16.English language and Gender

 1.Gender is socially constructed and determines roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women.

 2.Gender-Neutral Language: In recent years, English has seen a shift towards a more gender-neutral language to be inclusive of all genders.

 3.Pronoun Usage: The traditional use of "he" or "she" is expanding to include "they" as a singular pronoun for individuals who identify as non-binary or prefer not to specify a gender.

 4.Inclusive Terminology: Efforts to replace gender-specific terms, like "fireman" with "firefighter," promote equality and reduce gender bias.

 These aspects reflect the dynamic relationship between language and gender in contemporary communication.

 "We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather, of one sex, seems to describe the essence of the enemy we are attacking, the evil we are eradicating"

- Harvey Mansfield

-Submitted  by  Athulya C.

 

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Introduction

 We are all familiar with international women’s day on 8^th march. But I bet not all of you know about international men’s day on November 8^th. Language plays a crucial role in shaping our perceptions ,interactions and cultural norms. The English language, as one of the most widely spoken and influential language, serves an excellent canvas for how gender is expressed and constructed through linguistic means. a system of grammatical gender, where by every noun was treated as either masculine, feminine or neuter existed in old English, but started to fell of during middle English period. So modern English largely does not have grammatical gender. This essay delves into the relationship between English language and gender.

 Decline of grammatical gender

Old English had a system of grammatical gender similar to that of modern German, with three genders; masculine ,feminine, and neuter. Learners would have had to simply memorize which word has which gender. Although noun referring to human males were masculine and for human females were generally feminine.

 By the 11^thcentury ,role of grammatical gender in old English was beginning to decline. The middle English of the 13^thcenturywas the transition to the loss of gender system. One element of this process was the change in the functions of the word THE and THAT. Late 14^th century English had almost completed the shift away from grammatical gender and modern English retain no agreement of words with grammatical gender.

 

 “ In language gender is particularly confusing. Why , please ,should a table be male in German , female in French and castrated in English ? ”

                                                                                         - Marlene Dietrich

 Gender nouns

Masculine	Feminine	Common
Duke	Duchess	-
Waiter	Waitress	Waiter
Bachelor	Bachelorette	-
King	Queen	-
Actor	Actress	Actor
Emperor	Empress	-
Widower	Widow	-
Steward	Stewardess	Steward
God	Goddess	-
Lord	Lady	-
Count	Countess	-
Prince	Princess	-

 Conclusion

The relationship between the English language and gender is complex and multifaceted. Language both  reflects and perpetuates gender stereotypes and biases. As society evolves and become more  inclusive and understanding of diverse gender identities ,so English language should adapt to reflect these changes .by using gender inclusive language, embarrassing linguistic expressions we can contribute to a more equitable and inclusive society where languages no longer serves as a tool for reinforcement of gender biases, to celebrate and embrace the diversity of gender experience.

 

-Submitted by Muhammed Jiyad KV