Sex, speech, and stereotypes

Why women use prestige speech forms more than men

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2888053
AutoresElizabeth Gordon (0000-0001-5935-2463, University of Canterbury, autor correspondente)
Ano1997
Volume26
Fascículo1
Páginas47-63
Data de publicação1997-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404500019400
OpenAlexW2149452822
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas37
Referências citadas20

It is widely reported that women use more prestige speech forms than men, and style-shift more dramatically than men. This article puts forward the view that this behavior of women is not a matter of self-promotion, but of avoidance. Evidence from a survey of New Zealand middle-class speakers shows that their stereotype of a lower-class female speaker includes potential sexual immorality. Because of society's double standard regarding men's and women's sexual behavior, the stereotype affects women more than men, and could be an explanation for middle-class women's use of prestige forms as a way of avoiding association with the lower-class stereotype. (Women's speech, social class, speech varieties, sex and language, stereotypes, New Zealand

Class (philosophy) · Immorality · Linguistics · Middle class · Morality · Occupational prestige · Political science · Population · Prestige · Social status · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Stereotype (UML) · Style (visual arts) · Demography · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Gender Studies · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology