从英语谚语探究性别歧视现象
浅析英汉谚语中的性别歧视
浅析英汉谚语中的性别歧视摘要：本文从英汉谚语的视角，从女性的社会地位，婚姻嫁娶，性情智慧，言语行为，红颜祸水五个方面分析了语言性别歧视在英汉谚语中的表现，说明了语言性别歧视的普遍性，并讨论了性别歧视的变化和发展趋势。
关键词：英汉谚语；性别歧视；发展趋势一、英汉谚语中对女性性别歧视的表现1.社会地位孔子曰:“唯女子与小人为难养也。
”在中国的封建时代,生个男孩,叫“弄璋”之喜,生个女孩,叫“弄瓦”之喜。
“璋”“瓦”之别,表示男贵女贱。
旧中国“三从四德”等封建礼教的侄桔就充分说明了旧时代妇女对男子的人身依附关系。
汉语中有很多这样的谚语:（1）在家从父，出嫁从夫,夫死从子。
（2）好男不和女斗,好鸡不跟狗斗。
在基督教盛行的英美社会中,女性从属地位在《圣经》的创世篇中已经被确定下来了,上帝首先创造了男性—亚当,亚当从此便被看成是“人类的始祖”。
女人则是男人的肋骨，是上帝的次要作品，女性所处的被动地位不言而喻。
英语中这样的谚语有:A man who kicks his dogs ill beat his wife.(打狗男人必打妻。
)可以发现，上述的英语谚语和汉语谚语有相同的特点，那就是具有严重男尊女卑的思想，女性可以随意被殴打，更不谈所谓的人权。
2.婚姻嫁娶婚姻嫁娶是一种文化的重要组成部分,作为文化观念产物的谚语,必然带有这种文化的烙印。
在中英文谚语中，都有表现出歧视女性的现象，此类谚语可以大致分为以下几类：（一）“女大不中留”中国自古就主张女孩子到了一定的年龄应尽早嫁出去，否则必招惹麻烦，此类的言语如“女大不中留，留了结怨仇”，英语国家里也有同样的文化内涵，如：Marry your son when you will, your daughter when you can.(娶媳不忙，嫁女宜速。
) （二）婚姻商品化，附属化（1）嫁出去的女，卖出去的地。
（2）嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗。
英语谚语：（1）A fair face is half a portion.(姿色艳，嫁妆半。
“男尊女卑”在英语语言中体现
“男尊女卑”在英语语言中体现摘要：自古以来，“男尊女卑”的思想便广泛地存在于社会中。
语言作为社会的一面镜子，语言中的性别歧视，尤其是对女性的歧视已是一个不争的事实。
本文从英语的词语、词汇构词法以及英语谚语等方面论述了语言中的性别歧视现象。
关键词：男尊女卑性别歧视构词谚语自古以来，“男尊女卑”的思想便广泛地存在于社会中。
妇女以及妇女的地位受到了以男权为中心的社会的否定。
对妇女的歧视成为了一种根深蒂固的社会心理。
这些思想一代代地沿袭下来，对社会的语言文化、行为方式和思维模式都造成了很大的影响。
语言作为社会的一面镜子，语言中的性别歧视，尤其是对女性的歧视已是一个不争的事实，本文从英语的词语、词汇构词法以及英语谚语等方面论述了语言中的性别歧视现象。
1.“男尊女卑”在英语词语中的体现语言是社会约定俗成的一种符号，它具有可变性及深沉性特点。
语言作为一种体系，属于历史范畴，每个词所具有的属性，都属于一定的历史时期。
同时语言也直接地反映了社会生活，而“男尊女卑”作为一种社会现象在英语词语中也有一定的体现。
（1）英语中常用man，mankind这样的词来概指两性。
从词义上来说，英语中表男性的词语可以兼指两性，涵盖的范围很广。
但表示女性的词语却没有这一功能。
它只能用来表示女性。
例如man这个词即可以表示男性也可以代表女性，可以用来表示总称，而woman则只可以代表女性。
Man（male or human race）woman（only female）He （he or he and she）she（only she）Dog（all the dogs）bitch（female dog only）上面的词语当中，man，he等词都是没任何标志的，可以表示男性或雄性，但同样可以用来表示总称，很明显woman和she也包括在内。
但woman，she却有明显标志，它专指女性，不能用来指代男性，更不能涵盖整体。
（2）以－man结尾的词概指两性。
英语谚语中的性别歧视
英语谚语中的性别歧视英语中有许多谚语反映了女性性格的弱点和传统对女性的要求。
这里有一些例子来说明它们。
(1)女人是脆弱的frailty , thy name is woman.(脆弱啊，你的名字是女人。
)woman is made to weep. (女人生性爱流泪。
)a woman and a glass are ever in danger. (女人易毁，玻璃易碎。
)a woman is the weaker vessel. (女人是易碎的器皿。
)it is no more pity to see a woman weep than to see agoose go bare foot. (女人哭如鹅光脚走路，根本不值得可怜。
)(2)女人是多变的a woman is a weather cock. (女人是风向标。
)a winter weather and women’s thoughts change oft.(秋天的云，女人的心—变化莫测。
)women are wavering as the wind. (女人心思犹如风之多变。
)t here’s nothing sooner dry than women’s tears.没有什么比女人的眼泪干得更快。
)(3)女人是喧闹饶舌的a woman’s tongue is the last thing about her thatdies.where there are women and geese, there wants nonoise. (哪有鹅和女人，哪不缺喧闹声)foxes are all tail and women are all tongue.three women and a goose make a market. (三个女人一只鹅，市场里面闹哄哄。
)a woman’s tongue wags like a lamb’s tail. (女人饶舌如同羔羊摆尾。
英语谚语中的性别歧视探源
英语谚语中的性别歧视探源
性别歧视在英语谚语中是一种普遍存在的现象，它把男性和女性当作有不同标准的两个完全不同的类别。
由此，一些谚语中出现了对女性的歧视性言论，如：“男子汉大丈夫”、“妇
女家务劳动”等。
要追溯这种歧视的根源，必须从历史上寻找答案。
从历史上看，男女的角色定位一直是不平等的。
在古代，女性被视为家庭的守护者，无权参与政治和决策，甚至不允许拥有财产。
古代社会的性别歧视，也深深地影响了当今社会。
英语谚语中出现的性别歧视，也是受到历史社会环境的影响。
另外，性别歧视在英语谚语中还有另外一个重要原因，那就是宗教的影响。
教认为女性是“罪恶的”，男性就是“正义的”，从而给女性带来了很大的歧视，这种歧视也在英语谚语中有所体现。
从以上分析可以看出，性别歧视在英语谚语中的根源在于历史社会环境和宗教影响，这种歧视对女性的影响十分深远，也给当今社会造成了很大的不良影响。
因此，要想解决这一问题，必须加强性别平等意识的普及教育，并从历史和宗教的角度探讨性别歧视的根源。
只有通过努力，才能实现真正的男女平等。
论文 浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象
（2014届）毕业论文（设计）题目：浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象专业：英语班级：学号：姓名：指导教师：教务处制年月日摘要性别歧视，主要指的是对女性的歧视。
几千年以来，女性在社会、政治、经济方面都受到不平等的待遇。
男尊女卑是社会中长期存在的客观现象，不可避免的反映到语言和语言使用中来，由此形成语言性别歧视。
本文着重分析了英语俚语中性别歧视现象和产生原因以及今后可能发展的趋势。
首先介绍了何为英语俚语以及英语俚语的特征。
然后从四个方面探讨了英语俚语中存在的性别歧视现象，即它主要体现在特殊俚语上、描述两性的相关俚语表达上、俚语词义的变化过程以及社会公众对两性使用俚语的看法上。
接着在前面几章的基础上分析了英语中性别歧视现象形成的根源。
通过分析，发现英语俚语中的性别歧视归根结底还是由深刻的社会、历史和文化等方面的因素造成的。
接着论述了俚语中的性别歧视在今后的发展趋势。
最后是文章的结论部分，最根本的解决办法还是要彻底改变社会中长期对女性的歧视，进一步提高妇女的社会地位，只有这样，才能消除英语俚语中的性别歧视。
