Does gendered language lead to gender discrimination?

[AgnosticBoy]

Here's an article that makes the case that gendered language is bad - from The Conversation:

In the face of overwhelming evidence of gender discrimination and sexual harassment, should we really devote energy to changing how people speak? Surprisingly, an emerging body of research suggests we should. Gendered language – using “he” or “she” instead of “they” – is one of the root causes of gender inequality at work.

Speaking a heavily gendered language may highlight gender distinctions in the mind of the speaker, leading to more pronounced gender roles and greater disparities in social outcomes across men and women.

This initiative follows a similar case in Sweden where teachers started replacing the pronouns “him” and “her” with an artificial genderless pronoun “hen”, which was subsequently introduced into the country’s official dictionary. And in the New York Times, Carmel McCoubrey advocated using “they” as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, in place of the more awkward “he or she”.

But the fight over gendered language may easily seem frivolous. A group of 314 teachers in France recently declared they would no longer teach the rule that “the masculine prevails over feminine” when it came to plural norms.

Languages differ significantly in how gender is woven into their structure. Nouns have no gender in English but may be masculine or feminine in Spanish.

Languages also differ with respect to the gender structure of their pronouns. English, for example, distinguishes between male and female gender in the third person singular: he (masculine) versus she (feminine).

Gendered language leads to gender inequalities at work, contributing to fewer women working and working shorter hours.

Controlling for other relevant factors, in countries in which the dominant language is highly gendered, 11% fewer women work outside the house, a key measure of women’s financial independence and bargaining position within the household.

And this outcome is not some kind of accident. Instead it directly reflects support for gender inequality in employment.

In an international survey covering nearly 100 countries, speaking a gendered language significantly increases the share of the population that agrees with the statement:

“When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women.”
In short, gendered talk leads to gendered thought.

The gender intensity of language also plays an important role in outcomes related to education, pay, and corporate leadership. Speaking a highly gendered language is associated with a two-year increase in the gender gap in educational attainment.

For debate:
1. What are your thoughts on this article? Do you agree that gendered language leads to discrimination?
2. Is having a gender neutral language the solution? Does a gender neutral language cause any problems or harm itself?

 

[AgnosticBoy]

1. What are your thoughts on this article? Do you agree that gendered language leads to discrimination?

I believe gendered language is associated with sexism in some cases, but not in all. I recall reading old English writings, probably those from 16th to 18th centuries, and I used to wonder why the 'generic he' was used to refer to both males and female. It just ignores females and seems imposing. Society around that time was more patriarchal, see how such language would fit right in.

Cases where gendered language is not harmful are simply those instances where it only serves to go with biological sex, irrespective of status. I mean it's really how we think about it, which can be changed by how we define a word or even how we view gender, in general. Where the article says, "In short, gendered talk leads to gendered thought.", I see that it works the other way around. I can use the word he or she, and not associate it with some rank or value. Others might think of it differently, and associate the gender pronouns, esp. "he" with some higher value. If I'm describing a violent suspect to the police then I'd want to use gendered language so I can give as much specifics as possible.

When this article brings up studies, here's what I'd want to know:
- Are all instances of gendered language bad, or only some? Did it isolate that? The implications there would be that you don't have to get rid of all gendered language, but only the ones where it is bad.
- Does having gender-neutral language effect other gendered expressions or behavior? The article says " In short, gendered talk leads to gendered thought.", but wouldn't that also go with behavior since we tend to behave based on how we think and vice-versa? For instance, would allowing only gender-neutral language, lead to gender neutral behavior - where masculinity and/or femininity are decreased? If so, how does that impact heterosexuality?

2. Is having a gender neutral language the solution? Does a gender neutral language cause any problems or harm itself?

I don't believe that we have to do a complete overhaul of our gendered language to get rid of sexism. The above article pointed to studies that found a connection between gendered language and sexism. So it makes it seem as though gendered language is the cause, and therefore, switching to gender neutral language is the solution. But again, what if gendered language is just a correlation, while sexist thinking and behavior are the real causes. Gendered language being present in sexist societies doesn't make it the cause, any more than being an outdoors person being the cause for skin cancer (the real cause is too much sun exposure).

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I kind of feel proud of myself because I've been using the singular "they" in my posts and emails. I just hate having to say "his or her", esp. when someone tells you they are non-binary or you don't know the person's gender. But contrary to article in the OP, I don't see a problem using gendered pronouns towards someone that I know are okay with it.