A Brief Analysis of Sexism in English Addressing

蒋萌萌

1.Causes of Sexism in English Addressing

With regard to the causes of sexism in English， It is believed that there are three pre-dominant factors attributing to that： religious psychology， social reason and cultural influence.

1.1 Religious psychology

In western culture， males are the in dominant place of the society whereas females are inferior， and its origin is rooted deeply in religion.According to the Holy Bible， woman was supposedly created from Adams rib.As Bible is the fountain of western culture， thus， man and woman are not equal at all because woman is only a part of man.Adam said about Eva， “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh； she shall be called ‘woman， for she was taken out of man”.

1.2 Social role and position

Male and female have begun division in labor since ancient times.At that time， men were assigned much more important tasks than women due to physiological characteristics and gradually male occupied the dominant position in social activities， then they noticed their superiority and began to discriminate against women.With all kinds of limits， women got fewer opportunities to have access to normal education as well as the possibilities to work.Therefore， it is no surprise that the educational terms such as fresh-man， underclassman， penmanship， bachelors degree and masters degree all mean specifically male.They have been used for such a long time that even after women are allowed to college， they are still in mainstream position.

1.3.Misleading from education

In western， Then later at school， teachers may even say that girls are not smart as boys and have a preference for boys.All these may hurt girls self-respect unintentionally， and gradually they may lack of creativity and are unwilling to try because they think themselves are not smart， which will do harm to female in future job.Literature may also be the cause of sexism.Apart from education from parents and teachers， children learn things from books， and if the books contains sexist language， no matter they read or others read to them， they will learn and use it quickly.

Then， mass media also have a great influence on peoples views about gender.As we know， mass media are open to public and have a large number of audiences， what played or shown in media will affect people directly.Such as the word “bitch”， which appears almost in every film， and it is hard to ensure whether children will learn it or not.

To sum up， cultural influence should be the key reason for sexist language， and it is also the main point for us to do some improvement to avoid sexism.

2.Suggested Ways to Reduce Sexism in Addressing Terms

Gender neutralization

The aim of the gender neutralization strategy is to obtain linguistic equality of the sexes by minimizing or discarding gender-marking expressions and constructions.As we know， most feminine terms are formed by adding marked suffixes of masculine ones， which is gender discrimination.To solve such problems， we can use neutral words or even create some new terms that are more capable of expressing womens ideas， feelings and values from womens perspectives rather than that of mens.

Avoiding gender stereotyping

At the same time， we shall avoid stereotyping traditional roles of men and women.Normally， it is stereotyped that men are strong， powerful and important while women are trivial and inferior.Therefore， to first readers， school texts and mass media， the gender stereotyping should by all means be avoided.Firstly， the manifestation of womens role should not be limited to the traditional fields such as cooking and children-raising， but be expanded to all fields where women are involved.Secondly， the independent identity and roles of women should be affirmed in a positive and active way.Women， compared with men， are gentle， more careful and when provided with chance， can do virtually everything that men can do.

Requirement for teachers

teachers， especially primary school teachers should be highly sensitive and alert in judging sexist attitude and connotation in English words and expressions.Only by doing this， teachers can instruct students how to identify and apply neutral English without sex discrimination， and they can give equal attention and care to both male and female students.