关键词：英语俚语；性别歧视AbstractThe sexism mainly refers to the discrimination against women. Thousands of years, women are treated unfairly in the social, political, economic aspects. The view that men are superior to women is an eternal phenomenon in our society. It reflects in the language and language use inevitably. This paper devotes to the study of sexism in the English slang, its cause and the trend in the future. To start with, the thesis introduces the definition and the features of English slang. Then focus on the analysis of sexism in English from four parts: in some special types of slang, in slang terms of each gender, in slang meaning changes and in social attitude toward the use of slang. Then, based on the previous chapters, analyzes the reasons of this phenomenon. Through the analysis, I found that, the sex sexism in English slang is mainly caused by social, historical and cultural factors. Then, expounds the developing trend in the future. Finally comes the conclusive part, the best way to get rid off sexism in English slang is to change the prejudice against women in society, improve women‟s status, only by this way can sexism in English slang be completely eliminated.Key words: English slang; sex sexism1．IntroductionLanguage is a mirror of the society; it reflects the characteristics of a nation. Sex sexism is long-standing issue. This can be found in many cases, for example, Eastern and western women at the disadvantage position in society and women in their family with a subordinate position. At the beginning of the 20th century, linguists and sociologists became interested in the gender discrimination in language. With the development of sociolinguistics and the coming of women‟s rights movement, language and gender research has entered into a period of rapid development. From the development and changes of the language, people can conclude that sex sexism does not only exist in China, but in all the countries. Therefore, how does English slang reflect this sexism phenomenon? Since Robin Lakoff‟s research (1975), many scholars and experts at home and abroad have studied sex sexism in language with various research methods out of many purposes. For example, the outstanding scholars and experts, Yang Yonglin, Bai Jiehong, and so on, have done research about sexist element in the English language, they also have put forward some practical strategies to erase the sexism, but they just have done their research from the aspect of language strategy. Some other experts, Qin Xiubai, Ren Jingsheng have mainly studied both sexes‟ difference in the use of language and its cause out of social and cultural factors.English, as one of the most widespread languages, but there is massive discrimination in it. British writer Payne (1935) has pointed out: The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs. The proverbs from folk are wide spread, reflect the social culture, life, customs and thinking with the language features of concise and comprehensive, vivid, profound and implication. By far, they have done innumerable researches: macro or micro, great achievements have been obtained. However, almost all the studies have chosen standard languages as their research materials. English slang is a very special variety of English. It‟s used limited in earlier days, but nowadays, we can see them in books, newspapers and magazines. It is a fact that slang can be used in many fields in our life. The vigor and color of slang enrich our daily speech. Therefore, the research on slang is very necessary. However, the articles on sex sexism in English slang are rare. Owing to above-mentioned reason, this research is to study sex sexism in English slang. The whole thesis is divided into six chapters, the first chapter is introduction. Chapter two introduces the definition and the features of English slang. Chapter three focuses on the analysis of sexism in English from four parts: in some special types of slang, in slang terms of each gender,in slang meaning changes and in social attitude toward the use of slang. Chapter four based on the previous chapters analyzes the reasons of this phenomenon. Through the analysis, I found that, the sex sexism in English slang is mainly caused by social, historical and cultural factors. Chapter five expounds the developing trend in the future. Finally comes the conclusive part.2. Definition and characters2.1 Definition of English slangAccording to Oxford