Notes 4

Gender and Society

Language is the number one element of culture. Culture is transmitted through language. Culture is
alive because of language. People understand one another because of language. Because of language, too,
people may have misunderstandings.

Language is a potent tool for humans to understand and participate in the world. It can affect how
humans see society. It is a symbol of culture. Language is not an impartial force. It enforces certain ideas
about people including gender.

Language defines men and women different as seen in common adjectives associated with these
genders. Unequal relations can stem from statements that trivialize or devalue certain characteristics. In the
book Gender-Fair Language: A Primer, which was written by Thelma Kintanar in 2014, three aspects of
language that notify how gender is shaped were discussed: gender stereotyping, language influences how one
sees his or her gender and perceives other people’s gender.

Violations of Gender-fair Language

1. Sexist Language is a tool that reinforces unequal gender relations through sex-role stereotypes, micro
aggressions, and harassment. Language can be used to abuse, such as in the case of sexual
harassment, or to bring about stereotypes. It can form subtle messages that reinforce unfair relations
such as “how men cannot take care of children” or women cannot be plumbers' ' which may have an
impact on how others view his or her capabilities.

The following are examples of violations of gender-fair language:

A. Invisibilization of women

The invisibilization of women is rooted in the assumption that men are dominant and women do not
exist. For example:

● The generic use of masculine pronouns or the use of a masculine general. The use of
“mankind” assumes that men are representative of all people on this planet, or the use of
“guys” when referring to a mixed gender group assumes that girls are invisible.

● The assumption that certain functions or jobs are performed by men instead of both
genders. For example, the sentence “The farmers and their wives tilled the land.” Assumes
that men can have job as farmers and women can only be known as wives, with their
identity forever linked to being married to their husbands.

B. Trivialization of Women

● Bringing attention to the gender of a person, if that person is a woman. The use of “lady,”
“girl,” or “woman” along with the noun brings attention to the gender of the person rather
than the job or function. Examples include “girl athlete,” “woman doctor,” “lady guard,” and
“working wives.”
 Let me share with you this nice and powerful statement from someone who has proven that women can
assume the function of men.

“I’m not the woman president of Harvard. I’m the president of Harvard.”
-Drew Glipin Faust
How do you like it?
● The perception of women as immature. Women may be labeled as “darling” or “baby” by
those who do not know them, making them appear childlike or juvenile.

● The objectification or likening to objects of women. By being called “honey,” “sweets,” or

C. Fostering unequal gender relations

● The use of “man and wife” assumes that men are still men and women’s identities are
counted as beings in relation to their husbands.

D. Gender polarization of words in use of adjectives

● Men who work overtime are seen as “providers” while women who do the same are seen as
“uncaring. This polarization of adjectives shows how perception changes how one sees
certain acts, depending on who performs them.

Philippine Culture and Language

Filipino is mainly gender-neutral without gendered characteristics or titles for men and women. Words
that are gendered came from another culture, which were adopted after 400 years of colonization. The
educational system was influenced by Western ideals. Filipinos portray an infusion of both native and foreign
perspectives and values.

Identifies and Naming Things

Language is used to define what is feminine, masculine, and outside feminine or masculine. Through
language people can reflect on their own gendered identities, and battle the definitions society impose on
them.

By naming things, they get power. Sexual harassment was never seen an issue when it did not have a
name yet. It was just seen as something that could not be argued with. Because it was unnamed, it was
ignored by people in power like it did not happen. Recognizing harassment for what it is – by defining and
describing the act helped women around the world to address workplace harassment. Women who
experienced date rape did not have a term to express what had happened to them until the experienced was
named.

Sexist Language and Culture

Common theme of sexist language is the commercialization and trivialization of women. Sexist
portrayals of women extend to the advertising industry, entertainment industry, and the arts. The normalization
of sexism makes violence against women and children acceptable. Commonly mocking or joking about
women/LGBT, sexualizing them, and making them appear weak would indeed make them internalize these
ideas.
 The Prevalence of Media in Cultural Life

“We all know how damaging sexist media images can be and
the suffering that it can inflict on women in particular”
How much are media part of your life? How many hours a week do you spend watching television and
movies, updating your facebook, instagram other social media accounts, and reading popular magazines?
Media influences the way we are being our gender.

• Our views of ourselves and gender are influenced by the films and television we watch, the radio
programs we hear, and the magazines and newspapers we read.

• Advertisements tell us what we need and where to buy it if we are to meet cultural standards for women
and men.

Themes in Media

• Describe how media represent the gender:

• 1. Women and minorities are underrepresented.

• 2. Men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views
of gender.

• 3. Depictions of relationships between men and women emphasize traditional roles and normalize
violence against women.

Have you watched children’s programming on Saturday morning? Are men or female characters more
prominent than women and female characters? Are there differences in the activities, integrity, intelligence,
and so forth of male and female characters? How do you think commercial children’s programming influences
children’s ideas about gender?

Underrepresentation of Women and Minorities

• A primary way in which media distort reality

• Media misrepresent actual proportions of men and women in the population’

• This makes us believe that there are really more men than women, and that men are the cultural
standard.

Stereotypical Portrayals of Men and Women

• Men are portrayed as active, adventurous, powerful, sexually aggressive, and largely uninvolved in
human relationships.

• Women are usually young, thin, beautiful, passive, dependent, and often incompetent and dumb.

• Men are seldom portrayed as nurturers

• Boys and men are rarely presented caring for others, and they are typically represented as uninterested
in and incompetent at homemaking, cooking, and child care.
 • Women are depicted as dependent, ornamental objects whose primary functions are to look good,
please men, and stay quietly on the periphery of life.
• Media have created two images of women: good and bad ones
• Good women are pretty, deferential, and focused on home, family, and caring for others.

• They are usually cast as victims, angels, martyrs, and loyal wives and helpmates

• A woman may be strong and successful if and only if she also exemplifies traditional types of femininity
– subservience, beauty, and an identity.

• A woman may be strong and successful if and only if she also exemplifies traditional types of femininity
– subservience, beauty, and an identity linked to one or more women.

• Modern women’s magazines continue to emphasize how to look better, appeal to men, cook nice
meals, maintain relationships, and care for families

• The bad woman is the evil sister of the good homebody.

• Bitch, witch, whore, or nonwoman who is represented as hard, cold, aggressive – all of the good things
a woman is not supposed to be.

Women’s Dependence/Men’s Dependence

• The Little Mermaid vividly embodies females’ dependence on males for identity – giving up her identity
to become acceptable to her human lover.

• Lion King featured female lions that depended on a male lion to save them.

• Pocahontas was portrayed as a beautiful, sexy maiden, not the brave young Native American girl she
actually was.

Women’s Incompetence/Men’s Authority

• Sleeping Beauty’s resurrection depends on Prince Charming’s kiss, a theme that appears in the
increasingly popular gothic romance novels for adults.

• Women are routinely shown languishing over dirty floors and bathroom fixtures only to be relieved of
their distress when Mr. Clean shows up to tell them how to keep their homes clean.

• The very qualities women are encouraged to develop (beauty, sexiness, passivity, and powerlessness)
in order to meet cultural ideals of femininity contribute to their victimization.

• Also, the qualities that men are urged to exemplify (aggressiveness, dominance, sexuality, and
strength) identical to those linked to abuse of women.
• Portrayals of women as sex objects and men as sexual aggressors often occur in music videos as
shown on MTV