英語語言中的性別歧視

題目：英語語言中的性別歧視I摘要性別歧視在不同的社會制度和國家中都不同程度地存在。而作為一種普遍的社會現(xiàn)象，自然會在語言中折射。但隨著社會的不斷進步和文明的不斷發(fā)展，女性的社會地位也在不斷地提高，英語語言中的性別歧視自然得到了重視，而我就是其中之一。本論文介紹了何為語言的性別歧視，及英語語言中的性別歧視現(xiàn)象，它主要表現(xiàn)在名詞的標記、順序、范圍、色彩、稱呼、語法、詛咒、諺語等方面，分析了英語語言中性別歧視產(chǎn)生的原因，同時提出了消除英語語言中性別歧視的建議。關(guān)鍵詞：英語語言；性別歧視；原因；消除IIContentsAbstract(inEnglish)…………………..…IAbstract(inChinese)...………………….III.Introduction..…………….……..……1II.ThePhenomenonsofGenderDiscriminationinEnglishLanguage……………1A.Noun’smarks……………………1B.Usingscope………1C.Sequence…………1D.Proverb…………2III.AnalysisofSuchPhenomenons…………………2A.Historicalbackground………………….…………2B.Theinfluenceofculturalawareness………………2C.Socialroleandstatus……………2IV.SuggestionsofEliminatingtheGenderDiscrimination…………3V.Conclusion.........................................................................................3Bibliography...........................................................................................4Acknowledgements...............................................................................5GenderDiscriminationinEnglishLanguageI.Introduction Sexismlaguageisagroupofthesex’sattitudestoanothergroupofthesexwhichlackthefullfacts,espeicallymen’sprejudicetowomen.[4]Sexismlanguagereflectstheinequalitiesbetweenmenandwomeninsociallife.Inaddition,languageisjustlikeamirroroftherealworldwhichcanreflectvarioussocialcustomsandvalues.GenderdiscriminationinEnglishlanguageisubiquitousandEnglishlanguageispartialtoconsidermenasmainbodybutwomenasvariant.Womenarealwaystreatedasmen’saccessory.II.ThePhenomenaofGenderDiscriminationinEnglishLanguageNoun’smarksGenderdiscriminationinEnglishlanguageshowsintheformsofnouns.Masculinenounstendtobeunmarkedwhilefemininenounsarealwaysmarked.Forexample,princeandprincess,actorandactress,waiterandwaitress.“-ess”seemstobethe“mark”ofwomen.Infact,therearepartsofunmarkednounsshowmasculineorneutral.Thereasonwhypeopleadd“-ess”tonounsisfordiscriminationagainstwomen.Peoplegenerallybelievethatnounslike“teacher”,“heir”,“poet”andmanyothersaresupposedtobemen’s.Ifwomencandothesamethingasmen,theyhavetoadda“mark”toherinordertomakewomeninferior.Somefemininenounsneedtoaddwoman,ladyorgirltothem,suchaswomandoctor,ladydriverandgirlstudent.Thisrespectreflectsthatwomanisaccessoryofman.B.UsingscopeGenderdiscriminationinEnglishlanguagealsoshowsinusingscopeofnouns.Themostobviousexampleis“man”whichiswidelyused.“man”coversmaleandfemalewhile“woman”justmeansfemale.“man”inthesentence“Manismortal”meanshumanbeing.Itisridiculousifwechangethesentenceinto“womanismortal”.“men”inthesentence“Allmenarecreatedequal”[1]alsomeanshumanbeing.However,thesentenceitselfismanifestationofinequalityandgenderdiscrimination.[8]C.SequenceThesequenceofEnglishalsohasaninfluenceonsexismlanguageandEnglishlanguagehabitsfrequentlytendtoputmanbeforewoman,suchasmenandwomen,1boysandgirls,MrandMrs,fatherandmother,etc.[5]Examplelikeladiesandgentlemenisrare.D.ProverbSomeproverbsshowthatwomenareinferiortomeninposition.Exampleslike“Ifhusbandbenotathome,thereisnobody.”aswellas“Amanofstrawisworthofawomanofgold.”Theseproverbswithmalechauvinismallcenteronthelowstatusofwoman.Someproverbseventwistthecharactersofwomen.Asthesayinggoes“Frailty,thenameiswomen.”Thisisjustprejudiceofmentowardswomen.