Language & Gender

[Daryl] Kevin, this is Daryl from Long Beach man uh, I was wondering if you could uh, play a song for me me and my lady goin through a few thangs, see and I’m not feelin very well right now [Kevin] Yeah, I hear ya, I know how you feel I’ve been there, hell we’ve all been there For you and all you playaz who got bumped off the playin field This is the song for you 187.4 on your FM dizzal, WBALLZ

[Chorus x4] A dirty ho’s drawls That was the cause of it all

Pimpin hustlin playin hoes is all I know With my homeys on the mash and a pocket full of cash what more can a nigga ask for with my strap in my lap and my niggaz back to back a muthafucka didn’t wanna see me then along came his girl, finest woman in the world that broad been to my knees

[Chorus x4] A dirty ho’s drawls That was the cause of it all

(Now I, dont trust no hoe And do you, know thats how it goes) I never thought you were the one that would try to get a nigga like Ms Spunk

[Chorus x4] A dirty ho’s drawls That was the cause of it all

I know you’re all in big ones from the start I really didn’t need to, play your heart But you still have the good looks, DPG blood you’re the only one that, I love [x3] Make me wanna climb up DPG make me wanna moan make me wanna scream

[Big Pimpin Delemond] See as I say it, something about the power of the pussy It even breaks gangstaz down Bitch tricked me out of my playaz license

[Chorus x4] A dirty hoe’s drawls That was the cause of it all

Women talk more than men: “The volubility of women has been the subject of innumerable jests”

Women make excessive use of descriptive forms: “the fondness of women for hyperbole will very often lead the fashion with regard to adverbs of intensity”  

Women are conservative speakers: “as a rule women are more conservative than men … while innovations are due to the initiative of men”

These points are quoted from linguist Jesperson’s research Although this study may appear outdated it still holds an extent of truth in signifying how women communicate in comparison to men.

Jesperson, Otto (1922) “The woman”. In: Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin. London: Allen & Unwin. [Reprinted in: Cameron, Deborah (ed.) (1990) The Feminist Critique of Language: A Reader, 201-220. London: Routledge.]

Early studies have concluded that women are more likely to use standard variants compared to men. This trait not only is it still a common conception in Australian society but has been universally evident in all cultures and societies.  The Sex/Prestige Pattern

“In any society where males and females have equal access to the standard form, females use standard variants of any stable variable which is socially stratified for both sexes more often than males do.” (Hudson 1996) When explaining the sex/prestige pattern linguist William Labov (1972) states that women are more sensitive to “overt” sociolinguistic values compared to men. He further explains that is this difference linguistically and general sex differences that stem from gender norms instilled into the majority of society from childhood. Language imposes varying pressures on women and men. Men are said to be influenced by the ‘covert prestige of vernacular variants’ and tend to exude a non-standard variety as it appeals to them as having more masculine associations. Contrastingly women are affected by the ‘overt prestige of standard variants’and choose to be affected by these as they are assumed by women as having stronger ties with social status and power.  “The social position of women in our society is less secure than that of men … It is therefore necessary for women to secure and signal their social status linguistically and in other ways, and they are more aware of the importance of this type of signal … Since [women] cannot be rated socially by their occupation, by what other people know about what they do in life, other signals of status, including speech, are correspondingly more important.” (Trudgill 1974)

Various studies conducted over a number years have all suggested that different pressures are inflicted on men and women and ultimately affect their language. These pressures include status, prestige, opportunities available and social contexts.

A survey has shown that a sexist discrepancy exists between English lexical items understood by different genders, indicating that women and men's vocabulary is quite stereotypical. Researchers from the Center for Reading Research at the University of Ghent analysed the results of half a million vocabulary surveys, and found that "some words are better known to men than to women and the other way round." 

Here are a number of gender-specific lexemes, with the numbers in brackets being the percentage of men who knew the word, followed by women. These are the 12 words with the largest difference in favour of men: codec n. (88, 48) solenoid n. (87, 54) golem n. (89, 56) mach n. (93, 63) humvee n. (88, 58) claymore n. (87, 58) scimitar n. (86, 58) kevlar n. (93, 65) paladin n. (93, 66) bolshevism n. (85, 60) biped n., adj. (86, 61) dreadnought n. (90, 66)

These are the 12 words with the largest difference in favour of women: taffeta n., adj. (48, 87) tresses n. (61, 93) bottlebrush n. (58, 89) flouncy adj. (55, 86) mascarpone n. (60, 90) decoupage n. (56, 86) progesterone n. (63, 92) wisteria n. (61, 89) taupe n., adj. (66, 93) flouncing n. (67, 94) peony n. (70, 96) bodice n. (71, 96)

These 24 words, write the researchers, "should suffice to find out whether a person you are interacting with in digital space is male or female". Hence, a quick vocabulary test allows you to scope out whether the person you are talking to is who they say they are (or at least their gender).

Women use more expressive lexis e.g. -W:  The wall is mauve -M:  The wall is pink

Women use tag questions -W:  The weather’s awful, isn’t it?

Women are indirect -A:  Can you meet me at 6? -B:  Well, I have a doctor’s appointment at   5.45

During her study, Deborah James concluded that some lexemes that were once gender-specific are being used as gender-neutral.

Women play a dominant role in this phenomenon

The lexeme ‘douche-bag’ has undergone a semantic shift from carrying connotations associated with females to those associated with males.

It was found that out of the 15 studied lexemes the three vocatives rated to be most offensive- bitch, hag and slut- are aimed at women.

The three least offensive- loser, geek, pip-squeak- are mainly used to address males. 

Females are just as likely to use three of the most offensive lexemes as males are.

It was concluded that women do not oppose the use of female-linked derogatory language indicating that they accept the female identity constructed by males in a male-dominant society