are the snares of Satan.
- Long hair, short wit.
- Behind every successful man is a woman.
- Beware two things: a winter blue sky and a
praying crone.
- All women are whores, except those who can’t
(be so).
10. Do generic words actually enhance generic
images?
• 115 Moroccan high-school Baccalaureate
students, 63 females and 52 males.
• 25 generic, non sexist appellations ranging
from negative (eg: delinquent, criminal) to
positive words (eg: architect and doctor).
• Attribution of a common female or female first
name (like Ahmed, Nezha, Adil, Shaima).
11. Results
• 41.66% of the attributed names were female and
58.33% were male.
• The subjects’ mental image is more male-oriented with
very close results between the two sexes:
- Females’ attribution to female names: ….. 41.14%
- Males’ attribution to female names: ……. 42.30%
- Females’ attribution to male names: ………58.85%
- Males’ attribution to male names: ………. 57.69%
• Language reflects our thought rather than tailor them.
13. Implications
• Sexism in language is a global issue.
• Which enhances which, sexism or language?
There is an interactive relationship, but language
reflects rather than generates sexism.
• Language sexism is an additional burden on the
part of the language learners and users.
• English suffers from many inconsistencies, one of
which is sexism.
• English needs a rational reform.
