-
英语中的性别歧视
Abstract
Sexism
in
English
language
has
launched
along
with
the
vigorous
development
of
w
omen’s
liberation
movement
since
the
end
of
1960s.
As
a
mirror
reflecting
the
socie
ty,
language
images
the
social
views
and
values.
Sex
ism
in
society
is
thus
inevitably
reflected
in
the
use
of
language.
The
paper
based
on
the
analysis
of
sex
discrimination
in
English
explores
that
it
is
by
no
means
an
extinction
of
sexist
language
so
long
as
the
sexism
in
society
exist
s.
The
causes
of
sexism
in
this
thesis
are
the
inequality
between
male
and
female.
In
ancient
time,
the
thoughts
that
males
host
females
and
the
treatment
of
women
as
inferiors
to
men
are
in
vogue.
Men
are
always
at
superior
positions
to
women
i
n
the
social
economy,
in
the
politics,
as
well
as
in
the
people’s
tradi
tional
ideas,
so
the
idea
of
sex
discrimination
has
reflected
in
the
language.
The
thesis
summarizes
the
phenomena
of
sexism
in
English
by
using
universal
evidence,
and
they
are
sho
wn
and
discussed
in
four
aspects:
English
proverbs,
English
expressions,
English
voc
abulary
and
the
meanings
of
English
words.
Lastly,
the
thesis
introduces
two
feasibl
e
strategies
to
erase
sexism
in
English
language,
and
they
are:
language
reform
an
d
social
reform.
The
most
important
one
is
to
erase
the
sex
ist
conceptions
and
im
p
rove
women’s
status,
respect
and
support
them.
The
language
transformation
can
b
e
realistic
on
the
basis
of
the
social
reform.
Key Words
Sexism;
female
words;
masculine
words;
strategies
摘
要
自
20
世纪
60<
/p>
年代起，语言性别歧视已随着女性解放运动的展开而得到蓬勃发展。语言是
社会现实的一种反映，
因此由于历史发展、
文化、
社会价值及男女两性之间在生理等方面的
差异而引起的性别歧视，<
/p>
尤其是社会对女性的性别歧视一览无余的体现在语言上，
英语语言
中也存在性别歧视。
本篇论文阐述了性别歧视产生的原因是男女
地位的不平等，
在人类早期，
男尊女卑的思想盛行，
男子在社会经济、
政治、
文化领域以及人们的传统
观念中，
总是处于
比女性优越的地位
,
人们在观念上形成的对妇女特有的歧视观念慢慢形成并反映在语言中。
< br>本文分析了性别歧视在英语中的四个方面的表现：
在谚语中；
在词汇中；
在词语中和在词义
中，
通过大量的举例和分类来系统阐述。
最后着重讨论了消除性别歧视语所应采取的一些策<
/p>
略，
从语言策略和社会策略两方面入手，
要消除性别歧视，
关键在于根除社会上存在的性别
歧视观念，进
一步提高妇女的社会地位，语言的变革只能在社会变革的基础上才能实现。
关键词
性别歧视；
女性词；
男性词；
策略
Introduction
Language
is
a
social
phenomenon,
and
it
has
a
close
relationship
with
the
social
lif
e,
the
language
is
used
in
a
specific
social
group
and
it
is
not
only
the
carrier
of
t
he
ideological
content,
but
a
mirror
of
social
life,
it
reveals
people’s
traditional
thou
ghts
that
sex discrimination
against
women
in
the
society.
From
the
development
a
nd
changes
of
the
language,
people
can
conclude
that
sex
discrimination
does
not
only
exist
in
China,
but
in
all
the
countries.
Therefore,
how
does
English
language
r
eflect
the
social
phenomenon?
The
first
person
who
did
research
on
the
gender
and
language
is
the
Denmark
ling
uist
sen,
he
regards
English
as
the
most
masculine
language
that
is
famil
iar
to
him,
and
it
is
a
man
centered
language.
The
domestic
scholars
and
experts,
Yang
Yonglin,
Bai
Jiehong,
and
so
on,
have
done
thorough
research
about
sexist
el
ement
in
the
English
language,
they
also
have
introduced
some
feasible
strategies
t
o
erase
the
sexism,
but
they
just have
done
thorough
research
from
the
language
strategy
aspect.
