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1、英语中的性歧视The Sexism in English1.IntroductionLanguage is a mirror that reflects the reality . On one side , it reflects the culture language is an important carrier of culture ;on the other side , it reflects the society its a tool to maintain social order . Sexism has been a kind of social phenomenon
2、for thousands of years .Sexism is common in English and many other languages. In social and cultural life , people will say what and how to say them is directly depended on the society . With peoples thoughts embodied in the language and culture , sexism can be represented as “language of women” and
3、 “language about women” . The former one is the result of the requirement that women should speak accaording to their own roles . The later one is the unequal phenomenon that women are discriminated and and suppressed . In the broad sense , sexism is the descrimination against women or men (Wardhaug
4、h , 1986) . The Oxford English Dictionary defines “sexism” as : descrimination based on gender , especially descrimination against women . Merrians Websters Collegiate Dictionary (the 10th edition) has the similar definition : sexism is the bias or descrimination against women caused by sex differen
5、ces . In English , sexism exists in its morphology , syntax , semantics and pragmatics . The ways words are formed , the sentence structures , the meanings of words , and also , the using of words all give evidence that sexism is existant and popular . 2. Sexism in Morphology, Syntax , Semantics and
6、 Pragmatics 2.1 Sexism in MorphologyMorphologically, people use words which represent male to indicate female . On the condition that the gender of the person refferred to is unknown , English people are inclined to use the third person pronoun (he , his ,him) to represent the person . In this case
7、, “he” , “his” ,and “him” can represent both the gender male and female . Usually , the neutral person pronoun for “he” and “she” is “he”. For example , We hope the audience will make up his own mind . Everybody must do his best . According to the data , the persentage of “he” and “she” used in docu
8、ments is 4:1 , “he” is used to indicate the meaning of “she” , “his” also includes the meaning of “her” , which shows the domination of male in social society . Moreover , words as “man” , “mankind” and those wods ended up with “man” can represent both genders . “Man” can not only represent male and
9、 adult male , but also can be used to represent every person . But “woman” can not be used like that . Many nouns that indicates careers can use “ man” as their suffix , thouth that kind of work is done by women . For example , chairman , mailman , workman , postman , freeman , etc . Men have lived
10、here for years . Thouth some words have both the form of “man” and “woman” , such as , policeman/policewoman , workman/workwoman, while the gender is unknown , people use the form of “man” without exception . Sometimes , even people know the persons gender is female , people often use the male words
11、 , for example , He was punished severely by policeman for dangerous driving . Besides , when people are writing a letter , they always use the male appellation ,such as , Dear Sir , Dear Gentleman , to represent the person with unknown gender . In English , women are subordinated to men . The femal
12、e nouns are formed by affixing the male nouns . For example , hero/heroine , steward/stewardess, male/female , waiter/waitress, etc. This means that the male nouns are recognized as unmarked , they are the nouns themselves . While the female nouns are marked , which means that they are formed by add
13、ing affix to the male nouns . The male words can be used to refer both the genders . If people want to use them to refer to female , they have to use the words , such as , “lady” or “women” to emphasize . Lexically , the nouns ended with “er” , “or” are neutral words , but people treat them as male
14、nouns . Thats why people have to add “ woman” to indicate female , for example , a woman doctor . In common case , the nouns that refer to lower social careers have both the male and female form . But if people want to refer to the higher socail positions , they only have the concept of male . Peopl
15、e have to use “lady” , “woman” , “female” ,etc . to emphasize the female concept . For example , a ladydoctor , a woman lawer , etc . That is because the positions themselves are recognized as mens careers with respect . In other cases , the nouns , such as , male babysister , and male nurse , the w
16、ord “male” added here just because these careers are recognized as humble ,and they must be done by women . 2.2 Sexism in SyntaxIn syntax , there is also sexism . Traditionally , people think that male is superior to female both physically and mentally . In daily talk and writing , when a male and a
