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1、【标题】英语词汇中的性别歧视 【作者】刘前辉 【关键词】性别歧视；英语词汇 【指导老师】李天梅 【专业】英语 【正文】I. IntroductionAs the peculiar result of the development of human society, language is a kind of social phenomenon and naturally reflects all the sides of human society. Its existence and development are closely linked with the social attitu
2、des of human beings and to a great extent are affected by their social views and values.Historically and sociologically, our society is man-oriented and man-centered. Woman, regarded as a weaker gender in society, are discriminated for a long time and completely subordinated in the political life, t
3、he economic life and even the family life in the society dominated by men. Unavoidably, this kind of phenomenon has been embodied in English vocabulary. In linguistic aspect, language is a bias-based and women suffer from language sexism.There are several definitions about sexism. According to Webst
4、er Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, it refers to“prejudice or discrimination based on sex; esp. discrimination against women.” 1 Longman English Dictionary gives another explanation“base on sex, esp. man looks down upon female.” 2 The America Heritage Dictionary for Learners of English gives such a
5、definition“Discrimination based on sex, especially discrimination against women.” 3 So, based on the language custom,“sexism” always expresses that discrimination against the female.Sexism exists in all the social systems countries, and as a common social phenomenon, it is surly reflected in English
6、 vocabulary. This paper lists out some Linguistic features of sexism in English vocabulary, the reasons of sexism in English vocabulary and current trends for non-sexist language.II. Sex Discrimination in English VocabularyA. Sexually Weighted Word for WomanLanguage exists to allow us to communicate
7、 with one another. To this end, language serves two purposes: to communicate what our reality is and also what we wish it to be. So if we identify a trait in a language, such as sexism or other forms of prejudice, this only reveals a prejudice that exists in society. Language, in particular metaphor
8、, helps form social reality. There are many metaphors to describe a female. But often it has a totally different meaning. 1. food metaphor Some food words can also be used to refer to females, such as cherry(樱桃)virgin(处女)，cookie(点心)lovely woman(可爱的女人)，crumpet(松脆饼)sexy woman(性感女人)，tart(果馅饼)prostitute
9、(妓女)，tomato(西红柿)beautiful woman(漂亮女人), honey(蜜糖)dear(宝贝、亲爱的), piece(点心)woman(女人)，peach(桃子)beautiful lady(漂亮女人) and so on. Men often use these words to express their appreciation to women. Some even include the meaning that men treat women as dolls. 2. animal metaphor There are also many words showin
10、g contempt for women. They embody sexual discrimination but still enjoy great popularity. For example: chick(小鸡)young woman(少女)，kitten(小猫)active girl(活泼年轻的姑娘)，bitch（母狗）unpleasant woman(泼妇），cat(猫)ugly woman(丑妇、贱妇、讨厌的女人)，dragon(龙)fierce woman(倔强的女人)， cow(奶牛)prostitute(子女多的女人、妓女)，crone(老母羊)ugly old wom
11、an(干瘪的丑老太婆) and mare-horse(母马)fat woman(粗声大气、肥胖固执的女人) and so on. These are all pejorative terms for women, because animals are considered to be inferior to human beings on the earth. So using animals to refer to females indicates that females are inferior. The semantic derogation of women helps to c
12、onstruct female inferiority and because women are confined to negative terms, women continue to be devalued.B. Marked Woman and Unmarked ManWhen a baby is born, the first question is whether it is a boy or a girl. The need to distinguish the sexes is reflected in English. There are many words like g
13、irls and boys, men and women, ladies and sirs in English which refer to gendered forms of existence. The sexually distinguished words are so important in English that it is impossible to use a gender-free term like person. In English different pronouns for both sexes are used when we refer to a thir
14、d person: he and she. It cannot be said that these distinctions are a sign for sexism, however it is true that these uses open the door to certain forms of sexism. And the problem comes to existence in the neutral uses of the male characters. We know that the word“man” is used to refer to a general
15、humanity and the pronoun“he” to refer to a third person whether it is a man or a woman. By linguists these uses are formulated as the markedness of woman and unmarkedness of man. The woman is marked because we can use woman and she when we refer to female only, but the neutral usage of woman or of s