Linguistic Dictionary (2000), “slang used especially of vocabulary specific for example, to a particular generation of younger speakers; also as in ordinary usage, specific to group or a profession (e.g. …army slang‟), to colloquial style, etc”to some certain slang, it is hard to tell the difference between slang and colloquial style. Here is one of the its definition, the body of words and expression frequently used by or intelligible to a rather large portion of the general public, but not accepted as good; formal usage by the majority” (Flexner, 1975:3) Few linguists have made efforts to clearly define what constitutes slang. Att empting to remedy this, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the f ollowing rules:●It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it is likely to be considered in those contexts a "g laring misuse of register."●Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, orwith a group of people who are familiar with it and use the term.●"It's a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility."●It replaces "a well-known conventional synonym". This is done primarilyto avoid discomfort caused by the conventional synonym or discomfort or annoyance caused by having to elaborate further.2.2 Characters of English slang2.2.1 Highly colloquialGenerally speaking, slang is a sort of vocabulary. It doesn‟t have its own grammar unlike standard language. Most slang is simply the substitution of more forceful, emotional or humorous forms for standard words one same meaning may be expressed in various ways by the speaker, that‟s to say, a single slang has quite a few synonyms. On the whole, the life expectancy of slang is short, besides those can rise into standard language as time went by, most slang disappeared very quickly and soon forgotten by people.Slang words are used in social situations, mainly in the oral communicatio n between friends, acquaintances and people of the same social group and whe n chatting on-line. On some friendly occasions, if you talk in a very formal w ay, it will give others a feeling that you are talking with them in a requested tone. Such feeling will make you hard to make friends with them. If you add some necessary slang in you talking, you can have the talking atmosphere mor e easily.For example, if you want to get your friends‟agreement, the friend can understand your feeling, he may say the following sentences: “I will drink that sentence.”It means:”I definitely agree with you.”It is also undeniable that with the rise of naturalism, slang began to enter into English literature. More a nd more writers make good use of slang for vivid characterization. For exampl e, J.D.Salinger‟s work the catcher in the rye uses a large number of contempo rary slang of teenagers.2.2.2 Abundance of synonymsSlang is abundant of synonyms. By the phrase “abundant of synonyms”, we refer to two phenomena. First is that slang almost exists by the side with another more general term for the same thing. Taking “chick” as an example, to some speakers, they use “chick”with the meaning “girl”or “young woman”. The difference between “girl” and “chick” can be according to the person who uses this word. Some say “this girl is my sister”, others “this chick is my sister”. “Girl”is the general term for “chick”. Second is that there is many slang words, which have the same meaning. This characteristic of slang greatly helps enrich vocabulary. According to research, there are over 300 words referring to the meaning “drunkenness”. Some of these slang words or phrases refer to the intoxication, some describe the heaviness and stillness and others the lightness after drinking. These reveal vivid images of a drunkard fromdifferent aspects.2.2.3 Transience of slang’s lifeGenerally speaking, slang is transient. It spreads very quickly, also, it is unstable and temporary. Slang is the unstable element of English and its life expectancy is generally short. Usually a popular slang of this year may no longer be heard next year or some slang once used by one generation