In
the
thesis,
the
author
does
the
research
from
the
combination
o
f
the
social
reforms
and
language
reforms,
and
it
is
essential
to
erase
the
sexism
fr
om
people’s
minds.
English,
as
one
of
the
most
widespread
languages,
its
sexist
ele
ment
shall
not
be
suitable
to
the
intercultural
communications,
but
there
is
massive
discrimination
in
it,
people
should
pay
much
more
attention
to
the
sex
equality
an
d
the
improvement
of
women’s
social
positions.
Understanding
the
sexist
phenomen
on
in
English
language
helps
people
study
the
language
culture,
and
correctly
treat
the
changes
of
the
language
in
the
historical
development.
The
thesis
emphatically
i
ntroduces
and
analyzes
the
specific
phenomena
of
sexism
and
also
provides
corresp
onding
strategies
that
can
be
used
to
eliminate
sexism
in
English
language.
Ⅰ
.
A
Definition
to
Sexism
in
English
Language
Sexism,
in
the
Oxford
Advan
ced
Learner’s
English
-Chinese
dictionary,
it
means
that
disapproving
action
based
on
the
ideas
or
belief
that
the
members
of
one
sex
are
l
ess
intelligent,
able,
and
skillful,
etc,
than
the
members
of
the
other
sex,
especially
that
women
are
less
able
than
men
and
those
particular
jobs
and
actions
are
suitab
le
for
women
and
others
are
suitable
for
men.
Sexism
in
English
refers
to
English
e
xpresses
sexist
assumptions
about
differences
between
men
and
women
as
in
the
p
rejudicial
use
of
female
or
male
words
Sexist
language
expresses
unfair
assumptions
and
differences,
and
it
can
be
either
explicit,
as
in
the
prejudicial
use
of
male
or
female
pronouns,
or
implicit.
Using
univ
ersal
evidence,
the
thesis
here
reveals
how
often
English
expresses
sexist
assumptio
ns
about
differences
between
men
and
women.
Just
as
a
proverb
goes
in
England:
“If
you
see
an
old
man,
sit
down
and
take
a
le
sson;
if
you
see
an
old
woman,
throw
a
stone.”
what
expresses
English
version
of
the
sexism
prescribed
for
women,
is
particularly
confining.
English
jokes
and
folklore
are
blatantly
sexist.
(Nilsen
Alleen
Pace,
1990).
In
fact,
woman
in
the
world
no
m
atter
in
which
country
she
lives,
the
roles
designated
to
them
is
unfair
in
the
societ
y.
Ⅱ
.
Sexism
in
English
Language
The
paper
presents
the
sexist
phenomenon,
which
is
very
universal
in
English
langu
age.
And
it
is
shown
and
discussed
in
four
aspects:
English
proverbs,
English
expre
ssions,
English
vocabulary
and
the
meanings
of
English
words.
A. Sexism
in
English
Proverbs
Proverb
is
crystallization
of
human
wisdom
and
incarnation
of
the
concise
language.
The
linguists
consider
the
proverbs
as
a
mirror
of
the
ethnic,
the
live
fossil
of
the
language.
In
recent
years,
with
the
further
study
of
the
language,
the
linguists
hav
e
found
what
refers
to
both genders,
most
proverbs
in
every
kind
of
language
unav
oidably
express
the
affection
of
the
male
chauvinism
and
feudal
consciousness
of
th
e
treatment
of
females
are
inferior
to
males,
and
followings
are
some
usual
pheno
mena
of
the
sexist
language
in
Eng
lish
proverbs.
1.
Role
category
The
women
are
considered
as
delicious
food
in
the
society,
the
roles
of
women
in
t
he
society
and
culture
in
every
country
are
very
passive,
but
men
are
active,
for
ex
ample:
“A
fair
woman
without
virtue
is
like
palled
wine”,
“all
women
may
be
won”,
“words
are
women,
and
deeds
are
men”.
The
sentence
“long
hair
and
short
wit”
e
xpresses
women
is
lack
of
wisdom,
but
men
are
clever,
another
example
goes
like
this:
“when
an
ass
climbs
a
ladder,
we
may
find
wisdom
in
women”
（庄和诚，
2002
）
,
the
sexist
language
expresses
women
are
lack
of
wisdom
and
they
are
capricious.
2.
Manner
Category
In
modern
society,
most
people
hold
such
mind
that
men
are
successful
but
women
are
sexy.
