首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Gender-Neutral Language [A]The practice of assigning masculine gender to neutral terms comes from the fact that every language r
Gender-Neutral Language [A]The practice of assigning masculine gender to neutral terms comes from the fact that every language r
admin
2015-02-12
21
问题
Gender-Neutral Language
[A]The practice of assigning masculine gender to neutral terms comes from the fact that every language reflects the prejudices of the society in which it evolved, and English evolved through most of its history in a male-centered, patriarchal society. Like any other language, however, English is always changing. One only has to read aloud sentences from the 19th century books assigned for this class to sense the shifts that have occurred in the last 150 years. When readers pick up something to read, they expect different conventions depending on the time in which the material was written. As writers in 1995, we need to be not only aware of the conventions that our readers may expect, but also conscious of the responses our words may elicit. In addition, we need to know how the shifting nature of language can make certain words awkward or misleading.
"Man"
[B]Man once was a truly generic word referring to all humans, but has gradually narrowed in meaning to become a word that refers to adult male human beings. Anglo-Saxons used the word to refer to all people. One example of this occurs when an Anglo-Saxon writer refers to a seventh-century English princess as "a wonderful man". Man paralleled the Latin word homo, "a member of the human species" not "an adult male of the species". The Old English word for adult male was waepman and the old English word for adult woman was wifman. In the course of time, wifman evolved into the word "woman". "Man" eventually ceased to be used to refer to individual women and replaced waepman as a specific term distinguishing an adult male from an adult female. But man continued to be used in generalizations about both sexes.
[C]By the 18th century, the modern, narrow sense of man was firmly established as the predominant one. When Edmund Burke, writing of the French Revolution, used men in the old, inclusive way, he took pains to spell out his meaning: "Such a deplorable havoc is made in the minds of men(both sexes)in France..." Thomas Jefferson did not make the same distinction in declaring that "all men are created equal" and "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." In a time when women, having no vote, could neither give nor withhold consent, Jefferson had to be using the word men in its principal sense of "males", and it probably never occurred to him that anyone would think otherwise. Looking at modern dictionaries indicates that the definition that links "man" with males is the predominant one. Studies of college students and school children indicate that even when the broad definitions of "man" and "men" are taught, they tend to conjure up images of male people only. We would never use the sentence "A girl grows up to be a man", because we assume the narrower definition of the word man.
The Pronoun Problem
[D]The first grammars of modern English were written in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were mainly intended to help boys from upper class families prepare for the study of Latin, a language most scholars considered superior to English. The male authors of these earliest English grammars wrote for male readers in an age when few women were literate. The masculine-gender Pronouns(代词)did not reflect a belief that masculine pronouns could refer to both sexes. The grammars of this period contain no indication that masculine pronouns were sex-inclusive when used in general references. Instead these pronouns reflected the reality of male cultural dominance and the male-centered world view that resulted.
[E]"He" started to be used as a generic pronoun by grammarians who were trying to change a long-established tradition of using "they" as a singular pronoun. In 1850 an Act of Parliament gave official sanction(批准)to the recently invented concept of the "generic" he. In the language used in acts of Parliament, the new law said, "words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females". Although similar language in contracts and other legal documents subsequently helped reinforce this grammatical edict in all English-speaking countries, it was often conveniently ignored. In 1879, for example, a move to admit female physicians to the all-male Massachusetts Medical Society was effectively blocked on the grounds that the society’s by-laws describing membership used the pronoun he.
[F]Just as "man" is not truly generic in the 1990s, "he" is not a true generic pronoun. Studies have confirmed that most people understand "he" to refer to men only. Sentences like "A doctor is a busy person; he must be able to balance a million obligations at once" imply that all doctors are men. As a result of the fact that "he" is read by many as a masculine pronoun, many people, especially women, have come to feel that the generic pronouns excludes women. This means that more and more people find the use of such a pronoun problematic.
