The Failure of “She: An Evaluation of Solutions to Gendered Language

This thesis looks at the prevalence of gendered language in modern day English in North America. Drawing upon different analyses of masculine pronouns and slang, this paper argues that modern solutions to gendered language fail to come to terms with the contextual elements of language. While acknowledging that gendered language is a significant problem, the author argues that the solutions thus far presented, specifically replacing the generic pronoun “he” with “she,” cannot combat the way language reflects societal masculinization. Using Wittgenstein to criticize a Heidegger’s notion of language, this paper argues that societal change is a prerequisite to the success of linguistic substitutions for gendered language

Say Oui to We : A Longitudinal Analysis of Pronouns and Articles in French and English

Modern English only uses gender in personal, reflexive, and possessive third person singular pronouns. Modern English also does not use gendered articles, which extends to not assigning an arbitrary gender to inanimate objects. This study examines how recent this aspect of grammar is, and to what degree did cultural interaction with the French throughout history influence the use of gendered pronouns. Two written texts in British English (one in Old English, one in Modern English) and one written text in French are analyzed for elements of grammatical gender embedded within articles, pronouns, and possessive adjectives. The geopolitical influences on incorporating gender into language were also considered. This study found that gender is altogether more present in Old English and Modern French. Old English is found to have more gendered articles and pronouns than other later evolutions of English. Interactions between Norman pirates and Celtic Britons up through French words being fashionably borrowed by English nobles are evidence of geopolitical and international relations impacting the evolution of the English language

Review: Gender shifts in the history of English. Anne Curzan.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.pp. 223 + xii.

Herbert Schendl (2001:9) defines ‘the study of ongoing changes in a language’ as one of the fundamental goals of historical linguistics. Curzan’s book, which examines the historical development of the English gender system, is a work noteworthy not only for historical linguists, but also for experts of gender and language precisely because it attains the aforementioned objective. The book not only gives a well-argued description of the development of English linguistic gender – a fact that makes it a pivotal addition to earlier theories of the field (e.g. Corbett 1991) – but it also utilises its findings to contribute to the research on contemporary gendered language

Gendered Representations of Male and Female Social Actors in Iranian Educational Materials

This research investigates the representations of gendered social actors within the subversionary discourse of equal educational opportunities for males and females in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) books. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the theoretical framework, the authors blend van Leeuwen’s (Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis, Routledge, London, 2003) ‘Social Actor Network Model’ and Sunderland’s (Gendered discourses, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2004) ‘Gendered Discourses Model’ in order to examine the depictions of male and female social actors within this gendered discourse. The gendered discourse of equal opportunities was buttressed by such representations within a tight perspective in proportion to gender ideologies prevailing in Iran. Resorting to CDA, we can claim that resistance against such gendered discourse in Iranian EFL textbooks militates against such gender norms. These representations of male and female social actors in school books are indicative of an all-encompassing education, reinforcing that the discourse of equal opportunities is yet to be realized in the education system of Iran

Gendered language in recent short stories by Japanese women, and in English translation

This article analyses five recent Japanese short stories written by women, with female first person narrators, and the English translations of these stories. I examine how the writers interact with the culturally loaded concept of gendered language to develop characters and themes. The strategies used by translators to render gendered styles into English are also discussed: case-by-case creative solutions appear most effective. ‘Feminine’ and other gendered styles are used to index social identity, to highlight the difference between the social and inner self, and different styles are mixed together for impact. Gendered styles, therefore, are of central importance and translators wishing to adhere closely to the source text should pay close attention to them. All the narrators of the stories demonstrate an understanding of ‘social sanction and taboo’. Two accustom themselves to a socially acceptable future, another displays an uneasy attitude to language and convention, while others fall into stereotypes imposed on them or chastise themselves for inappropriate behaviour. The stories illustrate the way in which gendered language styles in Japanese can be manipulated, as both the writers and the characters they create deliberately use different styles for effect

Gendered Language and the Science of Colonial Silk

This article uses pronominal resilience to suggest how we can identify women's contributions to the colonial silk industry. By comparing different editions of silkworm treatises, all of which were published between 1650-1655 and circulated within the Hartlib Circle's circum-Atlantic network of readers (Bermuda, Germany, England, Ireland, Virginia), I find a pattern in the gendered language of the texts. Books that describe worms grown by women use feminine pronouns (she/her) to classify worms throughout the lifecycle, while books that describe worms grown by men begin with masculine pronouns (he/his) and become feminine (she/her) when the worms become reproductive in the third stage of the lifecycle

Words and deeds: gender and the language of abuse in Elizabethan Norfolk

Research into the regulation of speech in early modern England has tended to focus on common scolds and thus on the control of disorderly women. Yet scolds accounted for only a minority of those prosecuted for speech offences in Elizabethan England. If the definition of abusive speech is broadened, then men were as likely to be charged as women. The 1551 Act against Fighting and Quarrelling in Church expanded significantly the ecclesiastical courts’ jurisdiction, contributing to a climate of control over speech. In the archdeaconry of Norwich, almost a thousand people were charged in the 1580s either under the Act or for other forms of ‘heated’ speech. As the Church sought to implement the Reformation, it was most concerned about challenges to the liturgy, clergy and officers. Changes in the language of prosecution show how court priorities were altered. A shift from formulaic Latin to English reflected the disruption of gendered assumptions, as the courts placed new emphasis upon speech actions rather than reputation. To criticize authority was to do more than to speak words; it was to commit an offence. The gendered terms of scolding and brawling were combined in a charge which could be brought against either men or women. Gendered contrasts between male and female speech were maintained, but were pushed aside by concerns about the threat which disorderly speech presented to religious and political authority

The Difficulties of Teaching a " Man-Made Language"

International audienceFrench is a heavily-gendered language in which the masculine prevails. Teaching English as a foreign language enables the teacher to raise gender awareness in students

Culture and Gender Representation in Iranian School Textbooks

This study examines the representations of male and female social actors in selected Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) textbooks. It is grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis and uses van Leeuwen’s Social Actor Network Model to analyze social actor representations in the gendered discourses of compulsory heterosexuality. Findings from the analysis show that the representations endorse the discourse of compulsory heterosexuality which is an institutionalized form of social practice in Iran. Three male and three female students were interviewed to find out what they think about these representations. Their responses with regard to whether they think textbooks should also include representations of other forms of sexuality were non-committal and vague. To them LGBT people are the ‘‘Other’’ practicing a form of sexuality that is not normal. Such exclusions could obscure the reality regarding the existence of such gender identities and represent the world in a particular manner