Gender Roles in Language

I definitely think that gender structures do play a role in language.  I think this is because males feel obligated to exert their masculinity.  By talking they reaffirm their status of power in many situations.  This is why men will talk more in situations where they are able to improve their social status whether that be power or superior intellect.  Janet Holmes reaffirms this idea in the article, “Women Talk Too Much” featured in our English textbook Exploring Language.  She mentions both research in the classroom and in board rooms by Americans, Brittains, and New Zealand researchers that demonstrate how males dominant discussion in these situations.  She also raised the point on how females have been shown to talk more in situations that build or preserve relationships.  This correlated with this idea of masculinity.  These are times where a male would not be showing his power or status rather possibly showing vulnerability and sensitivity.  These are two things that are not stereotypically associated with the denotative meaning of masculinity.  Stereotypes reinforce these images of how a male should look or act along with females.  We will often see this information in advertisements.  Look at the models in a swimsuit or underwear advertisement.  These are often models that one would associate with good looking.  The men are portrayed as muscular in dominant positions.  Whereas woman are well toned but not overly muscular, slender, and in submissive positions.  These same stereotypes occur in language when describing men versus women.  The adjectives used reinforce these ideas for example one novel writes, “a man says firmly”.  These are some of the many ways I see gender structures playing roles in language.