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Unit12GenderBiasinLanguageLanguageisaverypowerfulelement.Itisthemostcommonmethodofcommunication.Yetitisoftenmisunderstoodandmisinterpreted,forlanguageisaverycomplicatedmechanismwithagreatdealofnuance.Therearetimeswheninconversationwithanotherindividual,thatwemusttakeintoaccounttheperson’slinguisticgenealogy.Therearepeoplewhouselanguagethatwouldbeconsideredprejudicialorbiasedinuse.Butthequestionthatisraisedisinregardtolanguageusage:Islanguagethecauseofthebiasorisitreflectiveofthepreexistingbiasthattheuserholds?Therearethosewhobelievethatthelanguagethatweuseinday-to-dayconversationisbiasedinandofitself.Theyfeelthatthetermmailman,forexample,isonethatexcludeswomenmailcarriers.Thentherearethosewhofeelthatlanguageisareflectionoftheprejudicesthatpeoplehavewithinthemselves.Thatistosay,thewordsthatpeoplechoosetouseinconversationdenotethebiasthattheyharborwithintheirownexistence.TherearewordsintheEnglishlanguagethatareexistingorhaveexisted(someofthemhavechangedwiththenewwaveof“politicalcorrectness”comingabout)thathaveinherentlybeensexuallybiasedagainstwomen.Forexample,thepersonwhoinvestigatesreportedcomplaints(asfromconsumersorstudents),reportsfindings,andhelpstoachievefairandimpartialsettlementsisombudsman(Merriam-WebsterDictionary),butombudspersonhereatIndianaStateUniversity.ThisisanexampleofthegenderbiasthatexistsintheEnglishlanguage.Thelanguageisarrangedsothatmenareidentifiedwithexaltedpositions,andwomenareidentifiedwithmoreservice-orientedpositionsinwhichtheyarebeingdominatedandinstructedbymen.Sothelanguageusedtoconveythistypeofmalesupremacyisgenerallyreflectingthehonoredpositionofthemaleandthesubservienceofthefemale.Eveninrelationships,themaleinthehomeisoftenreferredtoasthe“manofthehouse,”evenifitisa4-year-oldchild.Itishighlyinsultingtosaythata4-year-oldmale,basedsolelyonhisgender,ismorequalifiedandcapableofconductingthebusinessandaffairsofthehomethanhispossiblywell-educated,highlyintellectualmother.Thereisadefinitedisparityinthatsituation.InAmericanculture,awomanisvaluedfortheattractivenessofherbody,whileamanisvaluedforhisphysicalstrengthandhisachievements.Evenintheexampleofwordpairsthebiasisevident.Themasculinewordisputbeforethefeminineword,asintheexamplesofMr.andMrs.,hisandhers,boysandgirls,menandwomen,kingsandqueens,brothersandsisters,guysanddolls,andhostandhostess.ThisshowsthattheusageofmanyoftheEnglishwordsisalsowhatcontributestothebiaspresentintheEnglishlanguage.AlleenPaceNilsennnotesthatthereareinstanceswhenwomenareseenaspassivewhilemenareactiveandbringthingsintobeing.Sheusestheexampleoftheweddingceremony.Inthebeginningoftheceremony,thefatherisaskedwhogivesthebrideawayandheanswers,“Ido.”ItisatthispointthatNilsenarguesthatthegenderbiascomesintoplay.Thetraditionalconceptofthebrideassomethingtobehandedfromoneman(thefather)toanotherman(thehusband-to-be)isperpetuated.Anotherexampleisintheinstanceofsexualrelationships.Thewomenbecomebrideswhilemenwedwomen.Themantakesawayawoman’svirginityandawomanloseshervirginity.Thisdenotesherinability,apparentlyduetohergender,toholdontosomethingthatisapartofher,thusenforcingtheman’sabilityandrighttoclaimsomethingthatisnothis.Tobeaman,accordingtosomelinguisticdifferences,wouldbeconsideredanhonor.Tobeendowedbygeneticswiththeencodingofamalewouldbeashavingbeenshowngrace,unmeritedfavor.Therearefargreaterpositiveconnotationsconnectedwithbeingamanthanwithbeingawoman.Nilsenyieldstheexampleof“shrew”and“shrewd.”Theword“shrew”istakenfromthenameofasmallbutespeciallyviciousanimal;howeverinNilsen’sdictionary,a“shrew”wasidentifiedasan“ill-tempered,scoldingwoman.”However,theword“shrewd,”whichcomesfromthesameroot,wasdefinedas“markedbycleverdiscerningawareness.”Itwasnotedinherdictionaryasashrewdbusinessman.Itisalsocommonplacenottoscoldlittlegirlsforbeing“tomboys”buttoscoffatlittleboyswhoplaywithdollsorridegirls’bicycles.Intheconversationsthatcomeupbetweenfriends,yousometimeshearthewords“babe,”“broad,”and“chick.”Thesearewordsthatareusedinreferencetoordirectedtowardwomen.Itiscertainlytheperson’srighttousethesewordstoreflectwomen,butwhyusethemwhentherearesomanymoretochoosefrom?Languageisthemostpowerfultoolofcommunicationandthemosteffectivetoolofcommunication.Itisalsothemosteffectiveweaponofdestruction.AlthoughtherearebiasesthatexistintheEnglishlanguage,therehasbeenconsiderablechangetowardrecognizingthesebiasesandmakingthenecessarychangesformallysothattheywillbeimplementedsocially.Itisnecessaryforpeopletomaketheproperadjustmentsinternallytouseappropriatelanguagetoeffectivelyincludebothgenders.Wequalifylanguage.Itisuptoustodecidewhatwewillallowtobeusedandmadeproperintheareaoflanguage.语言中的性别偏见语言是一个非常强大的元素。它是沟通最常用的方法。然而，语言常常被误解和曲解，因为语言是一个有着大量细微差别的非常复杂的机制。有时候当和某个人交谈时，我们必须考虑此人的语言谱系。有些人使用的语言被认为带有偏见。这带来了关于语言使用的问题：是语言导致了偏见还是语言只是使用者一直存在的偏见的反映？有人相信我们在日常对话中使用的语言本身就是带有偏见的。比如，他们感到“mailman”这个词就是排除了女性邮递员的。还有人认为语言是人们内心偏见的反映。也就是说，人们在对话中选择使用的词汇就代表着他们内在的偏见。英语语言中曾经存在过，目前仍然有一些固有的对女性性别歧视的词语（有些词因为“政治上正确”浪潮的到来已经发生了改变）。比如，(在Merriam-Webster字典中)那个调查（来自学生或消费者的）书面投诉，把发现写成报告，协助达成公平公正协议的人是“ombudsman”，但是在印第安那州立大学使用的词是“ombudsper