叶蕾+张勇

【摘 要】性别歧视是针对不同的性别而产生的偏见和歧视，尤其是指针对女性的歧视。作为一种普遍的社会现象，它自然在语言中得到折射。本文介绍了现代汉语中性别歧视的表现，分析其长期存在的原因，以及如何减少性别歧视语言。

【关键词】性别歧视；汉语；原因

【Abstract】Sexism is the prejudice or discrimination based on gender，especially discrimination against women.As a universal social phenomenon， sexism is inevitably reflected in language.This paper illustrates the manifestations of sexism in the modern Chinese language，analyzes the causes of its long-term existence，and then explores ways to remove sexism in language.

【Key words】Sexism；Chinese；Causes

1 Introduction

As to sexism，most people will inevitably think of the gender discrimination especially against women in various social areas，which has long been considered as a universal phenomenon all over the world. Apart from those areas of political， economic， and social life，sexism is also reflected in the language use.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s，women in the United States began to examine and critique gender discrimination in practices of English language use，and the rise of womens movement set off a linguistic reform aimed at eliminating sexism in the English language， which then evoked peoples attention to and research on sexism in language.Influenced by western linguists studies of sexism in English language，sexism in Chinese has aroused general concern in recent decades.Besides，with the development of modern society and enhancement of Chinese womens social status，more women become aware of sexist language and the social significance of linguistic changes.

Since a language reflects a given culture， the problem of sexism in Chinese reflects the problem in culture， that is， the deep-rooted gender-biased cultural traditions.This paper illustrates the manifestations of sexism in modern Chinese，examines the causes of its long-term existence， and then explores solutions to the sexist problem， especially the role of school education in helping remove linguistic sexism.

2 The Manifestations of Sexism in Modern Chinese

After Liberation in 1949，Chinese women gained equal rights with men and many strong sexist titles towards women were discarded. However，gender-biased ideologies still exist，and there are several most marked manifestations of linguistic sexism.

First of all，like the English language， mens styles are taken as the human norm while women，deemed as subordinate to men，need to adapt to mens norm[1].For example，the masculine third person singular pronoun “他”（he）is often used to refer to both genders and when the gender of referent is unknown.Besides，the use of gender-specific job titles embodies a traditional attitude in favor of the male.When occupational terms are used for women，they are often added with “女”（female） before them， such as “女醫生”（a women doctor），“女律师”（a female lawyer）， “女作家”（authoress） which suggest that women are exceptional and even discourage women from applying for such “high” positions.Furthermore， according to the long-term habit of language use， when words involves both genders people prefer to place masculine word first，like “父母” （father and mother），“儿女”（sons and daughters），“夫妻”（husband and wife），“兄弟姐妹”（brothers and sisters），etc.The above examples suggest historical prejudice in favor of males but against females.endprint

Second，lots of derogatory terms in Chinese consist of a character component of “女”（female）.For instance，“奴”，“婢”（slave），“婊”，“妓”， “娼”（prostitute），“奸”（illegitimate sex），“妖”（evil），“嫉妒”（jealous），etc.On the contrary，its rather hard to think of any characters with a part of “男”（male） having such pejorative meanings.And some neutral words for women have acquired negative implications over time，e.g.“小姐”（lady） has now got a derogatory meaning as “prostitute”，and “秘书”（secretary） has got the meaning as “mistress”.

Next，in Chinese curses and four-letter words，females，from mother to grandmother，often become the targets of abuse.And men can use those tough and strong expletives to express their grievances at will，but women are not allowed to shout obscenities，or she will be considered as vulgar and ill bred.Moreover，some proverbs indicate strong bias against women， such as “红颜祸水”（A beautiful woman is the source of trouble），“女人头发长，见识短”（Women have long hair but short wit），“妇人之见”（Views of a woman are often considered shortsighted and worthless）， and“男尊女卑”（Males are superior to females）.

