18. Participation in Electronic Discourse in a "Feminist" Field

Oh gosh, I think this was my favorite article all semester. As soon as I read "men's literature" my mouth dropped open and I felt that rush of anger and disbelief run through me. Although, I really shouldn't have been that surprised. "Men's literature" is what the literary canon is already comprised of, men are the ones who determine what is considered classic literature, thus creating a gender dominated discourse that continues to silence the female perspective in most genres of art, most fields for that matter. I encounter this frequently in the English department, not from my professors, per se, but from the literature they require me to read. When having to take a medieval, ancient, or modern literature course, more often than not, the majority of the stories or poems we read are written by men, white, upper class men at that.

And of course, if someone is going to propose such a course, they must be ready for the resistance they will receive, especially in academia. Everyone involved in that particular discourse has a opinion, regardless of gender, and should have every opportunity to share it without fear of retaliation or disapproval at the absurdity of their proclamation, and come to a viable solution where the views of both parties should be respected and addressed.

17. 'I Totally Agree With You': Gender Interactions in Educational Online Discussion Groups

I have found, especially in this class, that I use "I" more when I am on the discussion boards (or even in this sentence). This prevalence is partly due to the fact that most of the class members are of my same gender, as reflected in the article. I have taken other online classes and have come to points of contention with other male members by there lack of respect when countering an argument or statement I have made. In one such instance in an online research class at Fresno City College, a male classmate criticized my rationale that I had trouble finding credible resources on the web. He highlighted my statement in his response to my post and stated that he found it hard to believe that I had made any real effort to look for sources. I took offense to his accusation and replied that I stood behind my comment and if he was so sure of my findings then he could look for himself. He replied to my comment that maybe I should start taking "meds" to control my anger. My initial response was not more anger, but a resolve that maybe he was right. I ended up apologizing for my initial response. I think this exemplifies the point the article is making about the dominant group having control of the nature of language used. It was obvious that this class was predominantly male by the class roster and indicated by this man's use of abrasive language to prove his point and one down his adversary, me. Since then I have learned to defend myself and not back down in an online setting regardless of male or female group dominance. As an analytical essay writer, I have used this technique to argue my point in spite of the fact that my words as a women will be attacked more because of the predominance of males in most literary canons. I think I fit into these findings, unfortunately, but believe that with more awareness, I can express myself in a balanced way, regardless of gender dominance.

20. Stale Roles and Tight Buns

Sometimes I forget that men can be portrayed in a sexist image. Maybe it's because so much focus is put on the images of women being sexist that the male predicament gets overlooked. What I found most curious about this video was the way OASIS presented the ads. The emphasis on the cowboy image reminds me of my grandfather. I remember seeing these ads, seeing him smoke, and thinking that he is just like those men on TV and in magazines. Ironically enough, the infamous Marlboro Man died from lung cancer. What I can conclude is that misogyny does not only pertain to women, but men as well. Women also have expectations of men that they see in ads, but is not a direct representation of all men.

16. Gendered Voices in Children's Television Advertising

It seems that the sexism in advertising doesn't begin at the adult level. From this article I ascertained that the techniques to focus advertising towards a specific gender also include age. As a child I never noticed the gender biased language that was more than likely extremely prevalent in my youth. However, as I continued reading I started to think about ethnicity and the lack of analysis in this area in regard to commercials. Growing up multi-ethnic, I already had an identity crisis occurring. I lived with my white mother, but looked like my Mexican father I only saw on the weekends. Like most children that come from a mixed race family, the need to identify with one parent is overwhelming. In my case, I wanted to look like my mother because that was who was most popular on television. As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent a lot of time in front of the television. Not only was I subjected to gender bias in advertising, but I was overcome with a need to be like the majority of women I saw in commercials and programming, an ethnic bias, if you will. This need to identify with the images that surrounded me was also a form of social acceptance. If I looked and acted like these women then I too would have the protective white man to defend me from the evils of the world, or at least a bald man with an earring that could make my linoleum floor sparkle.

15. Gender Issues in Advertising Language

My formative years were in the 1980's. I imagine this to be the time when the benefits of the feminist movement were being felt by society. I also spent a lot of time in front of the television while my mom worked. This seems like a double edged sword after reading this article. One benefit of the feminist movement was that many more women were encouraged to enter the job market and seek professional careers. One disadvantage, for me, was that since my mom was working more, I was left alone in front of the television. As sexist ads infiltrated my living room, I did not have the guidance to discern the derogatory language and images that determined my identity as a young girl. I believe that the conscious effort of advertisers to use gender-neutral language is pertinent to the development of positive self-esteem, whether for females or males.

14. The Epicene Pronoun: The Word That Failed

I think it is a lame excuse to prefer the sentence, "Everyone loves his mother," over "Everyone loves their mother," just because one is too lazy to say, "Everyone loves his or her mother." Because isn't that what it comes down to, laziness? Like any concept, language is meant to evolve to adjust to the changing cultural climate, not remain stagnate to appease the grammatical politics of a sexist society. So, the argument that using "his or her" is "ugly and cumbersome," has nothing to do with rules of number agreement, but based on the fluidity, or lack thereof, when spoken out loud. Really? That's all you got? Even today, the usage of non-gendered words like "chairperson" or "police officer" are said by some as a form of political correctness, a humoring of those who prefer these terms, instead of a concentrated effort to create equality in language.