Solving the Pronoun Problem
[G]They as a singular — most people, when writing and speaking informally, rely on singular they as a matter of course: "If you love someone, set them free"(Sting). If you pay attention to your own speech, you’ll probably catch yourself using the same construction yourself. "It’s enough to drive anyone out of their senses"(George Bernard Shaw). "I shouldn’t like to punish anyone, even ii they’d done me wrong"(George Eliot). Some people are annoyed by the incorrect grammar that this solution necessitates, but this construction is used more and more frequently.
[H]He or She — Despite the charge of clumsiness, double-pronoun constructions have made a comeback: "To be black in this country is simply too pervasive an experience for any writer to omit from her or his work", wrote Samuel R. Delany. Overuse of this solution can be awkward, however.
[I]Pluralizing — A writer can often recast material in the plural. For instance, instead of "As he advances in his program, the medical student has increasing opportunities for clinical work," try "As they advance in their program, medical students have increasing opportunities for clinical work".
[J]Eliminating Pronouns — Avoid having to use pronouns at all; instead of "a first grader can feed and dress himself, you could write, "a first grader can eat find get dressed without assistance".
[K]Further Alternatives — He / she or she / he, using one instead of he, or using a new generic pronoun.
Another way of solving the pronoun problem is to use the plural instead of the singular.
选项
答案
I
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/QtOFFFFM
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Lookinginfromabroad,muchoftheworldhashistoricallybeenbaffledbyAmerica’sgunlaws.Innoothercountrycanamentall
Theevolutionofsexratioshasproduced,inmostplantsandanimalswithseparatesexes,approximatelyequalnumberofmalesan
A、Whatyouareinterestedin.B、Themostimportantnews.C、Amenuofpoliticalstories.D、Localandinternationalnews.A短文中提到下世
A、Thelibraryisinthebusiestpartofthecity.B、Thelibraryhasgrassandtreesaroundit.C、Theroofofthemainreadingro
TheAmericaneconomicsystemisorganizedaroundabasicallyprivateenterprise.It’s【B1】______economyinwhichconsumersdeterm
ThemayorofCountyClubHillshelpedarresttwomenWednesdaynightsuspectedintherandomshootinga15-year-oldboyashewa
Theuseofdeferential(敬重的)languageissymbolicoftheConfucianidealofthewoman,whichdominatesconservativegendernormsi
A、Itisconductedinclassandtheotherteachersprovidefeedback.B、Itisdoneathomewithstudents.C、Itispreparedbythe
TheEnglishmansuspectsalltheories,philosophicalorother.Hesuspectseverythingnewandisreluctanttoacceptitattheve
A、Hewon’tbereadyuntilnextweek.B、HeisavailableanydayexceptWednesday.C、HewillbebusybeforeWednesday.D、Hecanme
随机试题
不依据现成的描述而独立创造新形象的过程是_______。
下列选项中标志着多党合作制作为我国的一种政党制度正式走向制度化的是()
【背景资料】某大型综合商场工程,建筑面积49500m2,地下1层,地上3层,现浇钢筋混凝土框架结构。建安投资为22000.00万元,采用工程量清单计价模式,报价执行《建设工程工程量清单计价规范》GB50500—2013,工期自2013年8月1日
物业服务企业信用档案的记录内容主要包括()。
在教学中如何体现“从物理到社会”的课程理念?并以初中物理“摩擦力”一课为例说明。
某市政府所属A行政机关作出行政处罚决定后被撤销,其职能由市政府所属B行政机关继续行使,受到行政处罚的公民不服,准备提起行政复议,此时他应以()为行政复议被申请人。
某市新华街派出所推动“1+3+N”专群联动工作机制,即以新华商圈“大党委”为“1”,通过联合党建活动,联动公安、综合执法、司法“3”部门,深度整合辖区企事业单位、小区物业公司等“N”种社会资源。此外,依据不同区域治安特点,先后形成了新华商圈警企反恐“四联三
现在有一种现象,人才分布南多北少,东多西少,城市多乡镇少,你如何看待?
—Youwillhearfivespeakerstalkingaboutbusinesstrips.—Foreachrecording,choosethereasonthespeakergivesforthetr
Inmostcases,thedoctorisunabletoavoidsomedegreeofemotionalinvolvementwiththesickindividualwhohascometohimf
最新回复
(
0
)