Language and Culture Journal

Journal 15: Language and Gender

What are the roles of language in the way men and women communicate? How is gender perceived in language?

This question is not as easy to answer as it may seem. The answer depends on what the man or woman wants to communicate in the first place. There are brain studies that I read about in my Educational Psychology class that talk about the need to communicate and the differences between men and women or boys and girls. It is true that girls do need to say more words in one day than boys do. The problem with this is that when boys are together they never stop talking. This may mean that girls are not alone all the time and require someone else to be with them, where as boys are happy to get their talk time over with and then be alone. I do not agree with many of the stereotypes that were talked about in class. I do not think that men only look at women as sex objects and that every word that comes out of their mouth has a double meaning about how he wants to have sex with the girl he is talking to. Though I do agree that men are less sensative in their speech and lives than women. Though that may not always be the case.

Gender is clearly defined in language now, but that was not always the case. I remember as a child I was taught to put everything as he or his. That was considered normal and was supposed to include the female gender as "understood." I never did understand. Honestly, I never gave it thought until I started reading the bible more. With all the "he" in there, I wondered if there was anything in there that pertained to me. A woman. I never cared that "she" was understood in the male "he" before. But when future generations look back on writing, the distinction between "he" and "she" cannot be "understood" but rather must be clearly defined. I am not a lover of the feminist movement, but as a lover of literature, I would rather know what is meant for me as a female, or meant for only males. I think we owe that much to future generations as well.

Word count 363 not including the questions