The Sexism in English Language英语语言中的性别歧视.docx
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The Sexism in English Language英语语言中的性别歧视.docx
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TheSexisminEnglishLanguage英语语言中的性别歧视
英语专业本科学期论文
题目英语语言中的性别歧视
TheSexisminEnglishLanguage
学院名称船山学院
指导教师
职称
班级02
学号20099210205
学生姓名
2011年6月2日
Abstract
Sexdiscriminationexistsinallthesocialsystemsandcountries,andasacommonsocialphenomenon,itissurlyreflectedinlanguage.ThispapersummarizesthephenomenaofsexisminEnglishbyusinguniversalevidence,andtheyareshownanddiscussedinfouraspects:
Englishexpressions,EnglishvocabularyandthemeaningsofEnglishwords,Englishproverbs.Lastly,thethesisintroducestwofeasiblestrategiestoerasesexisminEnglishlanguage:
languagereformandsocialreform.Butthemostimportantoneistoerasethesexistconceptionsandimprovewomen’sstatus,respectandsupportthem.Thelanguagetransformationcanberealisticonthebasisofthesocialreform.
Keywords
Sexism;femalewords;masculinewords;strategies
中文摘要
性别歧视在不同的社会制度和国家中都不同程度地存在。
而作为一种普遍的社会现象,自然会在语言中得到折射。
本文分析了性别歧视在英语中的四个方面的表现:
在词汇中,在词语中和在词义中;在谚语中,通过大量的举例和分类来系统阐述。
最后着重讨论了消除性别歧视所应采取的一些策略,从语言策略和社会策略入手。
但是要消除性别歧视,关键在于根除社会上存在的性别歧视观念,进一步提高妇女的社会地位,语言的变革只能在社会变革的基础上才能实现。
关键词
性别歧视;女性词;男性词;策略
Contents
1Introduction~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5
2ADefinitiontoSexisminEnglishLanguage~~~~~~~~~~~
3ThestrategiesofEliminatingorAvoidingSexisminEnglish~~11
3.1.Trytoavoidgenericnouns~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11
3.1.11Socialstrategy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~12
4Conclusion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
References~~
Acknowledgements~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~13
1.Introduction:
Languageisasocialphenomenon,andithasacloserelationshipwiththesociallife,thelanguageisusedinaspecificsocialgroupanditisnotonlythecarrieroftheideologicalcontent,butamirrorofsociallife,itrevealspeople’straditionalthoughtsthatsexdiscriminationagainstwomeninthesociety.Fromthedevelopmentandchangesofthelanguage,peoplecanconcludethatsexdiscriminationdoesnotonlyexistinChina,butinallthecountries.
ThefirstpersonwhodidresearchonthegenderandlanguageistheDenmarklinguistOtto.Jespersen,heregardsEnglishasthemostmasculinelanguagethatisfamiliartohim,anditisamancenteredlanguage.Thedomesticscholarsandexperts,YangYonglin,BaiJiehong,andsoon,havedonethoroughresearchaboutsexistelementintheEnglishlanguage.Inthethesis,theauthordoestheresearchfromthecombinationofthesocialreformsandlanguagereform,anditisessentialtoerasethesexismfrompeople’smind.ForEnglish,Britainlinguistpalmersaidthat“thelanguageabsolutelyreflectanationalwholehistoryandculture,andfaithfullyreflectanationaleverygameandentertainment,everyfaithandprejudice“thethesisemphaticallyintroductionandanalyzesthespecificphenomenaofsexismandalsoprovidescorrespondingstrategiesthatcanbeusedtoeliminatesexisminEnglishlanguage.
2.ADefinitiontoSexisminEnglishLanguage
Sexism,intheOxfordadvancedlearner’sEnglish-Chinesedictionary,itmeansthatdisapprovingactionbasedontheideasorbelieforthatthemembersofonesexarelessintelligent,able,andskillful,etc,thanthemembersoftheothersex,especiallythatwomenarelessablethanmenandthoseparticularjobsandactionsaresuitableforwomenandothersaresuitableformen.IntheWebsterNinthNewCollegiateDictionary,thesexismmeansthatprejudiceordiscriminationbasedonsex;esp.Discriminationagainstwomen.SexisminEnglishreferstoEnglishexpressessexistassumptionsaboutdifferencesbetweenmenandwomenasintheprejudicialuseoffemaleormalewords.
PhenomenaofSexisminEnglishLanguage
2.1Thesexismininterpersonalappellation
2.1.1Thesexisminintimacyappellation
Inthewest,malesuperiorcanusetheintimacycalltocalltheirfemalesubordinates,suchassugar,darling,sweetieandgirlie.Inthecontrary,thefemalesubordinatescannotusethatnicknametotheirboss,atthesametime;thefemalebosseswouldnotusethatnicknametotheirmitarbeiters.But,thestrangermancancallthefemalewiththenickname.Itindicatesthatthefemale’sstatusislowerthanmaleintheAnglo-American.Womenarelessthanmenofrespect.
