Gender Theorists

Jesperson (1922) - Deficit Model

Women's language is deficient in relation to men's - "women much more often than men break off without finishing their sentences because they start talking without having thought out what they are going to say" - lively chatter - women work in childcare, cooking, sewing, washing

Jesperson (1922) Criticism

His views are now criticised as sexist, anecdotal, and outdated, rooted more in early 20th-century gender ideologies than in serious linguistic analysis.

Lakoff (1975) - Deficit Model

Disadvantaged by the promise that "talking like a lady" was to hesitate, to be meek, seek approval, use tag questions, euphemism, hedges, empty adjectives, super-polite forms, apologise, speak less, avoid swearing

Lakoff (1975) Criticism

Her work was groundbreaking for bringing attention to gender and language, but it's criticised for being anecdo vergeneralised, and deficit-oriented Later research reframed

Thorne and Henley (1975) - Dominance Model

Lower status of women mean they interrupt less than men do, men interrupted more, but in reality this was limited data and one man's actions of interruptions were applied to all men

Thorne and Henley (1975) Criticism

They highlighted power dynamics in conversation, but their evidence was too limited and overgeneralised, with one man's interruptive style skewing their conclusions.

Zimmerman and West (1975) - Dominance Model

Men interrupt woman more small study, almost all white, middle class and university educated. Very small study.

Zimmerman and West (1975) Criticism

The study was influential but limited by its small, unrepresentative sample and its narrow definition of interruption, so its claims can't easily be generalised.

Geoffrey Beattie (1982) - Dominance Model

Interruption study which was much broaden - found that there is only a very slight difference of men interrupting more, but is often less cited than Zimmerman and West.

Geoffrey Beattie (1982) - Criticism

He provided a more nuanced picture, but it's criticised for being des influential, harder to interpret, and showing only a marginal difference which made it less impactful than Zimmerman and West's dramatic conclusion.

Fishman (1983) - Dominance Model

Tag questions are not uncertainty or weakness but do continue and sustain conversations "conversational shitwork" keep conversations going men speak more, interrupt, initiate conversations, shift topics

Fishman (1983) Criticism

She highlighted women's active work in maintaining conversations but her study is criticised for being small, unrepresentative data and for possibly overgeneralising male dominance, without considering wider contexts.

Tannen (1990) - Difference Model

Men and women have different cultures and so speak differently

Paired differences:

Status us support, Independence vs intimacy, Advice vs understanding, Information us feeling, Orders us proposals, Conflict vs compromise

High engagement cultures - Tannen Theory

Referred to lots of interruptions, but this study was in a Jewish community where the interruptions were based around agreement and enthusiasm for the speaker, rather than rudeness

Tannen (1990) Criticism

She helped highlight miscommunication without blaming women, but her model is too rigid, culturally narrow, and ignores power imbalances

Zimmermann and West (1987) - Dynamic Model

"Doing gender" - revising notions from their prior research from 1975

Zimmermann and West (1987) Criticism

Their "Doing Gender" was revolutionary for shifting the focus from gender as a fixed role (as in their 1975 work) to a continuous social accomplishment. However, it has been criticised for underplaying structural inequalities, lacking intersectional nuance, being hard to test empirically, and overemphasising micro-level interactions over broader social change.

Coates (1989) - Difference Model

Same sex friend groups - women's modality and tag questions are supportive and cooperative not.

Coates (1989) Criticism

While her work highlighted supportive features in women's speech (hedging, tag questions), criticism points out that these features aren't inherently cooperative. Vary by context, and cannot be used to make sweeping claims about gendered language behaviour

Butler (1990) - Difference Model

Gender is something you perform as in everyday parts of your life. "I am male, so I speak like this" becomes 'I wish to seem masculine as a male. So I speak like this.". Not all women and men think the same so shouldn't be characterised the same.

Butler (1990) Criticism

Her performativity theory is influential in showing that gender is a socially constructed concept, not innate. However, it can risk oversimplifying gender by implying it is only a matter of acting a role, and by not fully accounting for individual differences or structural inequalities.

Pilkington (1992) - Difference Model

Positive politeness - men are less supportive with other men

Pikington (1992) Criticism

While he provides useful insights into gendered politeness patterns, its claim that men are less supportive with other men should be interpreted with caution, as cultural norms, context, and alternative expressions of support may challenge a simplistic gendered reading.

Hall (1996) - Difference Model

Sex chat workers that were most successful were often a performance to be the same sex.

Hall (1996) Criticism

He provides an interesting observation about gender performance and financial success, the finding is limited by narrow definitions of success, potential sample bias, unexamined psychological impacts, and outdated context. It tells us more about market demand and social stereotypes than about the workers' skills or identities

Hyde (2005) - Difference Model

Gender similarities hypothesis - men and women have more similarities than differences

Hyde (2005) Criticism

Her Gender Similarities Hypothesis is influential for highlighting that men and women share more psychological traits than traditionally assumed. However, critics point out that it may understate meaningful differences, overlook cultural and social influences, and downplay real-world implications of even small differences

Hultgern (2008) - Difference Model

Call centre scripts for workers tend not to be assertive, but submissive criticising ideas that female language is in deficit - this showed it was preferred as a way of speaking

Hultgern (2008) Criticism

Shows that call centre's encourage polite, submissive language as a workplace strategy, challenging deficit views that female language is naturally weak and highlighting that such language can be a preferred, effective choice