13. Beyond the "He/Man" Approach: The Case for Nonsexist Language

As a writer and an English major, language is the medium I choose to express and identify myself. In essay writing I have learned to use "one" when referring to the reader i.e., "one would assume when reading this..." instead of a gender specific term. What I find just completely silly is the opposition to changing the apparent sexism in language, even in our civilized society. Isn't it obvious that by bombarding children with only one gendered option to identify with in literature or school curriculum, specifically "he/man," that this creates an exclusion of female identification? I don't know, maybe I'm one of those man-hating feminists who believes in equality only for women, that men should suffer the consequences of their world dominated oppression, or maybe I am a peace-loving-equality-for-all-people-lover who has hope for the whole world. Or, maybe I'm a little bit of both.

11. This New Species That Seeks a New Language: On Sexism in Language and Language Change

I remember being a teenager in the late eighties and early nineties when my mom embraced her feminist perspectives and taught me that I could accomplish anything I wanted. She explained the importance of using "chairperson" instead of "chairman," or "spokesperson" instead of "spokesman." I didn't see the true value in this lesson at the time, but as I became older, transitioning from junior high to high school, the differences in language became more apparent to me. I made a habit of using a gender neutral terms in place of a sexist one and stood behind my reasoning even when it wasn't a popular idea in my middle class conservative school. From these experiences I became more aware of myself as a contributing member to the feminist movement by standing up to the norm. I believe by continuing to participate in the subjugation of women through language, society is doing a disservice to generations of women to come.

10. Women's Place in Everyday Talk: Reflections on Parent - Child Interaction

I don't think I fully understood this article. Nothing in it made sense to me. I went to the discussion board on BB to see what I was missing and I still couldn't figure it out. What I am trying to understand is that men treat women as women treat children in conversation? If this is the case then it seems to relate to the previous article in Coates about compliments and how women appreciate compliments because "they serve as encouragement to continue with the approved behaviour." (107) In that regard it appears that even in conversation, women are subjugated to being the weakest link in any verbal encounter with men and children. Whereas men have control over the conversation through interruption, children do this when they seek attention, most likely from the female parent, by continued interruption until they have been acknowledged. In essence, it seems to me that women have the short end of the stick in most conversational arenas. We have to work that much harder in being heard and taken seriously.

9. Complimenting - A Positive Politeness Strategy

Most intriguing about this article was the idea that "compliments addressed to women have the same function as praise given to children," (107) because this insinuates that a woman's self-esteem is based on the approval of all others. This couldn't be more farther from the truth in my life. What I have found in female to female complimentary situations is more of a feeling of mistrust. If a woman I have just me offers me a compliment on a trivial item such as clothing, then my first inclination is to believe that she is trying to manipulate my feelings toward her. To me, it seems like a form of flattery meant to put the speaker in a one-up position, not an honest portrayal of how the speaker feels about my attire. Although the article has much supportive data, this does not hold true in my experience.

19. Language, Gender, and Garden State

Oh, Garden State. This is one of my favorite movies. I do not purchase many DVD's, but this movie is a treasure in my small collection.

What I like most about this scene is that Sam (Natalie Portman) initiates the conversation with Andrew (Zach Braff) and it doesn't seem to deter her that he gives minimal responses. Part of it may be her outgoing personality, that she may not realize that he is not interested in starting a conversation, but I think that his character is more concerned about why he is in the office. She keeps trying even though he doesn't seem to be interested. But, her willingness pays off when he listens to her headphones and they share a prolonged eye contact that can only be labeled as flirting. When he thinks there may be a mutual interest, the conversation progresses. Male/female communication drives me crazy.

8. Interaction: The Work Women Do

"Talk seems less problematic for men, who exert control over when and how it will occur."

I couldn't agree with this more. My roommate, John, who I mentioned in my previous post, is a prime example of men who control conversations. Whenever John has a story he wants to tell, he expects mine and Tina's complete attention. If Tina and I deviate from the topic and make a joke about something he said or interrupt his flow, he gets hurt and, like a child, stops talking and refuses to continue. We have to beg him to finish and apologize for interrupting. Sometimes he keeps telling his story and other times he will walk away, punishing us for not giving him our undivided attention.

However, when I begin to tell him a story he acts uninterested and never makes eye contact with me. His attention is focused on the TV or the computer. At times, he will interrupt me to ask Tina something or even ask me a question not relating to the topic. I know he sounds like an a**hole, but some speakers are not good listeners and vice versa.

7. Performing Gender Identity: Young Men's Talk and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity

I was sitting at the dinner table with my roommates, Tina and John, when Tina and I began discussing a woman we both know. Our conversation centered around how she had told her husband that she was pregnant, but how we knew that he was not the father. Tina and I began to analyze the ramifications of her decision to lie to her husband about the paternity of their child, and questioned her integrity as a wife and a friend. John looked at us, rolled his eyes, and asked why we cared so much.