17、 female appear at the same situation , the male nouns are used in front of the female nouns . For example , boys and girls , men and women , prince and pricess , Mr and Mrs etc. But the polite greeting “ladies and gentlemen” is an exception . That is a fixed word order in social situations and that
18、doesnt mean that womens position has been raised . Tracing back to the ancient times , high officials and noble lords always have their wives accompany them in parties . But the ladies were considered to be weak and delicate . Therefore, when entering or exiting the door , the gentlemen always let t
19、he ladies go first . Thats the origin that “lady first” comes from . And gradually , people were accustomed to say “ladies and gentlemen” in speakings and toasts . Besides , the sentence structure also embodies sexism . Because womens social status and powers are inferior to men , women are inclined
20、 to use mild and implicit sentences to express relaxed tone . The tag question is a typical feature , for example , He wont come today , will he ? Whats more , women always use Model Auxiliaries and Parenthesis to show uncertainty . For example , I was wondering if you could possibly do me a favour
21、.2.3 Sexism in SemanticsIn semantics , there are four kinds of sexism . The first one , is the degradation of female words. Some of the female words were only used to describe those women with higher social status , but now these words have been made popular . Paralelly , The male words havent chang
22、ed over time . A typical example is “lord” and “lady” . In the past , “lady” represents the graceful and superior woman , but now, it doesnt contain the meaning of “lord” . In shops , people call the female “salesladies” , and the male “salesmen” instead of “saleslord” or “salesgentlemen” . Therefor
23、e , “lord” and “gentlemen” still keep the meaning of superior and respect . But “lady” becomes more and more popular . The second one , is that female words are usually associated with negative meaning . There is a trend that the female words are deteriorating , while the male words are being honore
24、d . In usual situation , male words have positive meanings , while female words have negative meanings . Take bachelor and spinster as an example , both of them mean the unmarried person . Bachelor implies the meaning decent , independent and sex free , while spinster implies ugly , sexless and inca
25、pable . Though some words are similar in their forms , their inherent meanings are different . Take governor and governess as an example , governor means the person appointed to govern a province or state (esp . a colony abroad ) . But governess means the woman employed to teach young children in th
26、eir home ( usu . living in as the member of the household ) . The third one is that , even the same word can have positive or negative meaning when it is used to represent male or female . For example , tramp means the person with no fixed home or occupation who wanders from place to place . It keep
27、s the meaning when used to refer to a male person . When it is used to refer to the female person , it means a whore . The fourth one is , the words which are used to describe a female who loses her virgin are far more than that are used to describe a male . According to the statistics , in English
28、, people express their descrimination against women by smearing the female nouns . There are about 520 words being used to mean a woman with a messed sexlife . To certain degree , Almost every female word has the negative meaning . The negative meaning of lady , queen , madam , mistress etc. is fema
29、le cat , procuress . 2.4 Sexism in PragmaticsIn pragmatics , the sexism is also obvious and common . After the marriage of a girl , she has to change her family name and ues her husbands family name . There is no lack of this kind of example . In daily life , male has no need to state clear whether
30、he is married or unmarried , while female has to use Mrs and Miss to distinguish if she is married or not . In English , people are used to using names of objects to refer to men and women . The connotation and emotion are different from each other . Food is for eating , and the names of food are us
31、ually used to refer to women . This shows the inferior position of women , such as , cheesecake(naked woman) , cheery(a virgin) , tomato(beautiful woman) . When using the names of animals as a metaphor to women , they always have the negative meaning of stubborn , rude , unreasonable , and dissolute
32、 . For example , “dragon” has the meaning of shrew , “cow” means the lazy and stupid woman , “hen” means the gossip woman who likes to poke her nose into other peoples business . On the contrary , the metaphors to men have little negative meanings . “Stub” , “buck” , “wolf” symbolize power and domin
33、tion . People also compare a cunny man as a “fox” , and a kind of respect is contained in the meaning . 3.Main Causes of SexismEnglish is a kind of language with sexism , Dale Spender (1985) pointed out men monopolize English , they have never given up the control to this language . This leads to wo
