Rega Detapratiwi
2201409057
405-406
Sex,
Politeness, and Stereotypes
Robin Lakoff, an
American linguist argued that women were using language which reinforced their
subordinate status, they were ‘colluding in their own subordination’ by the way
they spoke. She suggested that women’s subordinate social status in America
society is reflected in the language women use, as well as in the language used
about them. She identified a number of linguistic features used by women that
expressed uncertainty and lack of confidence.
Lakoff suggested that
women’s speech was characterized by these linguistic features: lexical hedges
or filters, tag questions, raising intonation on declaratives, ‘empty’
adjectives, precise color terms, intensifiers, ‘hypercorrect’ grammar,
‘superpolite’ forms, and avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress.
All the forms identified were means of expressing uncertainty or tentativeness.
The internal coherence of the features can be illustrated by dividing them into
two: linguistic devices which may be used for hedging or reducing the force of
an utterance (explicitly signal lack of confidence) and features that may boost
or intensify a proposition’s force (reflect the speaker’s anticipation that the
addressee may remain unconvinced and supply extra reassurance).
Lakoff’s linguistic
features as politeness devices
As a syntactic device
listed by Lakoff which may express uncertainty, tag questions may also express
affective meaning functions as facilitative or positive politeness devices,
providing an addressee with an easy entrée into a conversation, soften a
directive or a criticism, used as confrontational and coercive devices. In that
case, women put more emphasis on tag questions than men.
Many linguistic forms
have complex functions such as ‘hedges’ used differently in different contexts.
They mean different things according to their pronunciation, their position in
the utterance, what kind of speech act they are modifying, and who is using
them to whom in what context.
Analyses which take
account of the function of features of women’s speech often reveal women as
facilitative and supportive conversationalists. This also suggests that
explanations of differences between women’s and men’s speech behavior which
refer only to the status or power dimension. Many of the features which characterize
women’s language are positive politeness devices expressing solidarity.
There are many
features of interaction which differentiate the talk of women and men. The two
of them are interrupting behavior and conversational feedback.
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Interruptions
In same-sex
interactions, interruptions were evenly distributed between speakers. In
cross-sex interactions almost all the interruptions were from males.
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Feedback
Another aspect of the
picture of women as cooperative conversationalists is the evidence that women
provide more encouraging feedback to their conversational partners than men do.
In general, research on conversational interaction reveals women as cooperative
conversationalists, whereas men tend to be more competitive and less supportive
of others.
Explanations
Women’s cooperative
conversational strategies may be explained better by looking at the influence
of context and patterns of socialization. The norms for women’s talk may be the
norms for small group interaction in private contexts, where the goals of the
interaction are solidarity stressing-maintaining social good relations. The
differences between women and men in ways of interacting may be the result of
different socialization and acculturation patterns.
Gossip describes the
kind of relaxed in-group talk that goes on between people in informal contexts.
It is defined as ‘idle talk’ in Western society and considered particularly
characteristic of women’s interaction. Its overall function for them is to
affirm solidarity and maintain the social relationship between the women
involved. Women’s gossip is characterized by a number of the linguistic
features of women’s language. Propositions which express feelings are often
attenuated and qualified or intensified. Facilitative tags are frequent. Women
complete each other’s utterances and provide supportive feedback. Meanwhile,
the male’s gossip is difficult to identify. In parallel situations the topics
men discuss tend to focus on things and activities rather than personal
experiences and feelings.
Sexist language is
one example of the way a culture or society conveys its value from one group to
another and from one generation to the next. Language conveys attitudes. Sexist
attitudes stereotype a person according to gender rather than judging on
individual merits. Sexist language encodes stereotyped attitudes to women and
men.
Feminists have
claimed that English is a sexist language. Sexism involves behavior which maintains
social inequalities between women and men. There are a number of ways in which
it has been suggested that the English language discriminates against women.
Some of the ways can provide insights about a community’s perceptions and
stereotypes. The relative status of the sexes in a society may be reflected not
only in the ways in which women and men use language but also in the language
used about women and men.
