This article isn't that easy to read but the concepts, once you understand them, are the gateway to some of the key issues in Language and Gender and are really important for you to bear in mind as you take your part in society. Noticing things gives you the power to change them.
Read my comments before or after the article. Or, better, before you read it a second time.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/14/mary-beard-vocal-women-treated-freakish-androgynes
I think her point is very interesting about women's voices, when discussing serious topics, being perceived as "whiny" or "strident", which both have negative connotations, whereas men's deep voices have come to be associated with "profundity"/wisdom. To say this is culturally "hardwired" though seems a misleading term, I think, because she is saying it is about perception and how we have been trained to associate particular vocal pitches with these qualities, rather than it being a natural/"neurological" response, so 'hardwired' suggests something we can't change, to me, and I prefer 'ingrained' which suggests a dirty attitude that we can scrub away at.
I think it is really hard to notice those prejudices which are culturally ingrained over so long but it is our duty to do so,whenever possible, and to be part of the shift away from this.
How you say something affects how it is perceived - we all know that! Tone of voice, pacing, politeness strategies etc. are something each person can adapt. But should all women, like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, have to train to lower the pitch of their voices to be taken seriously?
You could link his to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and suggest that by labelling biological aspects of women's speech with negative terms when they try to speak up agains resistance, we are buying into this cultural prejudice against women speaking on topics outside those which women are perceived to have some expertise in - Beard cites the ministries of Health, Education etc. but you can link it to the gender theories that attempt to define what women speak about.
It is frightening to see the attitudes prevalent in Britain (and the backlash against Mary Beard specifically is horrifying, hearing what the trolls said) being compared to countries where women's rights are so far behind (Beard refers to Afghanistan) but you can really see other countries slipping backward (Russia on gay rights, USA on women's rights concerning their own bodies etc.) so maybe we at just too close to see it happening here. Are we just not moving forward with gender equality or could we actually be moving back? Be afraid. Be very afraid. And be part of the change you want to see.
My Public Services teacher, Chloe Brown, speaks with quite a deep voice for a woman (so does my other Public Services teacher, Vicki, who does the sports modules. A pattern emerges?). Now I wonder if this is how she always sounded or if it was her being in the military that either consciously or subconsciously influenced her to speak this way, particularly in the army which is of course not only full to the brim with grown men, but also is an environment in which 'manliness' (whatever that even means) is a highly valued quality. For instance, for the same reason a gay man may choose to not use his naturally camp speaking voice (due to negative attitude towards LGBT persons in such a patriarchal institution as the army), a women in the military may attempt to emulate this way of speaking in order to be accepted by their peers.
ReplyDeleteI feel I have to deepen mine when I need to show I 'mean business', which is a conscious technique and one that plays into this idea that higher voices or 'camp' delivery cannot show authority and seriousness. Problematic. I don't have an issue with your comments as you are being descriptive but, as a comment to everyone, it is wise to be careful (wary) of referencing and discussing people in a public forum. better to be more vague if you can. In fact, I shall ask you to edit it to remove names, please as they are not necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think this article makes interesting points about the different genders. I agree with her that the way men speak over women is wrong. Do men no think women are capable of making valid points? Like the writer says, this happens mainly in parliament. This could also be a case of mansplanning.
ReplyDeleteThe point about gender stereotypes was interesting, by the fact it sounded like she believed we acted on these because we believed them to be true. Is this because of our upbringing? Is our gender schemas strong that we can't rebuild what we think about different genders?