Language is the tool that humans have used since the beginning of time. It is constantly changing as new words are made up for a dynamic society. Words can identify objects and ideas; however, as time progressed languages have become gendered to place things either as masculine or feminine. This gendering of words can be stigmatizing to the topic of discussion and altering the perception of it. Language is an important part of society and its (improper) use can be a determining factor in the way it is received by others both inside and outside the scientific community.
In Anne Fausto-Sterling’s “Science Matters, Culture Matters”, she explains how scientists are in the citadel and everyone else is part of the rhizomes (Fausto-sterling, 2003). The image depicted is one where there is a walled city surrounded by rhizomes or root like structures. The walled city is for the scientists who are kept inside and away from culture. While the outside, the rhizomes or roots, is where the normal everyday life happens, where the culture is shaped constantly. People like to believe that the rhizomes stay in their place and that the citadel is protected from the outside troubles, however as Fausto-Sterling puts it, “rhizomes can and do also burrow right under the walls of the citadel, bringing ideas born in culture into the realm of scientific theory” (2003). This is important for language because it shows how as much as scientists like to believe the citadel is “pure and objective” the rhizomes can easily corrupt it by their culture (Fausto-Sterling, 2003). Therefore, scientific information can be altered to reflect culture ideas, instead of being wholly accurate.
This inaccurate reflection can be seen, for example, with sexual reproduction...
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... paths that society takes. Therefore, science, culture, and language have a constant relationship that continues to be molded by the changing views of the people of society, those inside and outside the citadel.
Works Cited
Knights, J. (2002, January 1). Sexual Stereotypes . Nature, 415, 254-256.
Latin Grammar. (2011, January 1). . Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php
Metaphors. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/metaphors
Fausto-Sterling, A. (2012). Sex/gender: biology in a social world. New York: Routledge.
Fausto-Sterling, A. Science Matters, Culture Matters. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 109-124.
Richardson, S. S. (2013). Sex itself: the search for male and female in the human genome. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press.
[3] Mauro Santos, et. al. (2003) Origin of Sex Revisted. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, 32, 405-432
Sex is defined as the biological and physiological characteristics, which can be simplified to as being male or female (World Health Organization website). However, gender is defined as the “socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women” (World Health Organization website). This means that sex is based on the physical biology of a person, while gender is based on the social roles that the person is expected to adhere to. Linguistic determinism is a theory that says “that language may determine thought,” and it was supported by “cognitive differences that resulted in people who speak in languages with different grammatical structure” (Wasserman and Weseley). Linguistic relativity has greater support, and it refers to “the idea that language can reflect and preserve existing social structures and influence perceptions of reality” (Wasserman and Weseley). The social justification effect is defined as the disadvantaged groups that “rationalize the society that puts them at a disadvantage and to therefore embrace the idea that their own group is inferior” (Wasserman and Weseley).
historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; Culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action.”
The origins of gendered word and phrases are a debated topic. To clarify, a word that has a gendered meaning is an utterance that refers to a particular gender or is categorized to a particular gender. While some people believe that the interpretation of the listener is responsible for deriving the gendered meanings of words, others believe that the meanings of gendered adjectives and phrases originate from speaker intent. I believe, however, the context in which a word is used, how it is presented, and the context with which it is interpreted, affect its meaning. This “context” also includes the cultural background of both the speaker and the interpreter. From my perspective, gendered words gain their meanings from various sources, which include both the intentions of the speaker and the interpretations of the hearer.
Fausto-Sterling, A. (1993, April) The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough Retrieved from http://moodle.csun.edu
Earlier Science was treated as an institution but now, it includes many things like "scientific experiments, "theories" etc. The authors argue that this knowledge should viewed in terms of "socially constructed" and not the one known as "scientific truth". This article points that in the social constructivist view, the 'science' it is just another system of knowledge which contains empirical researches and studies. It is basically concerned with what is "truth", how it has emerged, accepted and explained in social domain. ...
The construction of human sexuality has been and remains an enigma in today’s society. The prominent and well fought debate can be compacted into one simple title: Nature vs. Nurture. There is no clear answer to how our human sexuality is formed.
Butler, Judith. "Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex'". New York. Routledge. 1993
The use of language can be seen to correlate with the views of society. The words used to describe groups and the tone associated is a hindrance to the acceptance of all the ways people are grouped. Prejudice can be stereotypes or terms used that society did not first recognize as discrimination or hate. The words spoken can have a greater impact than once believed. The ability to vocalize these words can be permanent through social media and has a negative impact on society. Social media shows that women are grouped with unwanted characteristics. The message that language can have towards the ability of women is taught in schools. The discrimination learned through schools can affect women in their area of employment and society. The inability
Osmundson, Joseph. "'I Was Born This Way': Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter?" Harvard Kennedy School. N.p., 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
Martin, Emily. "The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 248-53. Print.
The role of language in science was taken for granted, however, this chapter by Sutton (1998) addressed this issue by highlighting the influential role of language in science education. Sutton’s focus was mostly on the written aspect of language, however, there are other aspects that are influencing science education and consequently affecting the teaching and learning processes. One of these aspects is the language science is represented with, such that the language science is being represented in textbooks might be different than the students’ or teachers’ mother tongue. This raises challenges for teachers and for students, whereby teachers had to bridge the gap between scientific terminologies and students’ mother tongue. To elaborate, from my experience in practicum, I noticed students struggled to express their thoughts using accurate English and scientific terminologies. For example, once I asked students to describe the life cycle of butterflies based on a figure that I had provided, a
There have been several discussions that address the differences between male and female language use. These discussions all began with Lakoff’s controversial essays from 1975 that first introduced the concept of “women’s language.” (O’Barr et al 1980) Since Lakoff’s essays, other linguists have sought to address the issue of how gender affects language. O’Barr and Atkins use Lakoff’s information ab...
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