In this research project, Professor Karen Douglas and Professor Robbie Sutton examine the reasons why men are reluctant to adopt non-sexist language. They examine men’s reluctance through the lens of Social Dominance Orientation and System Justification tendencies. Their findings are important for understanding men’s resistance to gender equality movements including linguistic changes, and potentially beyond. Conversely, the shed light on cultural dynamics of language change and concerns about so-called ‘political correctness’ which extend beyond gender to other issues including race and sexual identity.
More about Professor Karen Douglas
More about Professor Robbie Sutton
About
In recent years, several initiatives have been implemented to reduce gender stereotyping and discrimination. One such initiative is the use of gender-fair language (GFL). GFL is implemented either through neutralisation (police officer instead of policeman) or through ‘feminisation’ (i.e. the applicant… he or she instead of the applicant…he) of language (Sczensy, Formanowicz & Moser, 2016).
However, despite these initiatives, sexist language continues to be used across several languages and outlets (e.g., media, academic writing). This seems to be especially true for men: women prefer non-sexist language while men are more likely to use sexist language.
Research (Parks & Roberton, 2004) suggests that one reason this may be is that “men hold more traditional values towards women and so the use of non-sexist alternatives may potentially violate cultural sex role expectations” (Douglas & Sutton, 2014, p.5).
Programme and methodology
• 149 UK participants completed questionnaire measures:
• Ambivalent sexism inventory
• Attitudes toward women (e.g. item “Women should worry less about their rights and more about becoming good wives and mothers” )
• SDO (e.g., Some groups are simply inferior to other groups )
• Gender-specific system justification (e.g., “In general, relations between men and women are fair”)
• Inventory of attitudes toward sexist/nonsexist language-general (e.g. “Worrying about sexist language is a trivial activity”
Key findings
• Men were significantly less likely to support gender- inclusive language than women
• The gender difference in attitudes toward sexist language was explained by system-justifying ideologies.
• SDO also explained the gender differences in attitudes towards women
Impact
Offers new and important insight in understanding gender discrimination:
• Gender difference in attitudes towards sexist language may not only be rooted in sexism but also in people’s ideologies (that keep people “in their place”)
• GFL challenges conventional sex-role expectations (e.g., policeman vs police officer)
• Sexist language serves to maintain the status quo and keep women in traditional sex roles.
Important implications for media and organisations:
• Sexist language is common in popular media (e.g., advertisements)[Symbol] exposure to sexist language may affect women’s self-esteem
Important implications for educators:
• Sexist language can be psychologically threatening and can enhance stereotypes associated with women’s academic performance
• Sexist language may affect women’s performance in stereotypically ‘male-dominated’ subjects- e.g., mathematics
Important implications for social and legal policies:
• Equality campaigns and legal policies should consider the implementation of GFL in media and outside
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Definitions:
What are SDO and SJT?
• Social Dominance Orientation: A general preference for hierarchical, as opposed to equal, relations between groups (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). • System Justification Theory: People’s dependence on social systems for wealth and security that motivates them to justify those social systems and see them as essentially fair and functional.
So what do SDO & SJT have to do with GFL?
SDO: The researchers argue that because SDO reflects a preference for existing social hierarchies, it could be associated with attitudes toward sexist language, which serve to perpetuate the hierarchical social relationship between women and men.
SJT: The researchers propose that because system justification reflects the perception that existing social systems are fair, it could be associated with attitudes toward sexist language (which, as theorists argue, serve to uphold a social system where men dominate).