An Analysis of Sexism in the English Language浅析英语中的性别歧视现象.docx

An Analysis of Sexism in the English Language浅析英语中的性别歧视现象.docx

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AnAnalysisofSexismintheEnglishLanguage浅析英语中的性别歧视现象

AnAnalysisofSexismintheEnglishLanguage

浅析英语中的性别歧视现象

[Abstract]Languageplaysanimportantroleinsociety.Asaphenomenonofsociety,languagereflectsallthesidesofhumansocietynaturally.Sexismisaphenomenonthattakesamale-as-normattitude,trivializing,insultingorrenderingwomeninvisible.Asaspecialsocialphenomenon,sexismisinevitablyreflectedthroughlanguage.

Tostartwith,thethesistracesthereasonsfortheoccurrenceofsexismintheEnglishlanguage.Innature,sexisminlanguagereflectssexisminsociety.Thetwoarecloselyrelated.SocialconnotationsofsexisminEnglishtelltherelationshipbetweenphenomenonofsexisminlanguageandessenceofsexisminsociety.Thenthethesisanalysessexismintermsofthegenericmasculine,wordorderandsemanticderogationofwomeningreaterdetail.Finally,alargepartofthethesisiscontributedtohowtochangesexisminEnglish.Theauthorofthethesisthinksthekeytotheproblemis:

（1）solvetheproblemofgenericpronouns;

（2）neutralizelexis;（3）striveforbalancednamingandaddressingsystem;（4）coinnewcorrespondingwords.Theeliminationoflinguisticsexismliesinsocialchange.Onlybychangingthesocialstructure,thatis,womenandmenownreallyequalstatus,canlanguageequalitybetrulyachieved.

[KeyWords]sexism;Englishlanguage;lexicalneutralization;feminism

[摘要]语言在社会中所处的地位尤为重要。

作为一种社会现象的语言，必然会反映出人类社会的各种社会观念。

性别歧视作为这其中的一种，是指把男性视作社会规范和中心，轻视，侮辱女性或使她们显得微不足道。

而这一特定的社会现象必然会在语言中折射出来。

论文首先剖析了英语中性别歧视现象形成的根源。

从本质来说，语言中的性别歧视是社会中性别歧视的体现。

两者紧密相连。

性别歧视的社会内涵反映的就是这种语言中的性别歧视现象与社会中的性别歧视的本质的关系。

接着论文从阳性词泛指，词序，词义的贬降等方面对英语中的性别歧视现象进行了详细的分析。

最后论文还着力探讨如何改变这种歧视。

作者认为，改变性别歧视主要解决以下几个问题：

（1）避免阳性代词的泛指；

（2）词汇的中性化；（3）命名与称谓的对等；（4）创造新的对应词。

语言中的性别歧视的最终消亡取决于社会变化。

只有改变社会结构，即男女真正拥有平等的地位，语言中的平等才能真正实现。

消除语言中的性别歧视的根本在于实现男女的平等的社会变革。

[关键词]性别歧视；英语语言；词汇中性化；女权主义

1. Introduction

Asthepeculiarresultofthedevelopmentofhumansociety,languageisakindofsocialphenomenonandreflectsallthesidesofhumansocietynaturally.Itsexistenceanddevelopmentarecloselylinkedwiththesocialattitudesofhumanbeingsandtoagreatextentareaffectedbytheirsocialviewsandvalues.Historicallyandsociologically,oursocietyisman-orientedandman-centered.Women,regardedasaweakergenderinsociety,arediscriminatedforalongtimeandcompletelysubordinatedinpoliticallife,economiclifeandevenfamilylifeinthesocietydominatedbymen.Unavoidably,thiskindofphenomenonhasbeenembodiedinlanguages.Inlinguisticaspect,languageisbias-basedandwomensufferfromlanguagesexism.Gender-differentiatedlanguageusecanreflectandhelpperpetuatethesubordinatestatusofwomeninsociety.

Since1960s,feministsstrivefortheeliminationofgenderdiscrimination,forthegreaterrecognitionofwomen’scontributionstosocietyandaimtochangemanyculturalandsocialcustomsthatperpetuatepatriarchalvaluesystems.Manyfieldsoflifearoundtheworldhavebeen,orarebeing,affectedbythismovement.Oneofthemanyimpactsfeminismonsocietyisitsimpactonlanguage.Languagewasandisseenbymanyfeministsasapowerfulinstrumentofpatriarchy.

2.TheFactorsofSexismintheEnglishLanguage

SexisminEnglishisnotformedinoneday,butbuiltupinthelongperiodofthedevelopmentoflanguage,whichleadstothevarietyofthecauses.WhatcausesthesexismintheEnglishLanguage?

Therearefourfactors:

culturalfactor,physiologicalfactor,socialfactorandpsychologicalfactor.

（1）Culturalfactor

IntheHolyBible（TheBooksofTheOldTestament）:

“SotheLordGodcausedadeepsleeptofallupontheman,andheslept;thenhetookoneofhisribsandclosedupitsplacewithflesh.AndtheribthattheLordGodhadtakenfromthemanhemadeintoawomanandbroughthertotheman.Thenthemansaid,‘Thisatlastisboneofmybonesandfleshofmyflesh;thisoneshallbecalledWoman,foroutofManthisonewastaken.’”[1]

Mancametotheworldfirstwhilewomanmadefromoneofman’sribswascreatedjustasahelpmeetforhim.Andshewasnotcreateduntilallotheranimalsfailedtomeetthesatisfactionoftheman.Fromtheorderofthebirth,itisobvioustoseethedifferentimportanceofmanandwoman.Andmanandwomanarenotequalatallbecausewomanisonlyapartofman,whichitselfisthediscriminationagainstwomen.ItissaidintheHolyBiblethatthefirstsinisalsocommittedbythewoman.Shewasseducedbythesnakeintoeatingthefruitofthetreeoftheknowledgeofgoodandevilandhavingthemaneat,too.Atlast,thewomanwaspunishedtobringforthchildreninpainandwasruledoverbytheman.Fromabove,thesuperiorityofmenandinferiorityofwomenisclearlyseen.TheHolyBibleisactuallyabookofmen.AsChristianityissuchapowerfulreligioninWesterncountries,itisunreasonabletodenythatthishelpstosetandconsolidatetheinferiorityofwomen.

