Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Gendering of Language: A Comparison of Gender Equality in Countries with Gendered, Natural Gender, and Genderless Languages

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Feminists have long argued that sexist language can have real world consequences for gender relations and the relative status of men and women, and recent research suggests that grammatical gender can shape how people interpret the world around them along gender lines (Boroditsky 2009). Although others have theorized about the connection between grammatical gender in language and societal gender equality (Stahlberg et al. 2007), the current work tests this link empirically by examining differences in gender equality between countries with gendered, natural gender, and genderless language systems. Of the 111 countries investigated, our findings suggest that countries where gendered languages are spoken evidence less gender equality compared to countries with other grammatical gender systems. Furthermore, countries where natural gender languages are spoken demonstrate greater gender equality, which may be due to the ease of creating gender symmetric revisions to instances of sexist language.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Banaji, M., & Hardin, C. (1996). Automatic stereotyping. Psychological Science, 7, 136–141. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00346.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L., & Bem, D. J. (1973). Does sex-biased job advertising “aid and abet” sex discrimination? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 3, 6–18. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1973.tb01290.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boroditsky, L. (2009). How does our language shape the way we think? In M. Brockman (Ed.), What's next? Dispatches on the future of science (pp. 116–129). New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boroditsky, L., Schmidt, L. A., & Phillips, W. (2003). Sex, syntax, and semantics. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Cognition (pp. 61–79). Cambridge: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J., & Lanktree, C. (1983). Sex-role related effects of sex bias in language. Sex Roles, 9, 625–632. doi:10.1007/BF00290069.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, F. (2001). The communication of gender in Turkish. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 1, pp. 283–310). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bull, T., & Swan, T. (2002). The representation of gender in Norwegian. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 2, pp. 219–249). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, D. (1998). The feminist critique of language: A reader (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Intelligence Agency. (2010). The world factbook: Languages. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html.

  • Chen, J.-Y., & Su, J.-J. (2011). Differential sensitivity to the gender of a person by English and Chinese speakers. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 40, 195–203. doi:10.1007/s10936-010-9164-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cherng, R.-J., Chang, C.-L., & Chen, J.-Y. (2009). A new look at gender inequality in Chinese: A study of Chinese speakers’ perception of gender-based characters. Sex Roles, 61, 427–433. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9639-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comrie, B. (1999). Grammatical gender systems: A linguist’s assessment. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 28, 457–466. doi:10.1023/A:1023212225540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deutscher, G. (2010). Through the language glass: Why the world looks different in other languages. New York: Metropolitan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engelberg, M. (2002). The communication of gender in Finnish. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 2, pp. 109–132). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel, U., & Gygax, P. (2008). Can societal language amendments change gender representation? The case of Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 451–457. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2008.00650.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gastil, J. (1990). Generic pronouns and sexist language: The oxymoronic character of masculine generics. Sex Roles, 23, 629–643. doi:10.1007/BF00289252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, M. C., Hunter, B., & Stuart-Smith, S. (1992). Jury instructions worded in the masculine generic: Can a woman claim self-defense when “he” is threatened? In J. C. Chrisler & D. Howard (Eds.), New directions in feminist psychology: Practice, theory, and research (pp. 340–347). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hausmann, R., Tyson, L.D., & Zahidi, S. (2009). The global gender gap 2009. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum. Retrieved from http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2009.pdf

  • Hellinger, M., & Bußmann, H. (2001). The linguistic representation of women and men. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 1, pp. 1–25). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellinger. M., & Bußmann, H. (Eds.). (2001–2003). Gender across languages (Vols. 1–3) Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

  • Hill, E. D., Terrell, H. K., Cohen, A. B., & Nagoshi, C. T. (2010). The role of social cognition in the religious fundamentalism-prejudice relationship. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49, 724–739. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01542.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S. (1984). Children's understanding of sexist language. Developmental Psychology, 20, 697–706. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.20.4.697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, M. H. (1973). Grammatical gender: Its origin and development. The Hague: Mouton & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakobson, R. (1966). On linguistic aspects of translation. In R. A. Brower (Ed.), On translation (pp. 232–239). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klugman, J., et al. (2010). Human development report 2010 (20th anniversary edition): The real wealth of nations: Pathways to human development. New York: United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete_reprint.pdf

  • Konishi, T. (1993). The semantics of grammatical gender: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 22, 519–534. doi:10.1007/BF01068252.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koniuszaniec, G., & Blaszkowska, H. (2003). Language and gender in Polish. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 3, pp. 259–285). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M. P. (2009). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16th ed). Dallas, TX.: SIL International. Retrieved from: http://www.ethnologue.com/family_index.asp.

  • Martyna, W. (1980). Beyond the “he/man” approach: The case for nonsexist language. Signs, 5, 482–493. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173588.

  • McConnell, A. R., & Fazio, R. H. (1996). Women as men and people: Effects of gender-marked language. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1004–1013. doi:10.1177/01461672962210003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulton, J. G., Robinson, M., & Elias, C. (1978). Sex bias in language use: “Neutral” pronouns that aren't. American Psychologist, 33, 1032–1036. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.33.11.1032

  • Nissen, U. K. (2002). Gender in Spanish: Tradition and innovation. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Eds.), Gender across languages (Vol. 2, pp. 251–277). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Razavi, S., & Jenichen, A. (2010). The unhappy marriage of religion and politics: Problems and pitfalls for gender equality. Third World Quarterly, 31, 833–850. doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.502700.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scheele, B., & Gauler, E. (1993). Wählen wissenschaftler ihre probleme anders aus als wissenschaftler innen? Das genus-sexus-problem als paradigmatischer fall der linguistischen relativitätsthese [Do male and female scientists differ in their selection of research problems? The problem of gender-sex bias as a paradigmatic example of linguistic relativity]. Sprache & Kognition, 12, 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, D. J. (2004). The psychology of stereotyping. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sera, M., Berge, C., & Del Castillo, J. (1994). Grammatical and conceptual forces in the attribution of gender by English and Spanish speakers. Cognitive Development, 9, 261–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sibley, C. G., Wilson, M. S., & Duckitt, J. (2007). Antecedents of men's hostile and benevolent sexism: The dual roles of Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 160–172. doi:10.1177/0146167206294745.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stahlberg, D., Braun, F., Irmen, L., & Sczesny, S. (2007). Representation of the sexes in language. In K. Fiedler (Ed.), Social communication (pp. 163–187). New York: Psychology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.). (1989). Oxford: Clarendon Press (Vol. 16, pp. 666).

  • Switzer, J. Y. (1990). The impact of generic word choices: An empirical investigation of age and sex-related differences. Sex Roles, 22, 69–82. doi:10.1007/BF00288155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vigliocco, G., Vinson, D. P., Paganelli, F., & Dworzynski, K. (2005). Grammatical gender effects on cognition: Implications for language learning and language use. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 104, 501–520. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.134.4.501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman, B. D., & Weseley, A. J. (2009). ¿Qué? Quoi? Do languages with grammatical gender promote sexist attitudes? Sex Roles, 61, 634–643. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9696-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Jennifer L. Prewitt-Freilino & Emmi K. Laakso

  2. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    T. Andrew Caswell

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Prewitt-Freilino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Andrew Caswell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Emmi K. Laakso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer L. Prewitt-Freilino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Prewitt-Freilino, J.L., Caswell, T.A. & Laakso, E.K. The Gendering of Language: A Comparison of Gender Equality in Countries with Gendered, Natural Gender, and Genderless Languages. Sex Roles 66, 268–281 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation