Blurred lines- the new battle of the sexes

We live in a patriarchal society- a male dominated society (include in introduction/conclusion)

• In the 21st century, it seems to be that men feel able to be negative about women and I would argue that one of the main influences is technology.
• Kirsty Wark- journalist 
• Often, forms of prejudice stem from humour and then are brushed off as 'banter', almost turning it around to make out the other person is in the wrong.
• Is the language that is offensive to women socially acceptable? Is it ok to use it if it is a joke?
• Technology enables people to write and make comments- written language is more permanent.
• The difference between sexism now and sexism 20 years ago is that it is now written down. It used to be private whereas now it is public.
• 'Blurred lines'- lyrics in a song are different to someone going out into the world and carrying out these actions.
• Sexist humour can facilitate sexism- makes it more socially accepted.
• The online abuse of women in the public eye is only possible because of social media.
• Can women in the public eye, escape trolls?
• Is language different online? Is it less real?- Kirsty Wark
• Dr Clare Hardacre- gender focus analysis of trolls..
• Sexist views in the media become amplified online. Then there's a feedback loop and then it becomes more amplified in the media- often known as an amplification spiral.
• Who owns the media?- White men
• Internet hasn't created mesogyny- it has facilitated it.
• Taboo language e.g slag, slut, whore.

The Guardian- What language barrier?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books

Summary

• Brain sex/sex on the brain are books that explain that the difference between men and women is a product of nature, not nurture.
• The sexes communicate differently. The female brain excels in verbal tasks whereas the male brain is better adapted to visual and mathematical tasks. Women like to talk; men prefer action to words.
• Many employers share the call-centre manager's belief that women are by nature better qualified than men for jobs of this kind, and one result is a form of discrimination. 
• Male job applicants have to prove that they possess the necessary skills, whereas women are just assumed to possess them. 

Deborah Cameron wrote "the myth of Mars and Venus"  and it is simply the proposition that men and women differ fundamentally in the way they use language to communicate. All versions of the myth share this basic premise; most versions, in addition, make some or all of the following claims:

1.  Language and communication matter more to women than to men; women talk more than men.
2. Women are more verbally skilled than men.
3.  Men's goals in using language tend to be about getting things done, whereas women's tend to be about making connections to other people. Men talk more about things and facts, whereas women talk more about people, relationships and feelings.
4. Men's way of using language is competitive, reflecting their general interest in acquiring and maintaining status; women's use of language is cooperative, reflecting their preference for equality and harmony.
5. These differences routinely lead to "miscommunication" between the sexes, with each sex misinterpreting the other's intentions. This causes problems in contexts where men and women regularly interact, and especially in heterosexual relationships.

The book is patronising to towards men.

Deborah Tannen's book, 'You just don't understand' is all about her theory in which she adopts a neutral position on difference in genderlect, making no judgements about use of language by either gender.

Robin Lakoff suggested that socialisation played an important role in ensuring the female language remained less assertive when compared to that of men. She argued that the differences between male language and female language, are socially constructed rather than biologically based.

Past paper 2

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-SQP.PDF - the paper itself


http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-COM.PDF - examiner expectations


http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-CEX.PDF - student response

Bristol University- guide to grammar

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/index.htm

1. Handy for revision
    
2. Structure- written punctuation, graphological features - visual aspects, discourse- addressing the reader, fpa, syntax –simple, compound and complex, clause- main and subordinate) Spoken Utterances, Syntax- imperative, interrogative, exclamative, declarative.
    
3. Common confusions- Homophones, comparatives, euphemisms- hidden meaning, lexical semantics- analysis of word meanings, pragmatics- text organisations.
    
4. Exam responses- For my essay
    
5. Conjunctions, split infinitives..
    
6. Style- Form, Purpose, Audience
    
7. Handy for revision

Theories

The dominance approach sees women as an oppressed group and interprets differences in women's and men's speech in terms of men's dominance and womens subordination. Researchers and theorists taking this view include Robin Lakoff (1975), Dale spender (1980) and Zimmerman and West (1983). Deborah Cameron in verbal hygiene (1995) argues that theorists like Lakoff and Spender see gendered language in terms of power and powerlessness for this reason: throughout Western culture the masculine/male has been the unmarked norm in language, the feminine/female the marked form. However, the marked forms are politically incorrect.

The difference approach sees women as belonging to 'different sub-cultures', who are differently socialised from childhood onward, and who may therefore have different problems in communication and culture. Deborah Tannen (1989) is an exponent of this position. Tannens view also identifies gender differences in terms of competitiveness (male) and co-operative (female).

Cameron challenges the whole idea that there are two different and contrasting languages for men and women, argueing that this is a deficit model approach (one language is inferior to the other). She asks whether gender alone is at the end of individual identity- is the term genderlect more precise or less than idiolect. 

The way women (or men, or men and women) talk in a variety of situations (casual conversation, service encounters, occupational contexts etc) may reveal the effects of disempowerment or may signal the effects of other variables, including socio-economic status, education, context, peer group, even personality.

Jennifer Coates (1993) identifies two approaches which she describes as dominance and difference:

• Patriarchal society 
• Male dominated world
• Males dominate positions of power
• 51% women

Instrumental power- explicit power of the sort imposed by the state, by its laws and conventions or by the organizations for which we work. It operates in business, education and various kinds of management.

Influential power- the power to have an important effect on someone or something. If someone influences someone else, they are changing a person or thing in an indirect but important way.

Institutions of power

• Government- instrumental
• Media- both
• Family/parents/friends- both
• Schools/colleges- both 
• Role models/celebs- influential 
• Royal family- instrumental 

10 reasons why English is weird

Homophone- each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling.

1) Wound- We unconsciously know how to pronounce the homophones as we know the differece between a verb and a noun. The first wound is a verb and the second is a noun.
2) Produce- The farm is the subject as it is what the sentence is based around. The first produce is the verb and the second one is a noun.
3) Refuse- The first refuse is pronounced as it is spelt and is the verb and the second one is pronounced with more emphasis on the 're' (noun).
4) Polish- The first one is a verb and the second one relates to the country Poland.
5) Lead- This one is like refuse as the first one is pronounced how it is spelt and it is the action of leading a group (verb) and the second one has more emphasis on the 'le' and it is a noun.
6) Desert/dessert- The first 'desert' is the verb. Then 'dessert' is the noun and finally the second 'desert' is a noun because it is a place.
7) Present- The first one is the adjective, the second one is the verb and the third one is the noun.
8) Bass- The first bass is the noun (fish) and the second one is also a noun (the bass guitar.
9) Dove- The first one is the noun and the second is the verb.
10) Object- The first one is the verb and the second one is the noun.

Why do I make less than my male co-stars?

'Why do I make less than my male co-stars?' is an article, which was published on the social networking site 'facebook' by the female actress Jennifer Lawrence. This article was published to highlight the fact that in some professions, women don't get paid the same amount as men, even if they have the same role within the job and to also make others aware that female inquality still takes place nowadays. Secondly, the article was also published to possibly generate debate within the online community and to allow people of all different age's and gender's to argue their point. Although this is a serious article, Lawrence includes taboo language such as 'fuck that', 'bullshit', to make it a little more light hearted.

Male and female language features:

• Men don't care if they come across as 'difficult' or 'spoiled', whereas women do.
• Men consider expressing their opinions as normal, but when women express theirs, they are made out to be 'personal' or offensive'. I think this is due to men feeling as though their dominance is being threatened so they react with words such as 'whoa' to patronise the woman to make her doubt herself.
• Women are stereotyped to state their opinion in an 'adorable' way.
• Men don't contemplate what angle they should use to have their voice heard, it is just heard.

Genre stereotypes in spoken language:

• Women gossip
• Women talk about domestic and personal trivia
• Women have soft and gentle voices or have loud, strident voices and they screech.

• Men are strong and silent
• Men talk about important topics e.g business.