What is gender? Gender stereotypes
The concept of “gender” in relation to the historical framework has appeared quite recently, however, it already has many definitions, points of view and a rich background.
It should be noted that the concepts of "sex" and "gender", which at first glance seem similar, are in fact not identical. Modern sociology and psychology distinguishes these two concepts.
Biological gender - these are the main physiological differences between men and women, including the sex organs, hormones, secondary sexual characteristics (pronounced visible physical features) and chromosomes, which determine all these characteristics [1;p.45]. Psychologists and sociologists argue that the concepts of “man” and “woman” or “hermaphrodite” (combines male and female sex characteristics) are categorized as “gender of a person”.
With the concept of "gender" the situation is more complicated. The concept of “gender” is differently represented by different scientists depending on the goals of the research and their concepts. In essence, gender is a “social gender”, a characteristic that is socio-biological, the result of a person’s interaction with other people in society and the introduction to culture. This is a result of human socialization in accordance with its gender.
Following O. A. Voronina, the term gender is understood by us as "a set of social and cultural norms that society requires people to fulfill depending on their biological sex" [2; p.21]. "Gender" as a term differs from the word "gender" in that it is not about biological, but about socially expected features [Goddard, Patterson 2000: 24]. Today, the term gender has taken its place in the linguistic paradigm: the analysis of language structures provides information about the role of gender in a particular culture, how the tendering affects the assimilation of the language, with which fragments and thematic areas of the linguistic picture of the worlds it is connected, etc.
Specific gender contains certain standards, namely gender roles. Gender roles are one of the types of social roles, a set of expected patterns of behavior (or norms) for men and women . It can be said that gender roles determine a person’s worldview, character, habits, and even style of dressing.
The gender system is supported by norms that are a kind of framework for men and women. There are various approaches to the education of boys and girls, which show the "correct" model of behavior in society in accordance with gender. If someone doesn’t comply with these norms, they put labels on him that hurt the person’s self-esteem [3; p.15].
|
|
|
“Gender” as a scientific term appeared in the early 1970s. At the congress of psychoanalysts in Stockholm, a Scientist from the United States R. Stoller first mentioned such a phenomenon as social gender, or, in other words, gender identity [4; p.148]. This was the beginning of gender identification and gender socialization. It can be said that sex makes a man a man or a woman from birth, and gender in the process of socialization makes it manly or feminine. Thus, R. Stoller singled out the socio-cultural characteristics of men and women. The research of the American scientist gave an impetus to the emergence of the following question: is the influence of culture so strong that it is able to prevail over nature?
We learn about gender and its norms through education of parents and teachers, communication with peers, mass media, fiction and cinema. This process can be called gender, or gender role, socialization. Gender socialization is a process of social construction, during which a person learns about the concepts of "male", "female", behaviors and norms that correspond to each of the concepts.
After the concept of "gender" entered the scientific circle of research, it became increasingly discussed in other areas of human life and has already taken a strong place in everyday life. At the moment, there are a large number of books and articles on gender sociology and psychology, stereotypes, because it is relevant not only separately to men or women, but to the whole society. Gender also has a huge place in media Linguistics.
Gender stereotypes are a construct, templates in the mass consciousness of people, which, in fact, determine social norms. A.V. Merenkov writes: "These are stable programs of perception, goal-setting, and human behavior, depending on the norms and rules of life of representatives of a certain sex adopted in this culture" [10; p.30].
Thus, gender stereotypes contain generalized, simplified and emotionally colored ideas about "ideal" men and women, which include various norms and rules of behavior, divided by gender. They serve as schemes by which we process and remember the information received relating to sex and gender. Gender stereotypes are in the subconscious and influence human self-identification and interpersonal communication. In a separate society and culture stereotypes have their own specifics.
|
|
|
It is believed that gender stereotypes help to improve and regulate relationships in groups, but at the same time prevent the formation of individuality. When a man or woman does not meet the generally accepted standards, he/she experiences social pressure and, accordingly, stress, which can lead to mental disorders of the personality [11; p.206].
