Language and Gender

In English Language, there may be variances in the way in which people use lexis or their lexical due to them being male or female. 

Gender Theories;

Robin Lakoff -  in 1975, Lakoff published a book called 'Language and Women's place'.
Her theory consisted of;


1) Men interrupt women more than vice versa. 
2) Women are more communicative than men. 
3) Men do not give verbal recognition of the contributions in the 
conversation made by women. 
4) Men curse more than women. 
5) Women gossip more than men. 
6) Women talk more with one another than men do. 
7) Men speak more comfortably in public than women.
source: http://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/classes/sum07/myths/myths4-gender.pdf

Deborah Tannen - This theorist came up with the difference theory which specifies the different language aspects that women use compared to men.
For Example;

Status v. support

Tannen states that, for men, the world is a competitive place in which conversation and speech are used to build status, whereas for women the world is a network of connections, and that they use language to seek and offer support. 

Advice v. understanding

Women seek comfort and sympathy for their problems, whilst men will seek a solution to the problem.

Information v. feelings

Tannen states that men's conversation is message-oriented, based upon communicating information. For women, conversation is much more important for building relationships and strengthening social links.

Orders v. proposals

Men will use direct imperatives ("close the door", "switch on the light") when speaking to others. Women encourage the use of superpolite forms, however ("let's", "would you mind if ...?").

Conflict v. compromise

Tannen asserts that most women avoid conflict in language at all costs, and instead attempt to resolve disagreements without any direct confrontation, so as to maintain positive connection and rapport. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to use confrontation as a way of resolving differences and thereby negotiating status. 

Independence v. intimacy

Difference theory asserts that in general men favour independence, while women are more likely to seek intimacy. Tannen demonstrates this with the example of a husband making a decision without consulting his wife.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_theory


Peter Trudghill theory;

This theory contained the differences in social class and claimed that women would often use discourse to show that they were in a higher social class. The men would use low prestige and use basic pronunciation.
He also said that women tended to use more 'empty' adjectives than men.