Sexism in English1.doc

英语中的性别歧视Sexism in EnglishContentsAbstract.1Key words.1I. Introduction.2II. Literature Review.31. Review the research abroad.32. Review the research in China.3III. Origins of Sexism in the English Language.3IV. Phenomena of Sexism in the English Language.41. In morphology.42. In syntax.53. In semantics.61) Different connotations of sex-paired words.62) The unfavorable semantic development against women.63) Women-specific words or phrases.74) Some other aspects.8V. Desexism91. Sexism and feminist movement.11 2. Summon to use non-sexism words.123. Summon to contribute to the noble cause of establishing harmonious society.12VI. Conclusion.12References.13Sexism in EnglishAbstract: The research on sexism in English can be traced a long time ago. In the 1920s many linguistics and socialists have put forward this view that there were so many words in English that can only be used for male or female. Words that show the discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women are very common phenomenon not only in the past period but also in our time. Studying issue would help English learners understand both languages and cultures from this aspect. It will also benefit us to focus on the comparison and contrast of these two languages. Furthermore, it helps us establish our harmonious society, hence more and more linguistics and socialists are doing their contributions to such problem. This paper discusses sexism in the two languages and cultures from a comparative perspective.Key words: sexism; English language; desexism 摘 要： 英语中性别歧视的研究可以追溯到很久以前。在上世纪20年代许多语言学家和社会学家都提出在英语中有许多词汇仅能针对男性或女性使用。有性别歧视的词汇是基于性别，特别是针对女性的性别歧视。这不仅在过去而且在现在都是非常普遍的现象。因此越来越多的语言学家和社会学家正在尽其所能为次项研究作出贡献。关于英语中的性别歧视的研究能帮助英语学习者从语言和文化两方面更加深刻的理解英语中的性别歧视. 此篇论文就英语语言和社会中的性别歧视进行了研究，为我们在今后的学习生活中消除这种男女不平等现象提供了依据，有助于建立和谐社会。关键词：性别歧视；英语语言；反性别歧视I. IntroductionSexism in Language is a kind of social phenomenon, which reflects the certain traditional social values and the national way of thinking. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English with Chinese Translation defines Sexism as the discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women. Sexism is the belief that one sex is not as good, clever, etc. as the other, especially when this results in unfair treatment of woman by men. Otto Jesperson, the Danish linguist, in his Growth and Structure of the English Language (1923), points that English is the most masculine language as far as he is concerned. So its necessary to discuss sexism in English: its origins phenomena and desexism. We can find the origin of sexism in English in the Holy Bible. Man was first to be created by God while woman was then made from one of his ribs. From the order of the birth, it is obvious to see the different importance of man and woman. And man and woman are not equal at all because woman is only a part of man, which itself is the discrimination against women. It is said in the Holy Bible that the first sin is also committed by the woman who was seduced by the snake into eating and having the man eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, woman is always related to the trouble and the wickedness. Holy Bible influences the western culture and social values so much that it is referred to as the origin of sexism in English. "Language is the mirror of the society." A language reflects all the aspects of a society. In the European upper class, people think that women shouldnt work outside, and the only thing they should do is to stay at home, do the housework and raise the children. The traditional conception still widely spreads in the Europe and America even after the industrialization. Women are treated as the weaker sex and they realize their own values through their marriage. Nowadays, compared with career men, few women take their jobs. Up to now, most of men, nonetheless, dominate the higher positions with the better salaries but women remain in the subordinate jobs. Thus the sexism in the society has been in existence, to get the sexism out our civilization is still a must job for us. The 44th International Linguistic Association, which hold in American New York university April 1999, put the "Gender Language" as centre topic for discussion. It is obviously to see that how important the study of sexism in English is, linguists have already considered the differences between human sexes as a must ingredient in the researching of linguistics. The tasks of the thesis are to review the history of the researching about the ingredient of sex in linguistic, expatiate the background of this research and vista its foreground with studying the develop uptrend of contemporary linguistics.II. Literature Review1. Review the research abroadThe research on the relationship between language and gender first took place in ancient Greece. The earliest researchers of this field whose names are remembered by the following linguists might be J. Grimm and W.von Humboldt because their theoretical productions influenced almost all of the western scholars in sociolinguistics. At that time people want to explain the definition of "genus" in grammar so they had put forward such an assumption which they thought that "genus" in grammar is the symbol of "sexus" in biology. Denmark Jesperson is the earliest linguist who focuses on "gender language". In 1923 he published the Development and Structure of English, in which he said:" English is the language most familiar to me" and he thought that English is a "gender language" (sexist language). After him, some linguists criticized him for his conclusion that male language is preponderated than female language. Therefore, during that period of time, the research about sexism in English is scattered and non-systemic.2. Review the research in ChinaChinese famous linguist Dr. Yang yong-lin has also done a great contribution to researching sexism in English. In 2004, Yang yong-lin published A Study of Sociolinguistic Issues. He considered that the research of sexism in English can be divided into four periods of time: 1. Enlightenment stage (60s 20 centuries). 2. all the people participant stage (70s 20 centuries). 