[2]Women’sbehaviorsorwordscanalsobematerialsofproverbs.Justlikethesaying“Wordsarewomen,deedsaremen.”Thisoneevenmakeswomensad“Manywomen,manywords;Manygeese,manyturds.”Peoplealwaysequatewomenwithanimals.Somemenenjoytalkingaswell,don’tthey?Inaddition,accordingtophysiologicalreseach,woman’slanguagecapacityinthebrainaremorethanman’s.Sotalkingcannotbewoman’sfault.III.AnalysisofsuchphenomenaGenderdiscriminationinlanguageisatruerepresntationofsocialsexism.Therootoftheproblemisnotlanguageitselfbutinequalitiesinhistoricalculture,religiouspsychology,socialroleandmanyotherrespects.HistoricalbackgroundIntheearlystageofhumansociety,menandwomenareequaloriginally.However,withthedevelopmentofproductivityandtheemergenceofprivateownership,malepositionincreasedgraduallyinfinancialtermsandmatri-clansystemwasreplacedbypatri-clansystem.Sincethendiscriminationagainstwomenbecameasocialproblemwhichlastedforthousandsofyears.Manisthemasterofthesocietyandwomanisman’saccessory.Additionally,woman’svalueislimitedtoprocreation.TheinfluenceofculturalawarenessGodisthecreatorofallthingsonearth.OnthepictureswhichpreachedChristianity,theimageofGodismale.Moreover,theonewhohealstheworldishissonChrist.GodcreatedAdamfirstandthentookoneofAdam’sribstomakeEvesoastokeepAdamcompany.Sowomannaturallybecameman’saccessorybecausesheiscreatedfoeman.What’sworse,Evecouldn’tresistthetemptationofSatanandatetheforbiddenfruit.Womenareintimatelyconnectedwithnegativewordssuchassimple-minded,irrational,betrayandsoon.[6]SocialroleandstatusForthousandsofyears,menandwomenhaveplayeddifferenttraditionalrolesinfamilyandsociety.“Menoutside,womeninside”hasbecometheunalterabletruth.2Sociallabordivisionmakesmenplayavitalroleinsociallife.Menarestrong,sotheyareconsideredasthemaster.Instead,womenareconsideredastheweak,sotherangeoftheiractivitiesarerestrictedtofamily.Menarethecolorofpower,bycontrast,womenarejustornamentsanddecorations.Asmentionedearlier,whenwomeninvolveinsomeindustries,marksisrequired.Womendon’thaveseparateidentitieswithoutmarks.Addingmarkshighlightsthesexdifferences.IV.SuggestionsofeliminatingthegenderdiscriminationGenderdiscrimintioninEnglishlanguagehasappearedgraduallyatthebeginningoftheformationofEnglishlanguage.However,whatcanwedotoreducegenderdiscriminationinlanguage?Invocabulary,wecancreatesomenewwordsandmakethemneutral.Forexample,someAmericansintheearlydislikedsuchaddresslike“Mrs”becauseitshowsthiermaritalstatusaswellaspersonalprivacy.However,theword“Sir”doesn’tshowone’smaritalstatusandmeansbothmarriedandunmarriedmen.Sotheyadvocatedusing“Ms”whichdoesn’tshowone’smaritalstatustocallwomensoastoeliminategenderdiscrimination.Theadvocatehasbeenwelcomedbyfeminists.In1973,“Mrs”wasacceptedbytheprintingofficeinWashinton.Asasuccedaneousaddress,“Mrs”wasacceptedbymostAmericanssincethenanditisusedwidelyinEnglish-speakingcountriesnowadays.[3]Genderdiscriminationinlanguage,afterall,isasocialproblem.ThekeytoeliminatingEnglishlanguagesofgenderdiscriminationistoeradicateitinsociety.Inrecentyears,feministshaveputforwardplansforthatconstantly.Unfortunately,theeffectwasnotobvious.Becausepeopledon’thavesufficientknowledgeaboutitssiginificance.What’smore,genderdiscriminationinlanguagewillnotbeeliminatedaslongasgenderinequalityexistsintheworld.Lastbutnotleast,weshouldtakesocialconsequences,historyandcultureitreflectedintoconsiderationwhenwemakeeffortstoeliminateit.V.ConclusionGenderequalityhasalreadybeenconsideredasoneofthemostimportantmarksofmoderncivilizationandmodernization.Withsomeobvioussexismlanguagessuchasinsults,weshouldavoidusing.Ofcourse,properandobjectiveevaluationsareoftheessence.Weshouldnotgotoextremesandthinkthatgenderdiscriminationexistsinallfields.Ithasitslimits.[7]Theformationoflanguageisalonghistoricalprocess.Itiscloselyconnectedtoculturalcustomsandhistoricalbackground.Althoughthepositionofwomenhasbeenimprovedinthelastfewdecadesbecauseoffeminists’efforts.Insuchmale-dominatedsociety,womenarestillshoulderingheavyresponsibilities.WeholdafirmbeliefthatthephenomenonsofgenderdiscriminationinEnglishlanguagewillbelessandlesswiththerigorousdevelopme