Sexism can be found in Chinese linguistic aspects like grammatical gender，characters，words and expressions，etc.In order to find solutions to the problem of linguistic sexism，it is necessary to analyze the roots of its existence first.

3 Causes of Sexisms Long-term Existence

Sexism in Chinese language is the result of a long history of sexist social conventions.With the foundation of New China，Chinese government attempted to eradicate the vestiges of feudalism and women have been cast off the yoke of feudalism.However，old habits built into the traditional heritage die hard.

Above all，gender-biased language use is brought out by nothing less than womens low status in society.Due to the profound influence of Confucianism and feudalism，women didnt enjoy any kind of social status or rights in old society.Chinese women had“three obediences and four virtues--obedience to father before marriage，and to husband after marriage，and to son after husbands death；morality，proper speech， modest manner，and diligent work”[2].They should stay at home being a good daughter，or a good wife and loving mother without freedom of involving in political and social activities.Thus，Chinese women were regarded as the subordinate to man and were expected to attend her father，husband and even her son in family.

Then，as language exposes social ideologies and values，sexism in Chinese reveals the long-term male-dominated culture， in which“women are expected to play a passive or weak role while men play an active or strong role”[3].In addition，social norms were in accordance with males standards and females bounded by lots of social prescriptions needed to conform to social norms.The patriarchal ideology is reflected in some well-known Chinese sayings，such as“唯小人與女子难养也”（Only villains and women are hard to get along with） and“女子无才便是德”（A woman is virtuous when she is incapable）. The idiom“男才女貌”（the ideal couple is made up of a capable man and a beautiful woman） with strong sexism is still widely used.endprint

Consequently，social prejudices against women and the concept of male superiority are still deeply rooted in the traditional social ideology.

4 Removing Linguistic Sexism

Various techniques to reform sexist language have been applied in the United States，such as“changing the body or corpus of the language by creating new forms， modifying old forms，or selecting alternative forms”[4].However，these will not work in Chinese language because Chinese characters are totally different from English words，and its very difficult to change a sexist character component or create a new gender-neutral character that can be widely received.On linguistic level，the only way is the avoidance of gender-biased language as far as possible.

To eliminate linguistic sexism，the key lies in changing the discriminatory social attitudes towards women，and changing cultural values will finally bring changes to language.Since school education plays a key role in shaping peoples thinking imperceptibly from childhood，great importance should be attached to the role of teachers and schools. Teachers should be cautious about their choice of words in class and use inclusive language consciously.Otherwise，schools may“reinforce the subordinate role of females through curricular choices and classroom organizations that exclude，denigrate，and/or stereotype them”[4].Then， curriculum content，which can greatly influence students perception of males and females，should be balanced with respect to gender.

Besides，the mass media，as the carrier of promoting social progress， should play a positive role in transforming and eradicating gender-biased language.If people take little notice of gender discrimination in language and let it appear frequently in media report，“gender-differentiated language use can reflect and help perpetuate the subordinate status of women in society”[4].

5 Conclusion

Language itself is neutral，while the users of language give it pragmatic coloring.The gender-biased language mirrors the sexist cultural values in society，so sexism in language actually is a social problem.To root out linguistic sexism，eliminating discriminatory attitudes towards women is of the first importance.Sexism is “a problem that will be solved only when a great many people have given it a great deal of thought”[3]. The solution to sexism in language requires the joint effort of the whole society.Feminists，linguistics and sociologists have been striving to eliminate linguistic sexism.And if the public are fully aware of equality for women and societal inequities are redressed，the problem of linguistic sexism can be solved finally.

【References】

[1]楊红梅.英语语言性别歧视现象分析与研究[J].陕西理工学院学报（社会科学版），2006，24：53-56.

[2]Wei，Dongya.A Chinese-English Dictionary. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，1997，1050.

[3]Nilsen，Alleen Pace.Sexism in English：A 1990s Update.St.Martins Press，1990， 280-286.

[4]McKay，L.，Sandra and Nancy H.Hornberger.Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching.Cambridge University Press，1996，219-261.

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