Gender stereotypes are formed from a combination of personal experience and information obtained from external sources. The media is one of the main sources of dissemination and strengthening of gender stereotypes, as they form the public consciousness. Modern mass media are able to show very brightly and rather simplistically gender features of the person.
Media linguistics
The modern trend of integrated study of language in its numerous relationships and functions have established a number of interdisciplinary scientific fields (sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, cultural linguistics, ethnolinguistics, ethnopsycholinguistics, jurilinguistic, etc.), among which we can mention media linguistic. The purpose of this new discipline is a comprehensive study of the functioning of the language in the field of mass communication.
The basic concepts of media linguistics are media text and media discourse. Media text is a type of text that belongs to the mass media; it is a sequence of signs of various semiotic systems - language, graphic, sound, visual, the specifics of the combination of which is due to a specific media channel (print, radio, TV or the Internet); it is aimed at a mass audience.
Media discourse is a complex communicative phenomenon aimed at forming public opinion, including: text as a verbalized result of speech activity; extralinguistic factors associated with the peculiarities of creating a media message, its recipient, feedback, coding and decoding, as well as socio-historical and political-ideological context; special language tools that meet the goals and objectives of communication.
|
|
|
The concept of "journal" has undergone some changes over time. In modern studies on the typology of the media, the journal is understood as a periodical printed edition with sheets fastened in the spine, which has its purpose as an operational and relevant reflection of the socio-political, socio-economic and cultural development of society, contains materials of various types and genres, United by a constant thematic rubrication, and is designed to meet the diverse interests of readers.
Let's consider the term "glossy magazine", which characterizes the type of publications in question. Glossy magazines in a professional environment are considered to be thick monthly publications, exceeding the volume of weekly magazines. Such publications are printed on thick paper and have a glossy cover. On the one hand, the word “glossy” describes the printing features of the publication, and on the other hand, in the professional environment, it is common to refer to “glossy” publications a certain type of magazines by the nature of their content. As a rule, these publications perform recreative and leisure functions. The vector of interests of this type of publications is not aimed at promptly covering news in the city, country or world. As Brian Braithwaite, a journalist, creator of Harper’s and Queen, Cosmopolitan and Country living, notes: “We don’t turn to the press for the latest news, and the tabloids were the first to understand this, having carried out a real invasion of the topics that previously belonged to magazines - in the fashion, sports, health and beauty themes”. [12; p.155]
Thus, the term “glossy”, which initially designated only the external features of the publication, can now be used as a constant of the content and orientation of the publication. Following Romakh O.V. and Sleptsov A.A. a glossy magazine is “a magazine that is designed for a specific readership and whose main goal is to form a certain lifestyle for the reader and help achieve success by highlighting various aspects of activities in modern urban life, focusing on beauty and gender communication.”
|
|
|
In addition, glossy publications, as noted by Gudova M.U., tend to reflect the "successful" reality: "The magazine does not provide such a full artistic reconstruction of everyday life, like a novel, but surpasses the newspaper in integrity and synthetic vision. As a result, a special chronotope with distinctive features appears on the pages of the magazine. The boundaries of the artistic and journalistic blurred in the principles of the re-creation of reality in gloss. Gloss creates tinsel images of the eternal and prosperous world of successful people and accomplished projects outside of geographical and administrative borders and barriers ... ”.
It should be noted that the content of glossy magazines does not embellish reality, but consists only of its part, which is considered to be successful, beautiful and bright. Also, we allow ourselves to note that most glossy publications turn to cultural life in its many manifestations: pure politics, as well as crime, incidents and investigations in lifestyle publications, are practically absent.