（2）Physiologicalfactor

Forextendedworkandlifetogether,peoplerealizedthatmenaretallinstature,stronginmuscleandrobustinphysique.Incontrarytomen,womenaresmallinstature,weakinphysiqueandhavemorefatandlessmusclethanmen.Womenalsomaturemorerapidly.[2]Inaword,menarestrongerthanwomen.Thisdeterminesthatmenplayamoreandmoreimportantroleinsocialandeconomiclives.Aman’sjobistoworkoutsidebutawoman’sjobistostayathome,dothehouseworkandtakecareofthechildren.Womenaretreatedastheweakeronesandtheyrealizetheirownvaluesthroughtheirmarriagestomen.Atlast,womenarelowerinstatus.Theyhavetoleechontomenandaredominatedbymen.Gradually,peoplebegintodiscriminatewomenandthinkthattheyareinferiorinintelligence.Thiswrongperspectiveformsslowlyandreflectsinlanguage.

（3）Socialfactor（Labordivision）

Feministsallclaimthatweliveinapatriarchalsociety:

asocietyofmen,ruledbymenandformen.Patriarchydepictsmenastheperfectnormagainstwhichwomenaremeasuredandfoundlacking.

BoththeWesternandEasternsocietiesusesex,toonedegreeoranother,inallocatingtasks,activities,rights,andresponsibilities.Asforthejobdonebymenandwomen,thereisalong-stereotypednotionofwhattheycando.Inhistory,therehasbeenadivisionoflabor--adivisioninwhichwomen’splacewasrestrainedathomeforhouseworkandchild-carewhilemenworkedoutsidebeingthebreadwinner.Atlast,menhaddominanceoverwomen,andwomenhadtobedependentonmen.Thiswastheturningpointforwomen.Fromthenon,inpaternalsociety,slaverysocietyandcapitalistsociety,womenhadbeenonthebottomofsociety.Inlongandendlesscourseofhistory,sexismagainstwomenhasbeenaccumulated.Itisduetodifferentlabordivisionthatleadstodifferentsocialstatus.Thishasbeenclearinancientandmodernsociety.Later,inadditiontodomesticwork,womenbegantoenterthepaidworkplace.However,eventhoughhalfofwomenareemployedoutsidethehome,thebeliefpersiststhatwomanismainly,andprimarily,intherolesofwifeandmother.

Duetowomen'srelativephysicalweaknessandlowereducationalbackground,theydoprimarilythelow-status,low-payingjobs.Althoughmenalsohavefamilyroles,theyaredefinedprimarilybytheireconomicoroccupationalposition.Thusthesexisminthesocietyhasbeeninexistence,theembodimentofwhichisnecessarilythesexismoflanguage.

（4）Psychologicalfactor

Becauseofthesocialandculturalfactors,womenarealwaysconsideredtobetheweak.Peopletreatwomenasinferiortomen.Theyeducatementobemanly,decisive,andbravewhilewomenarerequiredtobepolite,conservative,obedient,andgentle.Becausewomenareinsubordinatestatusinthesociety,theyhavetoconstraintheiremotionandgiveuptheirownneedtomeetthesatisfactionofmen.Astimepasses,whenspeakingwomenpaymoreattentiontotheeleganceandstandardoflanguagethanmen.Theyusemorepleasantandpolitewordsinthehopethattheycanreceiveother’sapproval.Andtheyaretaughttospeaksoftly,toavoidcontradictingothers,tobeobedientincommunication,andtobeawareofgivingcuesofstrongconfidence.Theymouldthemselvestobeinferiorintheirpotentialsubconsciousness.[3]Therefore,womentrytheirbesttostrengthentheirsocialstatusthroughtheirspeechthanmendo.Thelowerwomen’spositionis,themorepolitetheyareinthefaceofothers.Andthestandardlanguagetheyusecanshowtheirsubmissionandpoliteness.Thisalsosuggeststhatwomenareinalowerpositioninthesociety.

3.PhenomenaofsexismintheEnglishlanguage

3.1Thegenericmasculine

Sexisminlanguageingeneralcomesinthreemajorforms:

languageignoreswomen;itdefineswomenaslesssignificantthanmen;anditcompletelyopposeswomen.Theycanbelocatedinthegenericmasculineterms.

3.1.1Genericpronouns

Genericpronounsarepronounsthataresaidtorefer,withequallikelihood,towomenandmen.ButtheEnglishlanguageignoreswomenbyallowingmasculinetermstobeusedspecificallytorefertomalesandcommonlytorefertohumanbeingsingeneral.Thegenericpronoun“he”isperhapsthemostwellknownexampleofthegender-specificofsexistlanguage,andisfrequentlyreferredtobe“he/man”language.Themostsignificantmanifestationofthesexismisintheuseofgenericmasculinepronouns“he”anditsvariants“his”,“him”and“himself”insuchsentencesas:

（1） Hewholaughslastlaughsbest.

（2） Everyonemustdohishomeworkwell.

（3） Ifanyonecalls,tellhimIwillbebacklater.

（4） Everyoneshouldlearntosolveproblemshimself.

Intheaboveexamples,“he”,“his”,“him”and