Gender (Mis)-Representation: in Defense of Feminist Language

Abstract

Gender studies has produced new discoveries about the psychology of men and women alike in terms of attitude, character and emotional leaning.  The women-folk seem to be at the receiving end of the findings as they are often labeled as inherently emotional and irrational in their choice of words and actions.  This paper inquires whether this (mis)representation of women is in tandem with the results on ground that argue that both gender use language differently (Lakoff 1975; Holmes 1984; Baron 1986; Coates 2004). The paper concludes that feminist expressions through words is not to be interpreted as a deficiency, but an emotional outburst of their humanity, just like it occurs in men too and that both gender complement rather than diminish the other.

Keywords: Emotion, Feminism, Gender, Deficiency, (Mis) representation, Stereotype, Language.

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/53-09