34、mens passive and inferior position . Eckert and Mc MonnelCinet (1992:90) think that the female language reflects womens desire to ascend to the higher class , their lack of sense of security and their obedience . The male language reflects mens strength , their will of competing , their ability of b
35、eing independent , and their management and domination of the whole society . There are three main causes for sexism in English culture , society and psycology . 3.1 The Cultural CausesLanguage is an important part of culture . English embodies English culture . Religion is a concentrated reflection
36、 of culture , it influences the development of language . The Bible is the basis of western culture . In the Bible , men are described as pure and noble , and women are related with sex . On the positive aspect , women are the spokesmen of virgin , while on the negative aspect , women are the substi
37、tutes of whore . In the traditional religion and custom , women are always descriminated and repelled . Either in the New Testament or the Old Testament , women have no status at all . For example , as Jesuss ancesters , the daughters of Jacob Rebecca , Lea , Rachel , Diana were not mentioned at all
38、 . Even some women were mentioned , they were described as the substitutes and property of men . There was a description in the Bible of how human beings are created : And the LORD GOD said , it is not good that the man should be alone ; I will make him a help meet for him . And out of the ground th
39、e LORD GOD formed every beast of the field , and every fowl of the air ; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them : and whatsoever Adam called every living creature , that was the name of thereof . And Adam gave names to all cattle , and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of
40、the field ; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him . And the Lord GOD caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam , and he slept ; and he tooks one of his ribs , and closed up the interested thereof . And the rib , which the LORD GOD had taken from man , made her a woman , and brought her un
41、to the man . And Adam said this is now now bone of my bones ,and flesh of my fleshes : she shall be called Woman , becase she was taken out of man . (Holy Bible ,1978, Cenesis , 2:1824) From the above description , we can clearly see that women are substituted to men . Men come to the world first ,
42、then women were created because they were needed by men . Whats more tragic is that women were created because all the other animals could not satisfy men . For the Bible , women can be defined as one part of men . In Exodus , women are the same as other animals , they are belonged to men , and they
43、 are the property of men : “ Thou shalt not covet them neighbors house , thou shalt covet thy neighbors wife nor his manservant , nor his ox , nor his ass , nor anything that is thy neighbors .” The New Testament described women in this way : Wives , submit yourselves unto your husband , as unto the
44、 lord . For the husband is the head of wife , even as Christ is the Church - Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ , so let the wives are to their own husbands in everything . (Ephesiand 5:2224) . In the Bible , almost all the influencing people are men , not women , such as JesusChrist , M
45、oses , Abraham . Besides , some theories about sex difference have appeared recently . Some scientists boasted that their theories were based on science , but in certain degree , their theories are deceiving . Floyd pointed that women has three main caracters : passive , selfadmiring , being maltrea
46、ted . Therefore women are born with selfabased , jealous caracters . Unlike women , men are persistent and just . Moreover , in European countries , the education for women has been neglected for a long time . Women had no chance to get enough education . This caused their ignorance . Actually , the
47、y are not unwishing to fight , but are unable to fight . 3.2 The Social CausesIn social life , because of different social divisions of labor , the sexism appears . There are huge differences in the divisions of labor between men and women . Feminists think that its a society of men , the society ex
48、ists for men , and men control the whole society . The male chauvinists claim that they are the men are the perfect standard , women must be judged by this standard . Simone de Beauvoir (quoted in William Kornblum and Joseph Julia , 1992) wrote in her article “Women as Other” that women were differe
49、nt according to mens standard , they were secondary and subordinated . Men were absolutely the dominators. Therefore , according to this kind of logic , women earn little money , they have no power and they are the secondary citizens . Their contributions to literature , art , and science can not get the praise they deserve . In the early time of human history , our society was devided to maternal society