The next night, John's friend Ray came over for dinner. As we all sat at the same dinner table, John asked Ray if he had talked to Brian, another friend of theirs. Ray said that he had and that Brian and his wife were getting divorced and how the wife was already seeing someone else. John was quick to judge her by calling her a whore and called his friend a pussy for letting that happen. Just as Tina and I had passed judgment on our friend about her decisions, John was just as eager to do the same thing.

What I find most interesting about this situation and the conversation recorded in this weeks chapter, is that men don't think that they are susceptible to "gossip." They don't think that their analysis of situations, their deconstruction of human behavior is like that of women. In reality, I have met many men who are just as eager to divulge information as some women. Men can think they are different than women in that regard, but I know better, I've heard it with my own ears.

6. Sex Differences in Parent-Child Interaction

My memories of childhood are still repressed (I'm working on it...) and I don't have children, so this article was a bit difficult to relate to. However, I started to think about my best friend and how she and her husband interact with their children. My friend, Cindy, and her daughter, Carmen (age 11), have a very open and honest relationship. There are no secrets and Carmen feels she can tell her mother anything. The same can be said for Cindy and her son, Gabriel (age 7), but I don't know exactly what he feels he has to share with his mother other than that he has a lot of girlfriends (Insomuch that he had to change schools because his girlfriend at the time wouldn't let him break up with her and had another boy threaten Gabriel. He asked to change schools). Their father, Tony, is a quiet man in general and he is not the one either of his children come to with a problem. He is involved in their lives, but communication comes mostly from Cindy. Like in the article, the fathers take a more submissive role when it comes to personal communication and seem to be in control of the structure of punishment and rules. The mothers seem to be the primary form of communication for all members of the family.

5. "Kings Are Royaler Than Queens": Language and Socialization

In our article questions, Professor Burke asked us if we agreed with Amy Sheldon and her thesis statement that the English language "reflects sexist, male-centered attitudes that perpetuate the trivialization, marginalization, and invisibility of female experience." At first, I did not completely agree with this statement because I saw more evidence of this in other languages like Spanish and French, but after contemplating the exact nature of her argument, I have to agree with Sheldon.
Unlike French and Spanish, where the marginalization is apparent in the differentiated endings of some words to coincide with the properties of masculinity and femininity, the English language has us believe that there is no gender value placed on certain words. But, just as Sheldon's daughters example shows, the dominance of masculinity in language overshadows the potential power of femininity.

4. A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication

Growing up as a girl can be hard unless you have communication tools that help you to decipher the complex code of "girl talk." If you do not have these tools, then a social connection can seem almost impossible. The article states that "friendship is seen by girls as involving intimacy, equality, mutual commitment, and loyalty," (424) and that the boys seem to be missing out on this. In my experience, the trials and tribulations of social acceptance by girls in high school was an intimidating time because I did not understand the hierarchy of power that determined your ranking in the social structure of friendships. My lack of knowledge kept me on the outside of peer groups. I only formed one friendship based on any of the characteristics in the article, and we are still friends after nineteen years.

As an adult who has figured out the specific elements within female relationships, I can still see the same structures of high school in my current circle of friends. Although now grown women, the desire to maintain the tight bond is still there. What also remains is the ability to disband when there is conflict by removing contact from the slanderous friend who threatens the solidarity of a group of women. Some things never change.

3. "Women's Language" or "Powerless Language"?

The fact that the title even questions the more appropriate use of this term is ridiculous. One shouldn't even have to read the article to determine the many levels on which this question is wrong, but in my experience, I know that many people wouldn't question the validity of either title. It almost seems that "women" and "powerless" go hand in hand in many societies. However, this article proved that women's language is much the same as men's language in the courtroom. Whether based on nervousness or expertise, the way in which people are interrogated is not influenced by gender.

2. Gender and Sociolinguistic Variation

What I found most interesting in this chapter was the role that the burnout girl plays in society. The fact that she has more to lose in terms of power and status is what motivates her to use standard language in a more conservative way. The burnout girl is at the bottom of the sociolinguistic hierarchy. She has to prove herself in more ways than the jock girl, whose economic status already puts her at an advantage over the burnout girl because of her access to education and the probability of parents who encourage or demand excellence in academia.

I can relate to this.

There was little expectation of me by high school "guidance" counselors. Like the burnout girl, I had to learn to play by their rules in order to get them to notice me as a serious student, as a contributing member of society; I learned to read, write, and speak the in the dominant discourse. I am at a point in my life where I can float between economic classes through language variation. I do not have the power of race or gender to elevate my class status, but I have the power of written and verbal language to lay my claim.

1. Yanyuwa: 'Men speak one way, women speak another'

In American culture, power is applied to masculine speech and vernacular. There is a hierarchy of power that deems the language of men more influential. In Yanyuwa culture the same power is placed on the male language because men are ridiculed for using the womans language even though that was his first language. However, there seems to be a mutual acceptance of the differences in the way that women speak and the way that men speak. They don't question why it is and neither gender seems to care, "'It's just the way it is, no other reason."' (19)