Language and Gender-Language Use between Men and Women

Sex and Gender

Sex: the characterization or dividing of two sexes of human beings determined biologically which attach to certain sex. Example: Men have moustache, etc.
Gender: characteristics attached to both men and women socially and culturally constructed. Example: Women are considered talkative, etc.

How do Sex and Gender relate with Language?
Sex differences, automatically, bring a consequence of difference in language use between men and women (ex. Different terms for men and women). From the long process, gender difference is assumed predestine that gives consequence of inequality of sex treatment in language.

Language is not Sexist, but As it is known that women and men often play distinctly different roles in society, so there will be differences on : the terms referring with the sexes, what kinds of the language, and how they use the language.

 

The Terms Referring to Men and Women

Phoneme Level: Putra-Putri, mahasiswa-mahasiswi, etc.
Morpheme Level: Karyawan-karyawati, negarawan-negarawati?, etc.
Word Level: doctor, police ==> men, but policewoman, lady judge, etc., mencuci, memasak
Phrase Level: Kontes Kecantikan, Pelecehan Seksual, etc.

Gender-Biased Terms in Indonesian
Mahasiswa, karyawan, putra is often used to refer to men, but karyawati, etc. and the term that refered to only women for example: Hakim wanita, Polisi wanita, but there is no hakim pria, polisi pria, etc.
Ibu memasak di dapur, ayah membaca koran, not: Ayah menggoreng tempe, ibu mengetik dengan laptop.

Features of ‘Women’s Language’ based on Robin Lakoff's theory

1. Lexical Hedges or Fillers, e.g. you know, well, you see, etc.
2. Tag Questions, e.g. She’s very nice, isn’t she?
3. Rising Intonation on declaratives, e.g. It’s really good?
4. ‘Empty’ Adjectives, e.g. charming, cute, etc.
5. Precise color terms, e.g. magenta, aquamarine, etc.
6. Intensifiers, e.g. just, so, etc.
7. ‘Hypercorrect’ grammar, e.g. use of standard forms, singing not singin’.
8. ‘Super polite’ forms, e.g. indirectness, euphemism.
9. Avoidance of strong swear words, e.g. fudge, my goodness.

Differences in Conversational Style based on Deborah Tannen Theory

• Conversational Style between Men and Women.
• Understanding Meta-language.
• Different Focus in Conversation.
• Conversational Theme and Form

Conclusion of Language and Gender-Language Use between Men and Women

1. The sex differences make language use different between men and women.
2. The differences are the result of biological, psychological, and social factors.
3. The language differences manifest in phonology, morphology, vocabulary, intonation patterns, and conversational styles.