may sound Greek to the next. The use of slang is closely related to the circumstances where it is used. If the circumstances change, the slang will disappear too. Without circumstances in which it is initiated, it cannot be well understood. Without specific circumstances, slang loses its sense correspondently or will become unintelligible. But not all the slang disappears soon after its birth. Some exist decade after decade, century after century, never becoming dying out soon. For example, the word “booze”, it formed as early as in the Middle Ages, now it is still ranked in some slang in some dictionaries. It is often said that a slang term stops to be slang when the dictionary takes it in. This is not really case. You will found many slang terms selected in the dictionaries are still slang terms.2.2.4 The possibility of rising into standard language.Some slang words have the possibility to rise into standard language. Though short life expectancy it has, some slang words gain the approval of the most population and rise into Standard English in the end. This is called ennobling, which is another characteristic of slang. For example, “jazz” and “cold war”, when they first appeared, they are doubted by people, but now nobody will think they are still slang. They have become common-core words and absorbed by the Standard English. Another example is “TV”, its short form is “television” and “TB”, the shortened from “tuberculosis”. When they were first appeared, were both used as slang, but now no one can find them in dictionaries as abbreviations of standard vocabulary.3. Sex sexisms in English slangSexism, in the Oxford Advanced Learner‟s English-Chinese dictionary, it means that disapproving action based on the ideas or belief that the members of one sex are less intelligent, able, and skillful, etc, than the members of the other sex, especially that women are less able than men and those particular jobs and actions are suitable for women and others are suitable for men. In this sense, it keeps women in second-class status. Just as Rosemary Radford Ruether (1993: 165) believes that“s exism is gender privilege of males over females. It is males primarily who have originated this form of oppression, benefited from it, and perpetuated it, legally and ideologically.” From these definitions, we can find that sexism is the practice of discriminating against people because of gender especially for women.According to carefully research, it is found that sexism exist in English slang. This chapter mainly analyzes the sexism phenomena in English slang from four chapters. 3.1 Sexisms in special types of slangAccording to analysis and comparison, it is found that sexism in English slang doesn‟t appear in all types of slang but is clearly reflected in three types: sexual slang, derogatory slang and criminal slang. Here we mainly talk about the first two kinds which aim more at women.Derogatory slang refers to those offensive and derogatory terms which refer to specific cultural and racial groups. If you use this kind of slang, it will cause offence or harm. For example, boogie, coon, jig, kink, soofty, etc. these words referring to a black person; shonnicker, shonk and shylock for a Jew; pong, chink and chow for a Chinese person; frog for a French; hun and fritz for a German; yank for an American and so on.Sexual slang is a set of linguistic terms and phrases used to refer to sexual organs, processes, and activities; they are generally considered colloquial rather than formal or medical, and some may be seen as impolite or improper. Some common examples include the term blow job for fellatio or wanking and jerking off for male masturbation.Many derogatory& sexual slang terms which aim more at causing offence to women, the reason lies in women‟s traditionally unfavorable status in society, and also because of men‟s tendency to view women as sexual objects and to control women‟s sexuality (Johnson, 1977). Such as old bag, biddy, bimbo, bitch, brush, gold-digger, moo, mare, lady, man-eater, mort, mystery, old