16、he is impossible. In linguistics, markedness refers to the way words are changed or added to give a special meaning. The unmarked choice is just the normal meaning: Unmarked- Markedprince(王子)- princess（公主） author（作家）- authoress（女作家） actor（演员）- actress（女演员） waiter（男侍者）- waitress（女侍者） major(乐队男指挥)- ma
17、jorette(乐队女指挥)And there are some other phrase examples:君子(正派人) a man of honor自己奋斗起家的人 a self-made man有价值的人 a man of worth作家 a man of letters/ man of pen科学家a man of science领导人a man at the wheel政界巨头the man higher up坚强不屈的人 a man of ironC. Sex-paired WordsThere are many pairs of sex-paired words such as
18、, lord-lady, baronet-dame, master-mistress, call boy-call girl, bachelor-spinster, governor-governess, mister- madam, etc. These words are semantically equivalent originally. But with the changes of their meaning, feminine words gradually gain derogatory even obscene connotation. However, the mascul
19、ine terms remain their commendatory connotation. The following are the examples:“Governor”, in the extended fourth edition of Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, means“a person appointed to govern a province or state(especially a colony abroad).” 4“Governess” refers to“(especially f
20、ormerly) a woman employed to teach young children in their home(usually living as a member of the household).” 5 In old English, these two words respectively refer to a man or woman who exercises a sovereign authority in a colony, territory or states. As time goes by, the meaning of the word“governe
21、ss” is“a woman who is employed to teach young children,” or“a woman having regular sexual intercourse with one man to whom she is not married.” But the word“governor” keeps its original meaning basically.“Mistress” is originally explained as a woman in a position of authority, control, or ownership,
22、 as the head of a household like a housekeeper, or something personified as female that directs or reigns. Similarly“master” is an employer, one who has control over or ownership of something or the man who serves as the head of a household. It even has the commendatory sense which means one who def
23、eats another, a victor or Jesus. But, gradually“mistress” refers to a woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a married man usually who is not her husband and from whom she generally receives material supports. Contrarily, the meaning of“master” remains still. As for“bachelor” and“spinst
24、er”, both refer to an unmarried or single person. But“bachelor” implies an unmarried man who lives a happy and perhaps libertine life, while“spinster” conjures up an image of an old, indifferent, solitary and unappealing woman who has remained single beyond the conventional age for marrying. In a wo
25、rd, those changes of connotation of the feminine words are the typical examples of existence of social prejudice against woman.D. Sex Discrimination in Network EnglishWith the development of society, especially the internet, English has changed greatly in the era of information. Vocabulary is one of
26、 the most active factors. There are many sex discrimination phenomena in network English. Some of them are new created words, such as“dinosaur（恐龙）”、“lesbine(蕾丝)” and so on. The original intention of“dinosaur” is a huge animal in ancient times, but in network English, it refers to the ugly female. Th
27、e original intention of“lesbine” is a decoration of the clothes, but in network English, it means a woman who is sexually attracted by other women. Some of them are compound words, such as“callboy” and“call girl” and so on. The former refers to the waiter in hotel or the person who calls the player
28、ready to stage in theatre; the latter means the prostitute summoned by phone.III. The Reasons of Sexism in English VocabularyA. Historical factorIn the Holy Bible(The Books of The Old Testament):So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and
29、closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.6Man came to the world fir
30、st while woman made from one of mans ribs was created just as a help meet for him. And she was not created until all other animals failed to meet the satisfaction of the man. From the order of the birth, it is obvious to see the different importance of man and woman. And man and woman are not equal
31、at all because woman is only a part of man, which itself is the discrimination against women. It is said in the Holy Bible that the first sin is also committed by the woman. She was seduced by the snake into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and having the man eat, too.
