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Language and gender
In the following, the attempt will be to analyse the difference in speech between
male and female. Do men have a different way of describing the images compared
to women or are there similarities which exist on both sides?
Describing the images, women tend to be emotional and sensitive. They show more
feelings like commiseration or sympathy and pay more attention to how the people
shown on the images may think or feel.
Moreover, the language is not very
descriptive and the construction of the sentences is longer as compared to men.
In contrast, the male have a more direct and abstract way of describing the images.
Their language is more descriptive as they tend to describe more details.
Beside that, their expressions are shorter and more precise and they often focus
on the essential.
Below, there are exstracts from the interviews14 whereby, the statement of a
male and a female concerning the same image are compared with each other.
· IMG_03 (child with Progeria)
Male: (long pause)…hard stuff!…some kind of disease…(murmurs)
Female: (hesitation)…hm..people who suffer from some kind of disease…who reach
a certain
age…are those…(hesitation)…those kind of…hm…people, they look eldrich to me
Considering this as an example, one can see that the female is trying to give as
much information as possible about the child although she is insecure.
She attempts to be tactful in her expressions and even makes a personal remark that
people having progeria look eldrich to her. In contrast, the male makes a long
pause at the beginning and seems to search for the right words.
As he cannot find them, he states that the child has some kind of disease without
trying to describe it nearer. The expression "hard stuff" can be seen as
a hesitation or as a means to fill the silence in order to find the right words.
Similarly, the "hm" in the description of the female participant serves the
same purpose. Their repetition signify the ongoing hesitation, silence.
· IMG_05 (young girl)
Male1: a girl…18-20 years old… has a side parting…wears a pink sweater…
looks unfriendly…a strand loosens out of her hair
Male2: looks bad-tempered
Female1: a girl…seems to be intimidated, sad, close-mouthed
Female2: a girl…looks palish, sad…maybe depressive
Although, the image shows a girl without any particular characteristics, one
can see the difference in emotionality concerning male and female. While the
females try to work out the facial expression and the reasons why she is maybe
looking unfriendly, the males only state that she looks unfriendly without investing
any deeper thoughts.
Furthermore, this exstract is also a good example for the
descriptive style which men tend to use. One of the male exactly describes the image
of what the girl is wearing and how she looks like. His personal impression of her
that she is unfriendly seems to go under between the pink sweater and the loosen
strand of her hair.
The different ways of males and females describing the images fit nicely with
differences in men and women's roles within society. Women are said to be sensitive,
understanding and being closely attached to their environment.
Beside that, they use and like to talk much and long about things which are often
unnecessary.Whereas, men tend to be precise, determined with an eye for the essential.
But lastly, this view of men and women is only a stereotyping because in all
societies the obvious biological difference between men and women is used as a
justification for forcing them into different social roles which limit and shape
their attitudes and behaviour. Although, certain parallels can be found in the
descriptions of the men as compared to that of the wome
n, one cannot generalize
neither men nor women always reacting in the same way.
Concerning the data, one female's descriptions beared strong resemblance to those of
the male being descriptive and more unemotional. Furthermore, one of the male
participants also made many sensitive statements. This raises the question whether
particular traits are located within the nature of men and women or rather society and
environment forms them imposing certain patterns of behaviour on them. Maybe, it is
a little of both.
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