An exploratory review of gender ideologies and sexism in the Ga language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.19614Keywords:
Linguistic Sexism, Gender ideologies, Ambivalent Sexism Theory, Feminist Critical Discourse AnalysisAbstract
Although research on language and gender has focused largely on gendered languages, not much attention has been given to genderless languages. The current study attempts to explore gender ideologies and sexism in Ga, which is a genderless language. Based on an interdisciplinary approach to this multifaceted problem, the author aims at critically reviewing the construction and representation of gender identities through language using Glick and Fiske’s ambivalent sexism theory and feminist critical discourse analysis of data collected from focus group discussions and interviews. Among other things, this study shows how discourses of biological essentialism are used to justify what is presented as a natural gender order.
References
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Hellinger. M. and Bußmann, H. (eds) (2001) Gender across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men (vol. 1). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Company.
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Robertson, C. C. (1984) Sharing the Same Bowl: A Socioeconomic History of Women and Class in Accra, Ghana. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Stokoe, E. (2012) ‘You know how men are’: description, categorization and common knowledge in the anatomy of a categorial practice. Gender and Language 6: 233–55. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v6i1.233
Stubbs, M. (1996) Text and Corpus Analysis: Computer Assisted Studies of Language and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
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Tannen, D. (2007) Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618987
Van Dijk, T. A. (2001) Critical discourse analysis. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, and H. Hamilton (eds) Handbook of Discourse Analysis 352–71. Oxford: Blackwell.
Ankra Nee-Adjabeng, E. A. (1966) Agwase? Wiem?i k? Ab?i Kom?i. Accra: Bureau of Ghana Languages.
Bem, S. L. (1993) The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Bloomberg, D. L. and Volpe, M. (2008) Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Roadmap from Beginning to End. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Braun, F. (2001) The communication of gender in Turkish. In M. Hellinger and H. Bußmann (eds) Gender across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men (vol. 1) 283–310. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.9.17bra
Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power. New York: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (2003) Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routeledge.
Fairclough, N. (2010) Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. Harlow: Longman. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203809068.ch1
Fiske, S. T. (1993) Controlling other people: the impact of power on stereotyping. American Psychologist 48: 621–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.48.6.621
Friedan B. (1962) The Feminine Mystique. New York: Norton.
García Meseguer, Á. (1984) Lenguaje y discriminación sexual. Madrid: Montesinos.
Gil Flores, J., Jimenez García, E. and Rodriguez Gomez, G. (1994) Analysis of the data obtained in research through focus groups. Enseñanza 12: 183–99.
Glick, P. and Fiske, S. T. (1996) The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70: 491–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
Glick, P. and Fiske, S. T. (1997) Hostile and benevolent sexism: measuring ambivalent sexist attitudes toward women. Psychology of Women Quarterly 21: 119–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00104.x
Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Hellinger. M. and Bußmann, H. (eds) (2001) Gender across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men (vol. 1). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Company.
Hochschild, A. R. and Machung, A. (2003) The Second Shift. New York: Penguin Books.
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. ([1980]2003) Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226470993.001.0001
Lazar, M. M. (2005) Politicizing gender in discourse: feminist CDA as political perspective and praxis. In M. M. Lazar (ed.) Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis: Gender, Power and Ideology in Discourse 1–28. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lazar, M. M. (2007) Feminist critical discourse analysis: articulating a feminist discourse praxis. Critical Discourse Studies 4: 141–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405900701464816
Lazar, M. M. (2008) Language, communication and the public sphere: a perspective from feminist critical discourse analysis. In R. Wodak and V. Koller (eds) Handbook of Communication in the Public Sphere 89–112. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Lopez García, A. and Morant, R. (1991) Gramática Femenina. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra.
Mills, S. (2008) Language and Sexism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755033
Pavlidou, T. S. (2011) Gender and interaction. In R. Wodak; B. Johnstone and P. E. Kerswill (eds) The Sage Handbook of Sociolinguistics 412–28. London: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446200957.n29
Philips, S. U. (2003) The power of gender ideologies in discourse. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhoff (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 252–76. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756942.ch11
Robertson, C. C. (1984) Sharing the Same Bowl: A Socioeconomic History of Women and Class in Accra, Ghana. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Stokoe, E. (2012) ‘You know how men are’: description, categorization and common knowledge in the anatomy of a categorial practice. Gender and Language 6: 233–55. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v6i1.233
Stubbs, M. (1996) Text and Corpus Analysis: Computer Assisted Studies of Language and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sunderland, J. (2004) Gendered Discourses. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230505582
Talbot, M. M. (2003) Gender stereotypes: reproduction and challenge. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhoff (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 468–86. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756942.ch20
Tannen, D. (2007) Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618987
Van Dijk, T. A. (2001) Critical discourse analysis. In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, and H. Hamilton (eds) Handbook of Discourse Analysis 352–71. Oxford: Blackwell.
Published
2017-06-20
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Lomotey, B. A. (2017). An exploratory review of gender ideologies and sexism in the Ga language. Gender and Language, 11(2), 227–254. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.19614