In
American
culture,
a
woman
is
valued
for
the
attractiveness
and
sexine
ss
of
her
body,
while
man
is
valued
for
his
physical
strength
and
accomplishments.
A
persuasive
piece
of
ev
idence
supporting
this
view
is
that
female
eponyms
relate
c
losely
to
a
woman’s
physical
anatomy,
while
the
masculine
eponyms
have
nothing
t
o
do
with
the
namesake’s
body,
but
instead,
honor
the
man
for
his
achievement
an
d
accomplishment.
3.
Marriage
Category
In
relation
to
marriage,
there
is
much
linguistic
evidence
showing
that
weddings
are
more
important
to
women
than
to
men.
Many
proverbs
reflect
such
feudal
conscio
usness
that
girls
are
not
important
in
a
family.
For
example:
“it
is
a
sad
house
whe
re
the
hen
crows
louder
than
the
cock”,
“Marry
your
son
when you
will,
your
daug
hter
when
you can”,
“there
are
many
good
women,
it
is
true
but
they
are
in
their
graves”.
（庄和诚，
2002
）
Such
examples
have
revealed
women
are
inferior
and
su
bordinate
to
them.
B.
Sexism
in
English
Expressions
English
has
gradually
formed
the
tendency
that
the
expressions
referred
to
the
male
generalize
the
ones
pointed
to
the
two
genders
during
its
development.
Although
p
eople
do
not
mind
to
discriminate
against
women
during
their
communications,
the
phenomena
that
people
discriminate
against
women
reflect
the
gender
bias
of
societ
y,
and
sometimes,
women
feel
insult
from
other
people.
Moreover,
some
expression
s
structure
that
elaborate
the
meanings
of
discriminating
against
woman
have
emer
ged,
and
therefore
people
call
English
a
sexist
language.
1.
The
Summary of
Masculine
Expressions
on
Two
Genders
Masculine
English
expressions
summarize
two
genders.
People
often
meet
such
sent
ences
during
our
study
and
daily
life:
“any
patient
is
free
to
bring
his
complaint
to
me
if
he
feels
aggrieved”,
“we
hope
the
reader
will
use
his
own
judgment”,
“everyo
ne
should
hand
his
homework
tomo
rrow”.
From
the
above
examples,
it
is
clear
that
the
words
“his”
or
“he
“in
the
sentences
refer
to
two
genders,
not
the
single
gend
er,
that
is
to
say,
“he”
contains
“she”,
“his”
contains
“her”.
Besides,
to
begin
a
lett
er,
words
referred
to
males
contain
two
genders
in
salutations
of
a
letter,
people
of
ten
use
the
words
referred
to
man
summarize
man
and
woman
when
they
do
not
know
the
receiver’s
specific
sex
of
the
people,
for
example,
in
formal
letters,
people
often
use
“Dear
sir
or
Dear
gentlemen”,
but
do
not
care
for
the
receiver’s
sex.
Th
e
sexism
exists
in
every
field,
so
people
should
pay
much
attention
to the
sexist
ph
enomenon
in
the
language.
2.
Sex
Orders
in
Expressions
and
Words
Female
words
are
behind
male
words,
in
some
English
expressions,
when
referring
t
o
men
and
women,
the
two
genders
are
not
equal,
female
words
are
behind
male
words,
for
instance:
brother
and
sister,
father
and
mother,
boys
and
girls,
husband
and
wife,
man
and
woman.
Those
do
not
elaborate
the
sex
ist
meanings
in
form
bu
t
with
sex
ism
in
sense.
The
jobs
teacher,
nurse,
secretary,
model,
and
etc,
these
n
eutral
words
are
designated
to
female,
but
professor,
lawyer,
doctor,
etc.
are
recog
nized
as
masculine
words
and
designated
to
males.
All
these
customaries
are
a
soci
al
bias,
just
l
ook
at
another
example:
“professional”,
when
a
man
is
called
a
profes
sional,
he
is
thought
to be
a
doctor
or
a
lawyer,
but
when
people
hear
a
woman
r
eferred
to
as
a
professional,
and
they
are
likely
to
think
of
a
prostitute.
But
it
is
n
ot
true
today,
because
so
many
women
have
become
doctors
and
lawyers
that
it
is
no
longer
incongruous
to think
of
women
in
those
professional
roles.
People
should
change
their
traditional
conceptions
that
females
are
inferior
to
males.
3.
The
Changes
of
Female
Words’
Meanings
During
the
development
of
English,
many
female
words’
meanings
have
taken
place
during
the
history.
For
example,
“governor”,
in
old
English,
it
referred
to
the
perso
n
in
charge
of
a
particular
unit,
and
now
it
keeps
the
same
meaning.
However,
the
relative
word
“governess”
means
another
thing,
it
has
changed
its
former
meaning
from
family
tutor
into
prostitute,
and
another
example,
“master”
and
“mistress”
ref
erred
to
the
male
and
female
school
teacher,
but
now
the
word
“mistress”
refers
to
a
woman
who
is
having
a
sexual
relationship
with
a
married
man,
and
so
do
man
y
other
words,
lord
and
lory,
sir
and
Madame,
temper
and
temptress.
The
female
w
ords
have
changed
their
former
meanings
and
they
have
been
endowed
with
a
belit
tled
meaning,
which
is
the
sexist
reflection
in
English
language.
C.
Sexism
in
English
Vocabulary
Sexism
exists
in
English
language,
it
shows
that
masculine
vocabulary
refer
to
both
genders,
that
is
to
say,
the
generalization
of
the
masculine
words.
1.
Sex
Discrimination
and
Job
Titles
Inferior
job
titles
refer
to
both
genders,
but
higher
ones
only
refer
to
male.
In
Engl
ish,
there
are
both
feminine
words
and
masculine
words
referred
to
the
inferior
job
s
in
social
status.
For
instance,
waiter
and
waitress,
steward
and
stewardess.
But
w
hen
referring
to
the
higher
post
titles,
there
are
only
masculine
words,
such
as
doct
or,
professor,
engineer,
etc.
are
suitable
for
both
genders.
However,
these
words
ar
e
usually
associated
with
masculine,
if
they
are
used
to
designate
female,
they
woul
d
always
be
added
on
a
word
“woman”
or “lady”.
Such
as
these
words
a
lady
-doct
or,
a
business
woman-
lawyer.
In
English,
the
words
used
to
describe
woman
are
pe
jorative
and
belittled,
but
the
words
used
to
describe
man
are
positive
and
praised,
although
the
man
and
woman
do
the
same
work
in
a
company,
people
used
to
d
escribe
them
with
different
words
due
to
the
social
bias,
for
example,
a
businessma
n
is
aggressive,
and
a
businesswoman
is
pushy.
In
addition,
one
often
meets
these
phenomena
during
our
daily
lives
2.
Man
and
Woman
Male
are
superior
to
females.
Woman
is
subordinate
to
man.
In
vocabulary,
the
nou
ns
ending
with
–
er,
–
or
are
neutral
words,
but
people
think
they
are
masculine,
suc
h
as
doctor,
professor;
engineer,
etc.
If
they
are
designated
to
females,
they
alway
s
add
woman
or
lady
before
them,
and
many
professional
nouns
take
“man”
as
the
ir
suffix,
such
as
chairman,
mailman,
etc.
Although
there
are
many
women
working
in
the
field,
the
word
he
always
indicate
the
both
genders,
just
as
English
teachers
often
say
th
at
nobody
in
the
class
can
be
proud
of
his
English,
here,
“his”
stands
for
girls
and
boys,
no
matter
that
there
are
many
boys
and
girls
in
the
class.
The
generalization
of
the
word
“he”
reveals
men
are
superior
to
women
and
men
are
th
e
center
of
the
society.
D.
Sexism
in
the
Meanings
of
English
Words
A
word,
when
it
is
used
in
different
genders,
it
is
endowed
with
different
meanings.
For
example,
“prudent
man”
refers
to
a
man
who
is
careful
and
cautious
to
the
u
ncertainties
and
he
acts
care
and
foresight,
but
“prudent
woman”
is
the
woman
wh
o
behaves
in
an
extremely
manner.
And
another
example:
“imposing
man”
refers
to
the
man
who
looks
important
or
causes
admiration,
but
“imposing
woman”
refers
t
o
the
woman
who
is
indifferent,
ruthless
and
horrible.
Furthermore,
another
word
“tramp”
which
is
used
to
refe
r
to
the
man
without
famil
y,
job or
money,
who
travels
around
and
asks
for
money
from
others
,but
when
“tr
amp”
refers
to
a
woman,
it
is
a
mistress,
obviously
it
is
a
semantic
choice
of
social