32、At last, the woman was punished to bring forth children in pain and was ruled over by the man. From above, the superiority of men and inferiority of women is clearly seen. The Holy Bible is actually a book of men. As Christianity is such a powerful religion in Western countries, it is unreasonable t
33、o deny that this helps to set and consolidate the inferiority of women.B. Cultural FactorAlong with the development of civilization, literature and art play an important role in discrimination against women.“In literature and art, mens characteristics are full of aspiration, mighty and helpful, dari
34、ng to take risks, decisive, indomitable, etc. While women are being regarded as weak, temperate, perceptive, passive and so on. It is easy to notice sex discrimination in the works of literature and art because sex discrimination is one of the most common topics of literature and art.” 7 We can easi
35、ly find out discrimination from literature and art because they are the common medium. Literature and art model many meaningful discriminative images by the common values, and conversely these images strengthen peoples social values. With the influence literature and art, how can we avoid discrimina
36、tion in society and language? For instance, in the Bible, almost all the influential figures are men. The most powerful one, the God, is called father, then comes his son Jesus Christ. We may list some other prominent ones: Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt; Abraham, the ancestor of the Jes
37、us are unanimously men. In the Bible, there are many stories about sons inheriting from their fathers. Neither the mothers nor the daughters were considered eligible to have access to the property. In accounting for a mans life, what he did, how many sons he had, what the names were and what they di
38、d were often made very clear, even if they were not so excellent. Because sons were regarded as responsible for carrying on the family line, few women could have their names. Among them, some are famous for their sons, like Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ; Among the lucky women who left their names
39、, very few were noted for their own achievements. They were confined at home, doing chores and giving birth to children. The Holy Bible is actually a book of men. As Christianity is such a powerful religion in Western countries, it is unreasonable to deny this help to set and consolidate the inferio
40、r position of women.“A woman must regard her husband as her king and serve him with her highest adoration. Submitting is the most important and persistent obligation of a woman.” 8 How low the status of women in family and society it is! Under this kind of custom in the men-oriented society, how can
41、 women avoid being discriminated?C. Physiological FactorFor extended work and life together, people realized that men are tall in stature, strong in muscle and robust in physique. In contrary to men, women are small in stature, weak in physique and have more fat and less muscle than men. Women also
42、mature more rapidly. In a word, men are stronger than women. This determines that men play a more and more important role in social and economic lives. A mans job is to work outside but a womans job is to stay at home, do the housework and take care of the children. Women are treated as the weaker o
43、nes and they realize their own values through their marriages to men. At last, women are lower in status. They have to leech on to men and are dominated by men. Gradually, people begin to discriminate women and think that they are inferior in intelligence. This wrong perspective forms slowly and ref
44、lects in language. D. Psychological FactorBecause of the social and cultural factors, women are always considered to be the weak. People treat women as inferior to men. They educate men to be manly, decisive, and brave while women are required to be polite, conservative, obedient, and gentle. Becaus
45、e women are in subordinate status in the society, they have to constrain their emotion and give up their own need to meet the satisfaction of men. As time passes, when speaking women pay more attention to the elegance and standard of language than men. They use more pleasant and polite words in the
46、hope that they can receive others approval. And they are taught to speak softly, to avoid contradicting others, to be obedient in communication, and to be aware of giving cues of strong confidence. They mould themselves to be inferior in their potential sub consciousness.9 Therefore, women try their
47、 best to strengthen their social status through their speech than men do. The lower womens position is, the more polite they are in the face of others. And the standard language they use can show their submission and politeness. This also suggests that women are in a lower position in the society.E.
48、 Social FactorFeminists all claim that we live in a patriarchal society: a society of men, ruled by men and for men. Patriarchy depicts men as the perfect norm against which women are measured and found lacking. Both the Western and Eastern societies use sex, to one degree or another, in allocating tasks, activities, rights, and responsibilities. As for the job done by men and women, there is a long-stereotyped notion of what they can do. In history, there has been a division of labor-a division in which womens
