Week 5 - Gendered Slang/Language

So many random words and English phrases either imply a gender or have taken on gendered meanings over the years. For instance, words like king, queen, actor, actress, steward, and stewardess all refer to either a man or a woman exclusively. One does not call a woman an actor or a man a stewardess, simply because these words have a specific gender attached to them. Such gendered words, along with the traditional “he” and “she” pronouns, can cause additional upsets. Additionally, society’s generally defaults to a masculine variant of words. Congressman, postman, weatherman, and even freshman are all words that refer to men specifically, yet we use them without thinking twice.

Human genitalia in particular has taken on all kinds of alternate names over the years. Wood, rod, junk, shaft, member, and meat are all common words that have also come to refer to the penis. Downstairs, pussy, snatch, gash, and muff have all been used to describe the vagina, although that was never their original meaning. Even using some of these words in everyday conversations now feels awkward since their alternative meanings have become so prominent.

Other phrases, like “man up” or “throw like a girl” make implications about each of the genders. When a young boy cries, he may be told “man up,” because our culture considers the ideal man to be one that strong, stable, and rarely shows emotions. Crying is not something men are expected to do, especially not in front of others. If a young girl cries, on the other hand, she would be comforted and helped through whatever the problem is. Similarly, if a guy can’t throw a ball well, he might be told he “throws like a girl,” implying that all women are weak and that men should be strong. Yet if a girl is athletic, she might be called a tomboy, which simply suggests that only boys, not girls, should be athletic.

Of course, eliminating gendered speech completely would be ideal. However, these phrases and words are so ingrained in our minds already that simply changing may be too difficult. To remove the gender bias towards masculinity that we are used to would take quite a significant change. I believe that such a change is possible, but will take years of work and serious changes in the media to accomplish.