Language, Women, and Gender
(HSS 230)
(HSS 230)
"The decisive argument against using masculine terms generically, however, is not that they are often inadequate and sometimes ridiculous, but that they perpetuate the cultural assumption that the male is the norm, the female a deviation."
--Casey Miller & Kate Swift, Words and Women
 |  |  |
Language, Women, and Gender provides an introductory exploration of issues relating to the use of language by and about women. Specifically, we do several things in this course:
We consider the power of language in structuring thought and perception.
PREREQUISITE: ENG 123 or a college composition course.
 | |
Course Reading List
Our reading list has included the following works:
Allport, Gordon. "The Language of Prejudice." Language Awareness, 6th ed. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's, 1994. 287-297.
Baron, Dennis E. Grammar and Gender. New Haven: Yale UP, 1986. Selections.
Coates, Jennifer. A Sociolinguistic Account of Sex Differences in Language. New York: Longman, 1986. Selections.
Frank, Francine and Frank Anshen. Language and the Sexes. Albany: SUNY P, 1983. Selections.
Graddol, David and Joan Swann. Gender Voices. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989. Selections.
Hayakawa, S.I. and Alan R. Hayakawa. "Words with Built-in Judgments." Language Awareness, 6th ed. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's 1994. 298-302.
Hutson, C. Kirk. "'Whackety Whack, Don't Talk Back': The Glorification of Violence Against Females and the Subjugation of Women in Nineteenth-Century Southern Folk Music." Journal of Women's History 8.3 (1996): 114-142.
Kramer, Cheris. "Women's Speech: Separate But Unequal." Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance. Ed. Barrie Thorne and Nancy Henley. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1975. 43-56.
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: U Chicago P, 1980. Selections.
Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. Talking Power: The Politics of Language. New York: Basic, 1990. Selections.
Martyna, Wendy. "The Psychology of the Generic Masculine." Women and Language in Literature and Society. Ed. Sally McConnell-Ginet, Ruth Borker, and Nelly Furman. New York: Praeger, 1980. 69-79.
Miller, Casey and Kate Swift. Words and Women: New Language in New Times, updated ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Selections.
Morahan, Shirley. "Definition." A Woman's Place. Albany: SUNY P, 1981. 52-67.
Pearson, Judy and Roberta Davilla. "The Gender Construct: Understanding Why Men and Women Communicate Differently." Women and Men Communicating: Challenges and Changes. Ed. Laurie P. Arliss and Deborash J. Borisoff. New York: Harcourt, 1993. 1-4.
Schulz, Muriel R. "The Semantic Derogation of Woman." The Feminist Critique of Language. Ed. Deborah Cameron. New York: Routledge, 1990. 134-147.
Spender, Dale. "Language and Reality: Who Made the World?" Man Made Language, 2nd. ed. New York: HarperCollins/Pandora, 1990. 138-162.
Swacker, Marjorie. "The Sex of the Speaker as a Sociolinguistic Variable." Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance. Ed. Barrie Thorne and Nancy Henley. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1975. 76-83.
Tannen, Deborah. "Wears Jump Suit. Sensible Shoes. Uses Husband's Last Name." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford: 1994. 629-634.
| |
Links to Some Related Web Sites
The Language and Gender Page (http://www-english/tamu.edu/pers/fac/bucholtz/lng/).
This resource page on language and gender studies offers links to: e-mail addresses and web pages of scholars in the field; professional organizations; conference calls for papers; publications; and other resources, including syllabi.
Gender-Free Pronoun FAQ (http://www.lumina.net/OLD/gfp/)
The Epicene Pronouns: A Chronology of the Word That Failed (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/baron/essays/epicene.htm)
On this webpage, Denis Baron chronicles the searches in English for an epicene, or gender-neutral, pronoun.
A Person Paper on Purity in Language by William Satire (alias Douglas R. Hofstadter)(http://umunhum.stanford.edu/~gere/satire.html)
This piece by Douglas Hofstadter, excerpted from his Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern, makes its point by setting up an analogy between racism and sexism. Hofstadter is the author of the Pulitzer-prize-winning book Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid.
He, She, and It (http://kith.org/logos/words/lower2/eepicene.html)
Jed Hartman's article about gender-neutral pronouns is part of his online column about words and wordplay called "Words & Stuff."
Watch Your Language! A Mini-Workshop Addressing the Role of Language in Gender Issues (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dcamp/talks/watchLanguage.html) The Chair and Who Sits in It: Gender and Language (http://www.eyeonwomen.com/languag.htm)
Resources for Women's Studies C92-3: Language and Gender (http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/womenstu/C92-3/c923sug.html)
| |
Back to My Homepage for:
| Links to Rhetoric Sites |
Links to Women's Studies Sites |
List of SCCC Courses |
SCCC Humanities & Social Sciences Department