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The Gendering of Language: A Comparison of Gender Equality in Countries with Gendered, Natural Gender, and Genderless Languages

Abstract  

Feminists have long argued that sexist language can have real world consequences for gender relations and the relative status
of men and women, and recent research suggests that grammatical gender can shape how people interpret the world around them
along gender lines (Boroditsky 2009). Although others have theorized about the connection between grammatical gender in language and societal gender equality
(Stahlberg et al. 2007), the current work tests this link empirically by examining differences in gender equality between countries with gendered,
natural gender, and genderless language systems. Of the 111 countries investigated, our findings suggest that countries where
gendered languages are spoken evidence less gender equality compared to countries with other grammatical gender systems. Furthermore,
countries where natural gender languages are spoken demonstrate greater gender equality, which may be due to the ease of creating
gender symmetric revisions to instances of sexist language.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Category Original Article
  • Pages 1-14
  • DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5
  • Authors
    • Jennifer L. Prewitt-Freilino, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 02903, USA
    • T. Andrew Caswell, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
    • Emmi K. Laakso, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 02903, USA
    • Journal Sex Roles
    • Online ISSN 1573-2762
    • Print ISSN 0360-0025
Posted in: Journal Article Abstracts on 11/17/2011 | Link to this post on IFP |
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