Gender and Language: Theorists
Deficit Theory – regards male language as the norm and women’s language as deficient or lacking in
comparison.
Dominance Theory – the dominance of men in society creates differences between men and women’s speech
Difference Theory – gender is a dichotomy of two distinct categories: powerful, competitive masculinity and
weak, passive femininity. It uses the preconceptions about how a speaker's gender will influence their behaviour
to rule some interpretations in and others out.
Diversity Model – gender exists on a continuum with an individual’s masculinity or femininity being constantly
reaffirmed by the performance of particular acts/speech styles in accordance with cultural norms. An individual
can position themselves anywhere on the ‘gender scale’ and this position my vary depending on audience and
purpose.
Linguist Theory/findings Criticisms
Judith Butler Raised the idea of gender as a social - Relies on the binary heterosexual
(1990) construct that we are constantly actively model of gender but recognises that
engaged in creating and reaffirming by religious, ethnic and cultural identities
adopting the clothing, language, way of may also influence an individual’s
walking etc ‘appropriate’ for their sex. presentation of gender.
Stemmed from Austin and Searle’s Speech
Act Theory which identified some language
was performative e/g I forgive/arrest you.
Deborah Challenged the Difference Model as she found - Small sample size
Cameron that while some men do compete in all male - Single background, class, ethnicity
convos, they ‘are basically engaged in a and age so not a representative
collaborative and solidarity exercise’. Suggest sample of all men
that gender is continuum and that gender
identity must be constantly constructed and
reaffirmed.
She analysed five men discussing ‘gays’ (a
term that seemed to be linked more closely
with gender deviance than sexual deviance in
this instance) and exhibiting features of
‘women’s talk’ e/g latching on, jointly produced
discourse and openers/tags like ‘you know’.
They were willing to engage in ‘girly
gossiping’, discussing topics such as clothing
and appearance to ridicule and distance
themselves from a group they consider to be
lacking in masculinity, as this reaffirms their
status as men, with on going as far as calling
them the ‘antithesis of man’
Cameron cont. On ‘verbal hygiene’:
Presented politically correct language as a
means to challenge the idea that one group of
people has an undisputed right to decree
language over another group, rather than
viewing political correctness as another form
of linguistic censorship.
Pamela Fishman Interested in how ‘verbal interaction helps - Small sample size (3 couples)
Deficit Theory – regards male language as the norm and women’s language as deficient or lacking in
comparison.
Dominance Theory – the dominance of men in society creates differences between men and women’s speech
Difference Theory – gender is a dichotomy of two distinct categories: powerful, competitive masculinity and
weak, passive femininity. It uses the preconceptions about how a speaker's gender will influence their behaviour
to rule some interpretations in and others out.
Diversity Model – gender exists on a continuum with an individual’s masculinity or femininity being constantly
reaffirmed by the performance of particular acts/speech styles in accordance with cultural norms. An individual
can position themselves anywhere on the ‘gender scale’ and this position my vary depending on audience and
purpose.
Linguist Theory/findings Criticisms
Judith Butler Raised the idea of gender as a social - Relies on the binary heterosexual
(1990) construct that we are constantly actively model of gender but recognises that
engaged in creating and reaffirming by religious, ethnic and cultural identities
adopting the clothing, language, way of may also influence an individual’s
walking etc ‘appropriate’ for their sex. presentation of gender.
Stemmed from Austin and Searle’s Speech
Act Theory which identified some language
was performative e/g I forgive/arrest you.
Deborah Challenged the Difference Model as she found - Small sample size
Cameron that while some men do compete in all male - Single background, class, ethnicity
convos, they ‘are basically engaged in a and age so not a representative
collaborative and solidarity exercise’. Suggest sample of all men
that gender is continuum and that gender
identity must be constantly constructed and
reaffirmed.
She analysed five men discussing ‘gays’ (a
term that seemed to be linked more closely
with gender deviance than sexual deviance in
this instance) and exhibiting features of
‘women’s talk’ e/g latching on, jointly produced
discourse and openers/tags like ‘you know’.
They were willing to engage in ‘girly
gossiping’, discussing topics such as clothing
and appearance to ridicule and distance
themselves from a group they consider to be
lacking in masculinity, as this reaffirms their
status as men, with on going as far as calling
them the ‘antithesis of man’
Cameron cont. On ‘verbal hygiene’:
Presented politically correct language as a
means to challenge the idea that one group of
people has an undisputed right to decree
language over another group, rather than
viewing political correctness as another form
of linguistic censorship.
Pamela Fishman Interested in how ‘verbal interaction helps - Small sample size (3 couples)
