Language and Gender

Those who speak freely assume those who are silent have nothing to say…” (Tannen 2). Do girls really talk more than boys or is that just said because girls tend to speak more about personal anecdotes? Do gender stereotypes exist because our society has decided we need to be put into certain groups to control the way we act? Men and women use language differently. Men and women speak as they do because they feel a particular kind of language to be appropriate to their sex. Our language represents reality while also helping to construct it, and this reality can reflect a degree of sexism. Although there have been attempts to impose change upon language related to gender to remedy this sexism, studies have shown women and men continually being separated into certain linguistic roles. Through power and inequality, cultural values, stereotypes and word choice leading into dominance, men and women are still forced to express themselves in different ways in society, the classroom, and the workforce