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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE USAGE


Language is one of the most powerful and common method of communication.Every race, society, civilisation adopted a language system.There are two sexes which use this form of communication: “male” and “female”.If we accept that these sexes are the people of different worlds,then we can obviously say that it is inevitable that there are certain differences in the usage of language among this two seperate gender.We can call these differences as “gender differences in language”.

It has been always a matter of curiosity for people how, why, and how much differently do the genders percieved to express themselves while communicating. There were countless of researches done on this issue. There are some different results of these researches, but in general, the results of these researches come up with an idea that in the essence of this gender gap in communication lies brain and hormones at the ratio of % 1 , and % 99 “Socialization” which constitutes the biggest portion.

It is not just because we are “male” or “female” that we biologicaly tend to use different language,but mostly because of “sex role stereotyping” and “socialization”.That is to say the culture and society tend to construct this language difference.This forming do start at in the early childhood of a person.Therefore the first step of language discrimination starts in the family.For example,think of both a girl and a boy.The families of these children would obviously inclined to shape the language usage of their children differently,in the direction of culturally-accepted norms.Some communicative behaivours which are considered acceptable for boys,might be considered inappropriate for the girls.The boys might be allowed to use a harder,and rougher language;however, a girl might not be allowed to use the same rough language as the boys use;additionaly, they might be demanded to use a lady-style speech.To sum up, the girls are shaped with having a greater moral responsibility in their language usage than the boys.

In general terms there are some specific characteristics of both sexes in communication.Women speak by using tag questions, qualifiers ,and fillers in order to soften their speech, and by doing this they avoid direct , rough , and threathening language.However men speak in a higher , rougher , and direct tone without hessitating whether to soften their speech or not. Also women tend to speak more slowly and clearly.However male spekers chose a faster and a bit complex speech. This situaiton of contrast doesn’t come from the biological difference of both gender,but from the demands and norms of the society and culture.The society demands us to behave either as a “man” or “woman” in accepted forms in communication.You,unconsciously,are shaped to speak in the boundaries of culturally-accepted style.

There will be some problems of misunderstandings in the speech of a particular sex.For example; as the girls are more passive and silent during the lessons ,a male teacher would think that she knows lesser than her male friends.However ,this is not the reality.The girls,even if they know more about the lesson, would stay silent as they were brought up in this way.Throughout her life she forced to stay silent and passive in the presence of males.Therefore, it is not as easy as it may be seem for them to have a U-turn from their attidues that they used to carry on.So, if we know about the reality of this case we will approach this situation in a different way.



Another one of the most argued term in gender differences is “gender bias”.Most of the people believe that language is a reflection of the prejudices.There are some words in English that have been sexually biased against women.For example “chairman” takes the male concept and it shows the male dominance over women.If you look up a dictionary you will notice “chairman” as the main word,and “chairwoman” in subtitles(Some dictionaries even don’t include “chairwoman”).This example illustrates clearly the gender bias.As an other example for gender bias we can say that it is also evident in somewords that masculine word is put before the feminine word.For example, as in “Mr and Mrs Brown”.In this sentence we see that “Mr” comes first,and “Mrs” later.This shows the privilage and dominance of male over female.

Another point to present is the differences of “occupational titles”.This differences in the titles helps us to understand which job is for men and which job is for women.If you see an advertisement such as “barmaid is wanted”,you obviously can understand that they want to take a “woman” to be busy with the works of the bar.You won’t see any male applicants to apply for this job ad.There are some other examples for the occupational titles.For example,”chairman” is used for male,”chairwoman” is used for female, “host” is used for male ,”hostess” is used for female, “barber” is used for male, “hairdresser” is used for female,”waiter” is used for male, “waitress” is used for female...we can count numerous of such kind of examples here,but I think that will be enough for us to understand the case.

As we have dealt in the previous sections of this essay,”gender differences in language” occur as a result of the effect of “culture and society” in a great extend.Therefore,”gender differences” in one society may not be as same as those of another society.For example,in the Western world females participate more in arguments,discussions and can speak more freely and comfortably in the presence of male.They can use a rougher language.However, in Middle East or Eastern world the gander differences in language are more obvious.The women connot easily participiate in arguments,discussions,and even in daily conversation,and they will feel themselves uncomfortable to speak in the prensence of males.This is because of the way they were brought up since their childhood.This situation shows us again that the biological aspects doesn’t effect the gender differences in language very much.The biggest and the strongest effect of gender differences is culture and society.

There is another important element which effects the gender differences in language usage.It is the “Media”.Media directs the use of language of each sexes not only by visual ,but also by audial.For example, the people in an advertisement film effects the language usage of both males and females.People who watch this film unconsciously take them as models in their speeches.The females takes the actress ,and the males takes the actor as their models.Therefore,even unconsciously,this kind of film make the language usage among the both sexes different.As another example of this kind of shaping,we can give an example from a Turkish soup opera: “Deliyürek”.In this movie the hero is “Yusuf Miroğlu”, and the main girl is “Zeynep”.After watching this movie lots of males began to talk and act like in a style of “Yusuf Miroğlu’s”.Also,girls tend to speak and act like “Zeynep”.From these two examples, we can understand that “media” is one of the most effective elements in gender differences in language usage.



Before giving an end to my project I would like to summarize that gender differences in language usage occurs mainly because of the influance of culture and society,and there are lots of elements-varying from media to gender bias, and so on-that effects this difference.Of course,in the future these gender differences in communication between both sexes will continue to exist,but if we norrow this gap in a positive way,it will be for the well of both sexes in the matter of understanding each other.

PREPARED BY : KIVANÇ ERSÖZ / TRABZON
email: e096667@ogrenci.ktu.edu.tr

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