Let's turn to the classification of publications about lifestyle. First of all, it is worth noting that their typology is formed from various factors: the age of the target audience, the specialization of the publication, the readers' belonging to the male or female sex. Thus, Buryakovskaya V.A. identifies "wide" and "narrow" magazines on the basis of audience coverage. [23; pp.2-4]. In our opinion, the following typology should be considered as the most accurate:
· Magazines of general interest (Kinfolk, Monocle, Wallpaper, Andy Warhol’s Interview and others);
· City magazines (New Yorker, Sobak.ru, Big City, Afisha, Time Out and others);
· Trade brand magazines, consumer lifestyle press (Acne paper, Carhartt WIP);
· Youth publications (Bravo, Dazed & Confused, Meow Magazine and others);
· Specialized magazines (music publications) (Rolling Stone, Mojo, Wire);
· Fashion magazines (Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Fantastic man, Port magazine);
· Photo magazines (Foam, Meow Magazine, ID, Of The Afternoon);
· Art magazines (Elephant, The Art Newspaper Russia, Printed Pages);
· Architecture and design publications (Abitare, Frame, Mark, The World of Interiors);
· Sports magazines (ProSport, Sepp), travel magazines (Cereal magazine, Oak, Flaneur);
· Subcultural style press Life (MC1R, The Journal, The Gentlewoman, Bunker, Rime magazine);
· Gender specific editions for men and women (GQ, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Maxim, Men's Health).
Glossy magazine is characterized by high printing quality, a high degree of creolization (that is, there is a close relationship between verbal and non-verbal text), availability to the mass reader; thematic dominant here is a lifestyle (lifestyle) and the promotion of the philosophy of glamour, a significant place on the pages is advertising. The concept of "glossy magazine" and "glamour magazine" are synonymous. The results of globalization processes have led to the emergence of the modern British market periodicals gender-oriented (designed for men or women) magazines. The popularity of men's and women's magazines shows that they have taken a stable position in the market and formed their readership.
Modern research of gender-oriented glossy magazines is carried out within the framework of such scientific disciplines as sociology, psychology, Philology, etc.
Gender and Media
Media plays a large role in creating social norms, because various forms of media, including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost everywhere in current culture. Gender roles, as an example, exist solely because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are perpetuated by the media. Conspicuous viewers must be aware of what the media is presenting to them, and make sure they’re not actively participating in a culture of oppression.
Gender roles are very significant to an individual as they determine whether someone is male or female and therefore it can be said to be the attitudes and behaviors that a particular society expects from an individual or member of that society. The gender roles within different communities may vary depending on the expectations that a particular society expects of its individuals.
Television for a long time has been a tool in promoting the stereotypes of gender roles and tends to show them as being natural. The television industry is usually male dominated therefore most of what is produced tends to take a male perspective therefore bringing about male gaze. Through such productions girls get to learn that this is a man’s world and hence they get to change their personalities. ‘It is a very powerful and highly influential means to make and communicate gender equality and gender culture of society are mass media technologies which have become an essential part of individual daily lives and culture in the world over’ [13 ; p.93]. The mass media are able to genuinely make legal gender ideas and philosophy shaped by gender politics and beliefs, and to increase the likelihood or chance of their reception by the general audiences.
The mass informs and also gives great pleasure and full entertainment. It is a dominant influence in distinguishing the roles of men and women in a civilized world. Morley in his work opines that, ‘The younger generations are especially influenced by its depiction of gender roles. Even though television has improved very well in its representation of gender, women are still stereotype in conventional roles, and under-represented, while men are revealed or seen as dominant figures’ [Lawrence, 2004, p.28]. Generally, women are known to be mothers whiles men are depicted as the bread winners of the family.
Magazines also perpetuate gender stereotypes by placing certain headlines on the front page of a magazine. Men’s magazines have headlines about business, money, working out, grooming and fashionable menswear. Women’s magazines display headlines on how to get the guy, diets, love, meal recipes and body image.
