Certain grammatical forms can influence the perception of gender. Language can lead to the deepening of gender inequalities in various ways, says Dr. Michał Parzuchowski, a social psychologist from the SWPS department in Sopot.
Lecture on the topic of Gender in language: when grammar determines social perception, on March 8, prof. Pascal Gygax from the psychology department of the Université de Friborg in Switzerland. He will argue that gender discrimination may be manifested in the formal and semantic features of language, such as grammatical form or the connotations of certain names and stereotypes.
The Swiss scientist intends to show this on the example of the Norwegian language, which he researched in terms of linguistic determinants and gender perception – said Dr. Parzuchowski in an interview with PAP journalist. In his opinion, these studies also apply well to the Polish language, as in both these languages there is frequent reference to gender.
This is due to the fact that language influences how we think at all, which was already demonstrated in the 60s – emphasized the psychologist of the SWPS in Sopot.
Even earlier, already in the 30s, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf argued that the language we use from childhood to a greater or lesser extent influences the way we think. They believed that the perception of reality depended on the community, its culture and the language closely related to it. This was called the linguistic relativism hypothesis.
Sapir and Whorf have been criticized for many years. Their view contradicted Avram Noami Chomsky’s theory, published in 1957. It says that the ability of people to use languages results from the universal structure of the brain. It influences our thinking and thus our language.
According to Chomnsky’s view, it can be said that we are all alike, except that we differ in speech. Words are only signs that function in a specific semantic context and nothing else. Today we know that language can, to some extent, direct cognitive abilities.
Lee Whorf’s mistake was merely that his view was too extreme. He believed that what our native language could not express did not exist for us. The latest research shows that language is not a barrier to learning something that it does not express, and man is not a prisoner of the mother tongue.
An example is the Chinese language. In order to express an activity in it, e.g. eating a meal, it does not need to be specified whether it has already taken place, is currently taking place, or will it take place. But that doesn’t mean the Chinese don’t understand what the passage of time is.
Dr. Jacek Wasilewski, a cultural expert at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, author of the book The Speech of Domination, believes that language stores knowledge established in a given community. In Polish, the word Pan is an example. When the Englishman says Johnny I’m glad to see you, the Pole is not sure whether it is John’s friend or Mr John, because you can mean both you and be the equivalent of the Polish Pan. Hence the difficulty that Poles sometimes show in communicating with newly met foreigners.
The word Pan is a relic of our language, it comes from the times when feudal relations prevailed in Poland. However, the more our society becomes egalitarian, the more often we start addressing our interlocutors directly, regardless of age and social status. But some cultural differences remain. An example is the relationship between grammatical forms and gender.
Language, as a formal system and a way of communication, reflects certain cultural conditions and prejudices in a passive way, but on the other hand, it can also actively express, overwrite and strengthen them, emphasizes Dr. Parzuchowski.
Zbigniew Wojtasiński