Sexism is engrained in the language people speak all over the world. English, one of the most popular languages in the world is no exception. The phenomenon of sexism is not only a linguistic one, but basically, a social issue that is far more notice-worthy than the public would have thought. Demonstrations of Sexism in English are too numerous to be totally covered. This paper illustrates demonstrations from the viewpoints of word-structure, word choosing, sentence structure, sentence pattern, meaning and speech, just to name the most common ones. Then it takes an insight into the causes of sexism in English— the historical, cultural, political, economical, educational, physiological and psychological reasons. History needs reforms to keep marching forward, so does the language. It is only when all these dregs are cleared, can the whole human society to be crowned civilized and the language of English, accurate and elegant.
Contents
中文摘要………………………………………………………………………...i
Abstract………………………………………………………………………….ii
I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………...1
II. Demonstrations of Sexism in English………………………………………..2
A. Sexism in Word-Structure and Word Choosing………………………...2
B. Sexism in Sentence Structure and Sentence Pattern……………………3
C. Sexism in Meaning……………………………………………………...3
D. Sexism in Speech……………………………………………………….5
III. An Insight to the Causes of Sexism in English……………………………...7
A. Historical and Cultural Reasons………………………………………...7
1. Biases against Women in the Bible and Greek mythologies…………...7
2. Some So-Called Scientific Evidences of the Sexual Disparity Theory..8
B. Political and Economical Reasons……………………………………...9
1. Terms in American Constitution……………………………………….9
2. Lack of Equal Political Rights as Men……………………………….10
3. Work Distribution in Society………………………………………….11
C. Educational Reasons…………………………………………………..12
1. Limited Education Women Used to Receive…………………………12
2. Influence of the Literary Works in the Past…………………………..13
D. Physiological and Psychological Reasons…………………………….14
1. Women’s Physical Weakness to Men…………………………………14
2. Some Women’s Self-Indulgence to Be Subordinate………………….15
IV. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….16
Notes…………………………………………………………………………...17
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………...19