English Language Gender Linguistics Theories

Deficit model

The deficit model refers to the idea that the way women use language contributes to their weaker position in society.

Main theorist for deficit model

Robin Lakoff

Three characteristics included in the list of deficit language

Women apologise more, women use more direct quotations whie men often paraphrase, women use more polite form (e.g. ‘would you mind…’)

Theorists who found Lakoff’s list reductive.

O’Barr and Atkins

The study that O’Barr and Atkins did

They conducted a 30-month study of courtroom footage, watching over 150 hours of said footage.

O’Barr and Atkins’s findings

They found that both men and women used deficit language, and it happened more often when the speaker perceived their power in society as lesser than others.

Dominance model

The idea that in mixed gender interaction, the male would be the more dominant figure.

Semantic derogation.

The sense of negative meanings and connotations that some words have attached to them.

The difference between the female and male equivalents of words.

Female equivalents are ‘marked’ (have negative connotations attached to them). Male equivalents are ‘unmarked’.

Example of marked vs. unmarked.

Titles for women are based on marriage (miss —> mrs.). Titles for men are not based on marriage (mister or sir).

Main theorists for dominance model

Zimmerman and West

Dominance model critique

Only recorded 11 conversations - not a large set of data so could be innacurate.

Difference model

The idea that neither gender dominates the conversation, but our langauge is innately different and can cause miscommunication.

Main theorist for difference model

Deborah Tannen

Men see conversation as a contest.

Status vs. Support

Men see consuting with their partner as ‘asking for permission’.

Independence vs. Intimacy

A complaint to men is a challenge to come up with a solution when women are often looking for emotional support.

Advice vs. Understanding

Talk to men is just information and always serves a practical purpose.

Information vs. Feelings

Diversity model

The idea that any notecable langauge differences between men and women are due to expectations placed on us by society, not biological factors.

Main theorist for the diversity model

Deborah Cameron

Theorist whos work the diversity model draws on

Judith Butler

Gender performativity theory

The idea that gender is a social construct, and that there is a distinct difference between sex and gender. Gender is a performace we put on for society.

Linguist whos study supports diversity theory

Jenny Cook-Gumprez

Jenny Cook-Gumprez’s findings

Recorded conversation among three three year-olds in kindegarten class. When in front of others, they played games and acted out domestic roles with baby dolls. When alone, one of them said that they ‘should boil the babies’ and the others joined in. So, they only played the domestic roles that were expected of them when other people were around.

Deborah Cameron about gossip

Gossip is used as a way to circulate personal information to keep groups in the know and also as a way to bond. Mens’ locker room talk is no different than womens’ gossip.

Gender as essence theory

Gender is a fixed biological factor, it is pre-social, pre-determined, innate and fixed.

Gender as construct theory

Gender is constructed through language and culture by society. It is not an innate quality.

Gender as performance theory

Gender is fluid, it is not what we inherently have but the effects that we perform by our activities. Gender is not an identity, rather it involves what people ‘do’.