Can the Grammatical Gender of a Language Determine Gender Equality?
Location
Golden Eagles
Department
Linguistics
Abstract
Although it may be impossible to definitively determine whether the grammatical gender of a country’s language system serves as a causal factor of gender equality, salient studies are examining gendered language, natural language, and genderless language systems as indicators of gender equality. Gendered languages--Semitic, Slavic, and Indo-Aryan--are characterized by their nouns, which are always assigned a feminine or masculine and sometimes neutral gender. Natural languages--English and Scandinavian-- distinguish gender through pronouns (she/he). Most nouns have no grammatical marking of gender. Genderless languages are characterized by their language system. In Finnish, for example, hän refers to both he and she, and so has no gender. Genderless languages generally belong to the Uralic, Turkic, Iranian, Sinitic, and Bantu language families and only have one pronoun. Linguistic data show there are no languages that do not distinguish between genders at all, and it is that gendering of language that can shape how people interpret the world around them along gender lines. Linguists have discovered that the grammatical gender of a term for an inanimate object can influence people’s perceptions of the masculine or feminine characteristics of that object, and this cannot be due solely to the properties of the object. Empirical evidence linking a country’s grammatical language to gendered perceptions of its people is providing linguists, anthropologists, and other behavioral social scientists with proof that these gendered perceptions can impact societal and individual judgments, decisions, and behavior toward gender equality. The research objective presented in this paper is to illustrate how grammatical language systems affect gender equality, human development, life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living and may help explain why countries differ in gender equality. These data are vital contributors to organizations such as the World Economic Forum that monitors the Global Gender Gap Index and the United Nations Human Development Index that is a continuous measure of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy, and creative lives. My analyses of this research led me to the conclusion that gender equality is not a unitary construct and that although grammatical language systems may contribute to gender equality or inequality, it may not be enough to effect greater gender equality.
Faculty Sponsor
Richard Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University
Can the Grammatical Gender of a Language Determine Gender Equality?
Golden Eagles
Although it may be impossible to definitively determine whether the grammatical gender of a country’s language system serves as a causal factor of gender equality, salient studies are examining gendered language, natural language, and genderless language systems as indicators of gender equality. Gendered languages--Semitic, Slavic, and Indo-Aryan--are characterized by their nouns, which are always assigned a feminine or masculine and sometimes neutral gender. Natural languages--English and Scandinavian-- distinguish gender through pronouns (she/he). Most nouns have no grammatical marking of gender. Genderless languages are characterized by their language system. In Finnish, for example, hän refers to both he and she, and so has no gender. Genderless languages generally belong to the Uralic, Turkic, Iranian, Sinitic, and Bantu language families and only have one pronoun. Linguistic data show there are no languages that do not distinguish between genders at all, and it is that gendering of language that can shape how people interpret the world around them along gender lines. Linguists have discovered that the grammatical gender of a term for an inanimate object can influence people’s perceptions of the masculine or feminine characteristics of that object, and this cannot be due solely to the properties of the object. Empirical evidence linking a country’s grammatical language to gendered perceptions of its people is providing linguists, anthropologists, and other behavioral social scientists with proof that these gendered perceptions can impact societal and individual judgments, decisions, and behavior toward gender equality. The research objective presented in this paper is to illustrate how grammatical language systems affect gender equality, human development, life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living and may help explain why countries differ in gender equality. These data are vital contributors to organizations such as the World Economic Forum that monitors the Global Gender Gap Index and the United Nations Human Development Index that is a continuous measure of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy, and creative lives. My analyses of this research led me to the conclusion that gender equality is not a unitary construct and that although grammatical language systems may contribute to gender equality or inequality, it may not be enough to effect greater gender equality.