Previous Research
For a long time the topic of the relationship between language and gender was not considered in linguistics, and only now began to move to the fore. This was facilitated by the fact that the first place in linguistics began to go social factor, the consideration of language in connection with society and man. The introduction of gender in research linguistics has opened up new perspectives for the analysis of various aspects of language. In linguistics, this term appeared in the 80’s of XX century , somewhat later than in other Humanities - history, psychology, sociology. The issues of gender linguistics have been raised at different times in the works of scientists of different schools and directions, but they have been formed in system studies relatively recently.
Initially, work in this area was carried out mainly in the West, as evidenced by numerous works of foreign linguists : Benderly (1987), D. Cameron (1992), J Coates (1986), P. Eckert, S McConnell-Gmet (2004), Lakoff (1973), D Spender (1980), D Tarmen (1990) and others. A great contribution to the study of this problem was made by Jespersen, who was the first to make serious and later became the main conclusions about the differences in the language of men and women in his work "Language Its Nature, Development and Origin" [14; Jespersen 1964] .
Based on the study of the linguistic characteristics of the Caribbean tribes, he concluded that men and women speak, in a sense, different languages: build different sentences, use different language means to express the same meaning. Women are more prone to language taboos, they use traditional language based on established rules, while men introduce new elements without fear of experiments and innovations. Women learn the language faster, but at the same time, history shows that great speakers were usually men.
The fundamental work on feminist criticism of language was the study of R. Lakoff «Language and Woman’s Place» (1975), devoted to the peculiarities of women's speech behavior and confirming the inferiority of the image of women in the picture of the world, reproduced in language . It notes that the features of the female language are manifested at all levels: when choosing lexical, syntactic, intonation means, etc. Lakoff attempted to characterize „Woman’s language ‟. Some of the features she mentions are specialized color terms, adjectives and tag questions. Lakoff language as powerless and she expressed her opinion that women shouldn’t use more empowered. Even though Lakoff"s work received some criticism for further investigations in language. Since 1975 several different approaches towards this field have emerged. [15; pp.45-80].
The different ways of analyzing and looking at the relationship between language and gender have undergone great change throughout the years and the approach most linguist take today is the dynamic approach or the social constructionist approach. The approach called the deficit approach peaked in the 1970s. The main focus of this perspective was the notion of male language being the norm and something women should learn. This was also the approach linguist Robin Lakoff expressed in her contribution to the debate. After this view follows the dominance approach which emphasizes men’s dominance over women. Language was also seen as a way for men to show power. Instead of perceiving men’s language as the norm, as in the deficit approach, both men and women were now considered to be a part of creating power structures. When women no longer accepted being considered a subordinate group a new approach arose. This was in the 1980s and is known as the difference approach. The heart of this viewpoint was that the strengths and characteristics of woman’s language should be recognized and in some way celebrated. This approach took an even greater step away from the claims made by Lakoff about women’s language as something deficient and powerless. However these three approaches towards the linguistic differences between men and women are not used to a great extent by linguists today, especially not the deficit approach which is considered to be outdated [16; p. 5-7]. According to the dynamic approach, which is the most recent one, gender is no longer seen as something we are born with. Instead gender is seen as a social construction. As mentioned in Coates “what has changed is linguists‟ sense that gender is not a static, add-on characteristic of speakers, but something that is accomplished in talk every time we speak.” [16; p.7]. This perspective was in some way mentioned early on by Lakoff when she stated that “It is sometimes claimed that there is a biological basis for this behavior difference, though I don’t believe conclusive evidence exists that the early differences in behavior that 5 have been observed are not the results of very different treatment of babies of the two sexes from the beginning” [17 ; Lakoff 1975, as quoted in Bucholtz 2004:p.45]. In sum, it could be argued that earlier work in the field of language and gender often tended to reproduce sexist stereotypes. Looking at the approach linguists take today one could believe that stereotypical beliefs about language and gender do no longer exist. However, since the dynamic approach and the belief that gender is socially and culturally constructed is now the main focus for most linguists, it is important to look at the most significant cultural tool we have today. Therefore this study will use the dynamic approach as a base when analyzing the use of written language in fashion magazines.
Дата добавления: 2019-07-15; просмотров: 367; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!