3. science research stage (80s 20 centuries). In the fourth stage scholars began to try to study the sexism in English while treat it as a subject of sociolinguistics, they manage to explain the phenomena of sexism though "linguistic relativity". In the first stage there are two notable features, the discussion covered comparatively narrow and the study of sexism usually appeared as the appendant to feminism and social issues. In the second stage the research is mostly not systemically trained in linguistics so the attitudes partly have "folk etymology". Till the fourth stage, the research about sexism in English has reached a more mature stage.III. Origins of Sexism in the English LanguageWhat caused the sexism in the English Language? There are two origins. One is from the Holy Bible (The Books of The Old Testament): The Lord God took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man which the Lord God made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,” This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman." Man was first to be created by God while woman was then made from one of his ribs. From the order of the birth, it is obvious to see the different importance of man and woman. And man and woman are not equal at all because woman is only a part of man, which itself is the discrimination against women. Holy Bible influences the Western culture and social values so much that it is referred to as the origin of sexism in English. In the West, Bible is considered as the origin of all the cultures, so the stories in Bible have greatly influenced peoples thought and life. According to Bible, God created the world. Then he created a man and a woman, but the woman was made by taking out a rib from the man. And the word woman originally meant the wife of man. So women have always been regarded as a part of men, without independence and dignity. Although it is just a myth, it has been deeply rooted in peoples minds. People, especially men, would like to take it for granted and thus shape their outlooks and culture. As a part of culture, language surely reflects this idea.On the other hand, "language is the mirror of the society." A language reflects al the aspects of a society. In the European upper class, people embrace that women shouldnt and mustnt work outside, and the only thing they should do is to stay at home, do the housework and raise the children. The traditional conception is still wipe spread in the Europe and America even after the industrialization. Women are treated as the weaker sex and they realize their own values through their marriage to man. Nowadays, compared with career men, few women take their jobs. Up to now, men, nonetheless, dominate the higher positions with the better salaries and women remain in the subordinate jobs. Thus the sexism in the society has been in existence and the embodiment of the sexism is necessarily the sexism of language.IV. Phenomena of Sexism in the English Language1. In morphologyIn English, the words that designate men are usually unmarked, while those designating women are marked. It is called linguistic asymmetry. Take two pairs of words, male female, man and woman, for example, female and woman are based on male and man, obviously we can see that women are the appendant to men through these two pairs of words. Generally speaking, masculine words are usually unmarked while feminine are marked. The English words indicating females position, profession, name, etc., are usually compound words or derivative. The following tables can show the differences of words.Table 1. Words difference in genderCommon genderMasculine genderFeminine genderwaiterwaiterwaitresshero heroheroineusher usher usherettedoctordoctorwoman doctorsurgeonsurgeon female surgeonlawyerlawyerlady lawyerLouisLouiseThe suffixes -ess, -ine, -ette,-e, etc., mean smallness. For example, kitchenette indicates a small kitchen. Hence usherette looks smaller than usher. Those suffixes derogate the original words. However, most of the subordinate jobs are taken by women. When men take these jobs the morpheme "male" or "man" should be placed in front of such words. For instance, prostitute - male prostitute. To compare the posts that men and women undertake respectively, it is obvious that sexism in the society deeply influences the language.2. In syntax The sexism in English is mainly confined to the pronouns: he, she, his, her, himself and herself. There is no pronoun for a person of unknown sex. On the formal occasions, he, his or him must be used to refer to such indefinite pronouns as each, everyone, no one, nobody, anyone, anybody and somebody. For example:Everybody talked at the top of his voice.In anyone calls, tell him Ill be back later.One must remember to remain still when he attends a concert.In 1977, the Associated press stylebook began to ask to use the pronoun he when an indefinite antecedent may be male or female. Many feminists object to the generic reference of the masculine pronouns.3. In semantics1) Different connotations of sex- paired wordsThese words are supposedly semantically equivalent, except that one refers to men and the other to women, but many terms of this sort have bad connotations associated with the womans term. For example, a bachelor and a spinster are both unmarried, and one is a man and the other a woman. "A bachelor , however , is seen as probably being unmarried by choice and living a happy and libertine life, while a spinster , has the connotation of an old and unappealing woman living a drab and unfulfilled life in consequence of her failure to marry.” A master is a host , but he can also be an individual with great ability in some skilled endeavor, while its corresponding word mistress bears the connotation of someones regular partner in adultery.2) The unfavorable semantic development against womena. Semantically derogated female referencesAs we know, woman, as the corresponding word of man, refers to female, but nowadays, it is considered to be connected with sex. "Robin Lakoff makes a strong case for the euphemistic use of lady as opposed to gentleman, as if woman were an unpleasant term that ought to be avoided" (P113). Even the word queen, which was usually a symbol of the highest power, cant avoid the trend of derogation. It is sometimes used to mean male homosexual who acts like a woman, but the corresponding word king is not used to refer to female homosexual who acts like a man.Another provoking example is the kinship references that designate females, such as mother, aunt, and sister, all convey derogative meanings. Mother was once used to indicate the old women in the lower class, while aunt and sister can both refer to prostitute.b. The neutralization of the originally commendatory wordsSome words that indicated noble women in the upper class are now used to refer to common females.That is to say, the commendatory meaning is turned into a neutral one.The image of a lady is traditionally dignified, graceful and elegant, as can be proven by "Silas Marner" of George Eliot (1851)."She had the essential attributes of a ladyhigh veracity, delicate honor in her dealings, deference to others, and refined personal habits."But now, things are quite different, because woman, in some peoples eyes, reminds them of sex.Lady seems to become the corresponding word for man, designating the female. For example, in Britain, the girl who sells in a shop is called a saleslady, corresponding to salesman. The clothes for females are ladies wear. Although the originally noble lady is now used on common females, the matching masculine forms lord and gentleman still keep their nobility and dignity.Madam has a similar experience. It was used as a polite addressing form for females, as Philips wrote in 1969, "Madam, a title of Honour, which is given as well in writing as speaking, to women of equality, as Princesses, Duchesses, and others. " While in Daily chronicle of 1901, we read such a sentence: “The street conductors of Boston are co