2.1.2Thesexisminnameappellation
TheEnglishlanguagedistinguisheswomen’scourtesytitlesonthebasisofmaritalstatus,butnotthoseofmen.Thereisonlyoneformofaddressformen,Mr.,regardlessofmartialstatus.However,themartialstatusofwomenisdistinguishedbyMissandMrs.,reflectingthenotionthatwhetherornotawomanisinamarriage.Thisdiscriminatorypracticeissaidtomarktheavailabilityofwomanisinamarriage.Thisdiscriminatorypracticeissaidtomarktheavailabilityofwomenintermsofmarriage(sex)andreinforcetheviewthatawomanisthepropertyofaman(eitherherfatherorherhusband).Whenawomanhasbeenmarried,peopleaddressheras“Mrs.Plusherhusband’ssurname”.Thatistosay,ifawomanismarriedtosomebody,shehasnorighttobetreatedlikeanunmarriedlady.Astoaman,that’sadifferentmatter.Forexample:
InEnglish-speakingcountries,youcanoftenhearsomeonecallthewifeofJohnSmith“Mrs.JohnSmith”.ThereisnoexceptionoffamousMadameCurie,Mrs.Thatcher,andMrs.Gandhi.Mrs.ThatcheristheformerPrimeMinisterinUK.However,fewpeopleknowherownfamilynames.Mr.Clinton’swife,HilaryClinton,asaliberatedwoman,kepthernameHilaryRodhamaftermarriage.Butinordertohelpherhusbandintheelection,shehadtochangehername.Formtheaddressofmenandwomen,onecanclearlyseethesubmissivepositionofwomenandwomenaremerelyanextensionoftheirhusbandsorpartoftheirhusbands’estate.Thisalsoreflectsinthelanguage.
2.1.3Thesexisminwordorder
Whenboththemanandwomanarecalled,weusuallycallthemanfirst.Suchas:
kingandqueen,brotherandsister,fatherandmother,boysandgirls,husbandandwife,AdamandEvebutladiesandgentleman.
2.1.4Sexismintheappellationoftitlejob
Somewordshaven’tmalesymbolmeaning,butweregarditasthemaleword.Inhabit,Englishspeakingpeopleconsiderthatprofessor,doctor,lawyer,surgeon,barrister,magistrateetc.asthemale.Whenweheardthat“Mycousinisaprofessor”weusuallythinktheprofessorisamale.Ifwewanttoillustratehowthesewordsarefemale,generalbutinfrontpluswoman,lady,femaleetc.modifiers.Suchas:
womanprofessor,ladydoctor,femaleworkeretc.Theseso-calledneutergenderphraseusagefromaside,reflectthatonlythemanhavethebetterprofessionalintheoldsociety.Inthecontrary,somewordssuchasteacher,nurse,secretary,modeletc.areregardedasthefemale.Ifwewanttoillustratehowthesewordsarefemale,generalbutinfrontplusmanormale,suchasmalenurseormanteacher.Thesehabitsrelatetothefactofthehistoryandareasocialprejudicethatwecansay.
2.1.5.Theappellationreflectthewoman’spersonallife
TheGreenshavefourpeople;therearefather,mother,daughterandson.Ifthesonanddaughterhaven’tmarried,wecallthefatherorsonisMr.Green,themotherisMrs.GreenandthedaughterisMiss.Green.Throughtheappellation,wecaneasilyfindthatifthewomanhasmarriedornot.
2.1.6Thesexisminsomefoodandanimalwords
Somefoodandanimalwordscanalsobeusedtorefertofemales,suchascookiemeanssmartgirl,crumpetmeanssexingwoman,tomatomeansbeautifulgirl,kittenmeanssmartgirl,cronemeansolduglywomanandsoon.Menoftenusethesewordstoexpresstheirappreciationtowoman.Itevenincludesthemeaningthatmentreatwomenasdolls.Theseareallpejorativetermsforwomen,becauseanimalsareconsideredtobeinferiortohumanbeingontheearth.Sousinganimalstorefertofemaleindicatesthosefemalesareinferior.Thesemanticderogationofwomenhelpstoconstructfemaleinferiorandbecausewomenareconfinedtonegativeterms,womencontinuetobedevalued.
2.2ThesexisminEnglishvocabularyandthemeaningsofEnglishwords
Sexisminlanguageingeneralcomesinthreemajorforms:
languageignoreswomen;itdefineswomenaslesssignificantthanmen;anditcompletelyopposeswomen.Theycanbelocatedinthegenericmasculineterms.Languagehasatendencytoneglectwomen,treatwomenassubmissionandalsodemeanwomen.Theprocessofwordsthatrefertowomenacquiringdemeaningorsexualconnotationshasbeenwidelyobserved,andhasbeencalledsemanticderogation.
2.2.1Thesexismingenericpronouns
Genericpronounsarepronounsthataresaidtorefer,withequallikelihood,towomenandmen.ButtheEnglishlanguageignoreswomenbyallowingmasculinetermstobeusedspecificallytorefertomalesandcommonlytorefertohumanbeingsingeneral.Thegenericpronoun“”he”isperhapsthemostwellknowexampleofthegender-specificofsexistlanguage,andisfrequentlyreferredtobe“he/man”language.Themostsignificantmanifestationofthesexismisintheuseofgenericmasculinepronouns“he”anditsvariants“his”,“him”and“himself”insuchsentenceas:
Hewholaughslastlaughsbest.
Everyonemustdohishomeworkwell.
Ifanyonecalls,tellhimIwillbebacklater.
Everyoneshouldlearntosolveproblemshimself.
Intheaboveexamples,“he”,“his”,“him”and“himself”areusednotsex-specifically,butgenerically,thatis,althoughthepronounsrefergrammaticallytothesinglemalecitizen,theyshouldbetakentorefertobothmaleandfemalecitizeningeneral.Ontheformaloccasions,‘he’,‘him’,or‘his’canbeusedtorefertosuchindefinitepronounsaseach,everyone,everyone,everybody,onone,someone,anyo
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