如何减少英语中的性别歧视

Eliminating the Sexism in EnglishAbstract:Language plays an important role in society, which can reflect all the sides of human society naturally. Linguistic sexism is a type of social phenomenon that reflects the certain traditional social value. One of the Sexism‟s definitions is that “The discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.” the Danish linguist points out that English is the most masculine language as far as he is concerned in his Growth and Structure of the English Language. As a language which has a long history and influencing the world extensively, English has experienced innumerable reformations, which updates the language constantly. The reason of the sexist phenomenon‟s eliminating in the English language and then proposes ways to avoid sexist English.Key Words: sexism; English; language; feminism; avoid1. The phenomenon of Sexist EnglishLinguistic sexism is a social problem, which can reflect people‟s discrimination against the female sex. T he women‟s l iberation movement made people began to realize that the language reform and nonsexist becomes necessary. Sexist language should be changed and avoided, which is definitely positive for the developing of language. As the most widespread language in the world, English sexism should be avoided. Being given the same opportunities as men is the key point to eliminate linguistic sexism. The sexism in English Language has existed for a long time, and brings many bad feelings to women. This sexism comes from the deep cultural sexism on women in society, and has realistic factors. Though women‟s position is higher, the sexism still exists.2. Women and men truly have equal status means language equalityIn the Holy Bible(The Books of The Old Testament): “So the L ord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closedup its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, …This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.‟ ” [1] .The Holy Bible is actually a book for men, which helps to set and consolidate the inferiority of women. In the Holy Bible, woman is always related to troubles and evil things.In the past, few women work outside the home because working out of the home was often considered inappropriate or presented poor living conditions. Therefore, their marriage completely determined the condition they would live. Marriage was so important to a woman. The feminism movement in 1960s promots women‟s social position and then women has equal right with men. Most women today have taken all kinds of careers and have proven that they can do anything men can do; positions of a high rank are still rarely held by women.One of the many impacts feminism on society is its impact on language, which makes the sexism reduce a lot. This phenomenon shows that the main reason behind sexist language is not the language form itself, but our thought that comes from the social attitude to women. Only by changing the social structure till one day when women and men truly have equal status can language equality be really achieved. Therefore, linguistic action and social action should be taken simultaneously, aiming for eliminating sexism in language.3. Avoiding the sexism in English3.1Turning sexist words to non-sexist wordsMaking the most use of gender-free words can help people reduce sexism in the daily life and in English. A lot of new words have been coined along with the women‟s liberation movement, which greatly enriched English. These new words fall into two categories. The first category does not distinguish between male and female, that is, they are neutral. Pn. is the abbreviation of person. It is used instead of Mr., Miss. The second category does not indicate marital status. Ms. is used instead ofMiss. and Mrs. as the counterpart to the men‟s title Mr. [6]. For example, use those words house worker (instead of housewife), businessperson (instead of businessman), firefighter (instead of fireman), sailor (instead of seaman), flowerseller (instead of flower girl), chairperson (instead of chairman). When writing letters, if the sex of receiver is not known, it‟s better not use the traditional way of addressing ,such as Dear Sir., Dear Gentleman and Dear Madam. [4] And the traditional expressions with prejudice such as ambitious men and aggressive women, cautious men and timid women should try to be avoided. Job titles can be used instead of such as Dear friends of the library, Dear Madams and Sir‟s, Dear personnel officer, Dear Committee Member, Dear Agent, and Dear Director.Try to avoid using gender-suffixes which can reflect women's lower rank and avoid using prepositional attributes like woman, lady, madam when there is no necessity to show their sex and use one form to designate a person in all three contexts. For example: actress actor.3.2 Avoiding using the third person pronoun as a general referenceBy means of changing he and it which refer nonsexist people into they. For example: When bathing a baby, never leave him unattended. Revised: When bathing a baby, never leave them unattended. [5]Dropping the masculine pronoun can also be seen as a useful way to escapefrom gender bias[3].Anybody can attend the meeting if interested in it. Beingdiscriminatory, it is better written into “Anybody can attend the meeting if he is interested in it.”By means of changing the sentences into passive voice which is nonsexist. Instead of saying “One should not lose heart when he is beaten in a match.”one would be able to say “One should not lose heart when beaten in a match.”The generic masculine he, his, him should be replaced with he or she, his or her, him or her, and the like, which expressly indicate that women are included in the antecedent of the pronouns.By means of using these words: some, one, the one, and no one instead of the third person pronouns. For example: He who can take advice is sometimes superiorto him who can give it. Revised: Someone who can take advice is sometimes superior to the one who can give it.4. ConclusionAs Rosalie Maggio said that it is also necessary to acknowledgethat there can be no solution to the problem of sexism in society on the levelof language alone. Using the word secretary inclusively, for example, does notchange the fact that only 1.6% of American secretaries are men. Using directorinstead of directress does not mean a woman will necessarily enjoy the same opportunities today a man might [2]. Feminists should be more rational in creating or changing some usages, but not change some reasonable forms into ridiculer forms. The process of eliminating the sexism in language is long and difficult, and it needs the feminists‟ ha rd work and the whole society‟s attention and devotion.Women and men truly have equal status, English even all languages must far away from sexism.Reference:[1] Holy Bible [M]. 中国基督教三自爱国运动委员会和中国基督教协会, 2000年10月. P2-3[2]Maggio, R. The nonsexist word finder: Boston: Houghton Mifflin,1989[3] Sandra Lee McKay and Nancy H. Hornberger. Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching[M]. 上海外语教育出版社, 2001年10月. P224[4] 代新黎. 论英语中的性别歧视和规避策略[J]. 商丘师范学院学报, 2005年12月(第21卷第6期). P157[5] 廖学金.论英语语言的性别歧视[J].重庆大学学报,1997, 第一期:p84[6] 赵靖岩. 英语中的性别歧视现象[J]. 长春师范学院学报, 2002年12月(第21卷第4期). P81。