Sexism and Language
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 136 260 CS 203 230 TEOP Nilsen, Aileen Pace; And Others 7ITLE Sezisi and Language. National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, 711. PUB LAIE 77 NOTE 206p. AVAILAELE IEOE National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Eoad, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (Stock No. 43733, $5.50 member, $5.95 non-member) ELis EEICE ti-$0.83 BC-$11.37 Plus Postage. LESCRIETGES Childzens Books; Feminism; 'Language; *Language Usage; Legislation; Linguistics; Literature; *Sex Liscrimination; *Sex Stereotypes; *Social Influences; Social Problems AESTEACT :his book contains the following essays regarding sexism and language: "Linguistic Sexism as a Social Issue," "Sexism as Snown through the English vocabulary," "Sexism in the Language of Marriage," and "Sexism in Children's Books and Elementary Teaching Materials" by Aileen Pace Nilsen; °Gender-Marking in American Englisn: Usage and Eeference" by Julia P. Stanley; "Sexisla in the Language of Legislatures and Courts" by Haig Bossajian; °Sexism in the Language of Literature° and °Sexism it Dictionaries and Texts: Omissions and Commissions" by E. Lee Gershuny. The National Council of leachers of English Guidelines for Nonsexist Use of Language are appended. (LL) *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not availanle from other sources. ERIC sakes every effort * * to ottain tte Dest copy available. Nevertheless, iteci; of marginal * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality oi the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available O via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDES). EDES is not * responsible fcr the quality ot the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by ELBE, are the nest that can be 'Rade from the original. *********************************************************************** u S DEPART6tEMT OF 641EALM. 0 gpUCAT*0011 WELFAIIE T046,114. zadTTLITE OF CJ EDUCATtOla %JD 7.- 5 00CL4ENT -_c5 'BEENft E POO- ,....': E 0 EXACTLy As RECEVED CitOM Pr\ --.E PE siS0 Ca CaCa-tIZAT ,C) Oa IGita- e--i 1 PC NTS 0,-- v:E Oa OPIWOBIS 1=1 Sem,'sim aaid........... Lt../ Aileen Pace Nilsen Haig Bosrr.ajian H. Lee Gershuny Julia P. Stanley Endorsed by the NCTE Comrninteeon the Role and Image of Women in the Council and the Profession and the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak. National Council of Teachers of English 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 Pf - fat ,s C.C.P m f Wuk, wS B Cr National Council of Teachers of English ci CAM:AN:Z.. ',0,45 CAPE r C..r4 aS f .0..A. ESkeC,0%r jEppp 55,-Fm qf s 4441/1,54K" rpE COPV41Cow T 2 NCTE EDITORIAL 131)AR1): Evelyn Copeland. CI:arles Cooper. ?Ler-nice Cull inan. I ionald Stewart. Frank Zidon is. Ruben F. Hogan. r Paul ( rDea_ .f Staff Editor: Diane Allen. Rook Design: Torn Kovacs NCTE Nurni-x-r: 33733 (. ri",:ht 1977 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rigrt. reieerved. Printed in the- United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Sexism and language. Bibliography: p. 1.Sex discrimination against womenUnited States Addresses. essayta. lecture:.,..2.English LanguageSocial aspectsUnited StatesAddresses. essays. lectures. 3.Sex roleAddresses. essays lectures. 3.Stere- typesPsychologyAddresses. essays. lectures. I. N ilsen. Alleen Pace.II.National Council of Teachers of English. H Q132+; 53 31)1.412 76-5626() ISBN I)-?141-4373-3 Acknowledgments Grateful acknow ledgment is made to the following authors asid pubh:fiers for permission to quote from their works in this volume: stanzai from -The Man-Moth- reprinted with the Permission of Farrar. Straus & Giroux. Inc.. from Th.. C...mplete Po.,,nx.-The Man_Moth.- by Elizabeth Bishop. copyright4 1969 by Elizabeth Bishop. Two poems and a portion of a third by E. E. Cummings: -0 sweet zzpontaneous.- copyright. 1923. 1951. by E. E- Cummings. Reprinted from his volume. Compact.. Poem:: 191.3-19Q.by permis- ,i of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Inc. -she being Brand pyright. 1926. by Horace Liveright: copyright. 1954. by E. E. Cummings- Reprinted from Goinplett. Aowis 191..:-.t.962 by E. E. Cummings by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanavich. Inc. Lin.; from -my father moved through dooms of love- by E. E.Cum m ing-s. reprinted from Osin 0141 Pnein..4 191.;-1.96by permission of liarmart B race Jovanovich. Inc. -Ona Squirrel Crossing the Road in Autuum. in New England." from Collo-4d Poems 19.104976 by Richard Eberhart. Copyright c i960, 1976 by RichardEberhart. Reprinted by Permission of Oxford University Press. Inc.. and Chatty & Wi nd us.Stanzas from -Another September" from Pnems & Tran.4Int,,; by Thorna, Kinsella. included by permission of the poet. the Dolmen Press, LW- Dublin. and Atheneum Publishers: mpyright 1953. 1954. c 1957. c 1958. c 1960. 