Man Made Language

This is an amazing book. It is a great study on linguistics, language, sexism, stereotypes, and patriarchal society. It is also a relatively quick read for such an extensive study and very accessible for a non-scientific audience.

The book covers various different areas, but my favorite were the statistical analyses at the beginning, looking at different studies from a very objective standpoint and pointing out the biases in them. Although the picture painted by the book is bleak, since this was the 80s, it ends on a hopeful note. And although it is from the 80s, it is alarmingly still current.

I agree that it’s important to see that the use and development of language is shaped by those in power and this is men so women at a disadvantage.

BUT

1. Women have a common biology but no shared sex class interests. Interesting counter to this is around the reproduction of labour argument. Education, housing are necessary for the social reproduction of labour but the control of biological reproduction is a key male/class forum.

2. If gender is the primary social division what about Class and Ethnicity? How is the Duchess oppressed by the black dustman? And so how is economic exploitation explained or challenged?

AND

1. Men’s and Women’s use of language is genetically driven rather than being a man made language unless we then explore show more the social value put on those language skills, Yet “feminised” language skills are driving out “masculine” codes in many workplaces. This is a wider problem in that improvement in the status of women over time is ignored
2.

HOWEVER

1. Read as an important contribution to the debate as to who and what the oppressed-oppressed are/is show less