Sexist language is language that expresses bias in favor of one sex and thus treats the
other sex in a discriminatory manner. In most cases, the bias is in favor of men and
against women. This paper firstly discusses sexist language from two typical aspects:
sexism in words and sexism in proverbs. Then it emphasizes that owing to Womens
Liberation Movement in Western Countries, womens social status has been bettered, and such
supermasculine phenomenon in English is being alleviated accordingly. In order to illustrate the
two issues clearly, many interesting examples are given.
I. Introduction
Sexist language is language that expresses bias in favor of one sex and thus treats the
other sex in a discriminatory manner. In most cases the bias is in favor of men and
against women. The existence of sexist language is due to sexism in society. As a
social phenomenon, language is closely related to social attitudes. In the past, women
are supposed to stay at home, remaining powerless and generally subordinate to man,
whereas men are considered as the center both in the
family and society. In a word,
for a long time women have been looked on as the weaker sex in society. Even in
English-speaking countries, which hold the claim that every one is created equal,
discrimination against women exists. Language simply reflects this social fact.
However, because of their greater status-consciousness, the movement amongst
feminists to reduce sexual discrimination and sex-role stereotyping has led to a
number of conscious attempts to influence and change languages and linguistic
behavior. The problem is that the language which we have inherited were all
developed in the Bad Old Days, so the question is whether they force us all to think
along the old lines without realizing it. Does language discriminate against women?
More precisely, do the ways in which languages allow us to refer to males and
females discriminate against females? This paper will first explore the answer to this
question from such aspects as sexism in words, sexism in proverbs. Then it will show
us the non-discriminatory portrayal of the sexes.
II. Sexism in English