4 1961 by Thomas Am A" reprinted from rihg jiitii tht. Wreck. Po.rms. 1971-1:072 bY Adrienne Rich. By Permission of W. W. Norton & Company. Inc. Copyright c 1973 by W, W. Norton & Company. Inc.-Myth." from Breaking Op-ll. byMuriel Rukeyser. reprinted by perm iss ion of Monica McCall. ICM. Copyright 0 1973 by Muriel Ru keyser. Contents viiiIntroduction From the NCTE Committee on the Role and Image of Wanen in the Council and the Profession Johanna S. De Stefano FNm the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak Daniel J. Dieterich 1 Linguistic Sexism as a Social Issue Al leen Pace Nilsen 97Sexism as Shown through the English Vocabularv Al leen Pace Nilsen 4:3 Gender-Marking in American English: Usage and Reference Julia P. Stanley 77Sexism in the Language of Legislatures and Courts Haig Bosmajian 107Sexism in the Language of Literature H. Lee Gershuny 131 Sexism in the Language of Marriage Al leen Pace Nilsen 143Sexism in Dictionaries and Texts: Omissions and Commissions H. Lee Gershuny 161 Sexism in Children's Books and Elementary Teaching Materials Al leen Pace Nilsen 181 Appendix: NCTE Guidelines for Nonsex-isi. Uge of Language 193Bibliography of Sources Cited 201About the Authors ;) Introduction From the NCTE Committee on the Role and Image of Women in the Council and the Profession "If you can bravely smile when loved ones doubt you.... " "If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, ... " Which lines were written for females? Which are now intended for males? You guessed it- The first are from a poem entitled "If for Girls" by J. P. McEvoiwhile the second are from Rudyard Kipling's "If" now retitled "If for Boys" by a well known but herein nameless greeting card company. And how did we know how to assign the lines to the appropriate sex? On the basis of female/male stereotypes operating in our culture. Males have been assigned certain characteristics such as strength, aggressiveness and power, while females are assigned passivity and powerlessness. This book is about these female and male stereotypes as they are codified in language, more specifically in American English. The various selections in this volume make strikingly clear just how widespread in our language is the image of " ... the female... as the invisible other," as H. Lee Gershuny puts it, or the female as the negative pole, since males occupy both the positive and neutral poles (Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Sex). As the NCTE Women's Committee has been, since its creation in 1971, deeply and directly concerned with both the role and image of women, we felt it appropriate, if not imperative, to bring to English teachers' attention an analysis of the image of females in the language we speak, read, write and teach. And since such linguistic treatment of both males and females clearly involves a distortion of 6 viii Introduction ix actual behavior, it is also appropriate to be joined in the venture by the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak. As with racism, so with sexism: we all lose when another is diminished and belittled. We all have much to gain from "fair and equal treatment under the language." Thus it is our hope that this volume will-s-erve to clarify the dimensions of sexism in language and to help its readers deal with the distortions of human be- haviorboth male and femaleencrusting our language. Johanna S. DeStefano. Chair From the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak Some two years ago. I first sensed a need for a book which would expand teachers' awareness of sexist language. What littleI personally had been able to discover about this topicmainly from articles in journals and magazines. since few books even touched on itconfirmed my belief that sexist language is having a serious impact on the ways that all people think about themselves and others, and thus on the ways we act toward one another. But I did not know the breadth and depth of that impact. nor did I have a very clear idea of how to counter it in my dealings with others. both within and without the classroom. Since sexist language can quite clearly be termed a form of semantic distortion. I invited the members of the NCTE Committee on Public Doublespeak to work with the NCTE Committee on the Role and Image of Women in the Council and the Profession in compiling a volume which might address the need for more information on the nature and scope of sexist language.Se.risin and nfitmgeis the product of that collaboration. While this book is not. and does not purport to be. the final scholarly treatment on the subjecf of sexist language, it provides a great deal of useful information on how and why sexist language is employed in our society. Having read the book. I feel that I am better prepared to identify and eliminate sexist language from my own discourse and to recognize and respond to the sexist language which I encounter from others.