Identifying Gender Associations and Stereotypes in American English: The Function and Effects of Adjectives Co-Occurring with Gender-Specific Nouns

Författare

Mia Masso

Summary, in English

This essay analyzes frequently used adjectives co-occurring with general gender-specific nouns and investigates the sociolinguistic effects that the semantic associations and gender-stereotypical descriptions in sentences have on English speakers. A mixed-methods approach was conducted, with one corpus-based, and one empirical methodology used. Previous researchers have studied gender stereotypes’ presence through semantic groupings based on corpora, and in contexts ranging from newspapers and media to textbooks and novels. However, there is a gap in the incorporation of effects on speakers, particularly their preferences for noun- and adjective co-occurrences. This study aimed to provide complementary findings on the relation between language, gender associations and stereotypes, and sociolinguistic speaker attitudes and effects. Results showed that most descriptions are gender-stereotypical, and more frequent for either male- or female-specific nouns. Speakers were seen to mostly concur with the structures, with exceptions related to syntax and wishful sentence constructions. Participants based answers on more practiced behavior, as well as assumptions about males and females communicated through media. The findings indicate that stereotypical language exists in society and affects speakers’ preferences, affectively leading individuals to use their language accordingly, and carry gender assumptions.

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