boot…all are used derogatorily to refer to women of all kinds, but there are only some words such as puff, pansy, nancy, skirt-chaser and shirt lifter used derogatorily to describe men. (quo. From oxford dictionary of modern slang, 2001)3.2 Sexisms in slang termThe sexism against women in society occurs frequently. Women‟s importan ce is mainly because of their youth, sex and beauty. Nilsen(1976) and Dundes(1976) draw attention to their comparison to food, plants& animals. They are b eautiful, but they are closely related to women‟s age and appearance. The follo wing are some slangy words from The book of slang by Dennis Anderson(198 3):1) Women as food, such as cheese cake(portray the shape of female body); mutton(mainly describe middle aged or elderly woman dressed to look young); tomato (beautiful girl)2) Women as animal, such as bitch(prostitute); butterfly(light women); dr agon(stubborn woman); shrew(bad-tempered woman); cat (vicious woman); b at(prostitute)3) Women as plants, such as rose(beautiful girl); daisy(pretty girl); shrin king violet(shy woman); wall flower (shy girl in the party); cling vine (woma n who depend on man)The above slang words describe woman‟s edibility; woman is being tasted, viewed and assessed through their appearance, sex and age. Nilson (1982) fro m American used …chicken metaphor‟to describe a woman‟s life:In her youth, she is a chick, and then she marries and begins feeling coo ped up. So she goes to hen parties where she crackles with her friends. Then she has her brood and begins to henpeck her husband. Finally she turns into an old biddy.On the contrary, men‟s role in the society is very positive. They don‟t relate to food, plants or animal, they are described by whose words that is very positive. Sometimes, people use animals to describe men to show that men are strong and brave. Lion implies men are brave; tiger implies that men are energetic, strong and fierce. Because of different views about men and women, the most popular slang terms to describe a man are dude, guy and bastard; while the most common listed terms to describe a woman are chick, broad and bitch, from which we can also know that women and men are treated unfairly in society.3.3 Sexisms in slang meaning changesSexism does not only exist in the slang terms for both sexes, but also exists in the change of meaning of many slang words.Some words with positive or neutral meaning when they were originated but later became negative words occur more frequently in the words referring to women than men. A typical example is the slang term cow. At the very beginning, the word cow means “milk or cheese”, then it means “ugly person, male or female”, later it refers only to females who are stubborn, stupid and unpleasant, finally it means a prostitute. Cow change its meaning from neutral to negative. The word cat is a good case whose meaning change from positive to negative. Cat refers to an expert, who is appreciative of jazz originally, then it refers to bad person, finally it usually refers to a vicious woman or a prostitute. Another case is many slang words refer to positive implications when used to men but negative when used to women. Take fox as an example, when used to men, it implies that men are smart. But when used to women, it means a woman who is sexually attractive with the feeling of contempt.So, it can‟t be ignored that the sexism phenomenon in language can also be found from the change of meanings of many slang terms.3.4 Sexisms in social attitude to slang useWith the unequal social status for male and female in society, women sometimes can‟t use language freely while men can use language without many limits. I n people‟s thought, women should use their language very carefully; they should better choose nice, pleasant and elegant word. There should not have coarse words in their mouth.Slang was regarded a very low language in the past, because it was a cant at that time. Therefore, women should not use slang. Some researchers thought that slang was a language of fools. So, many people, male or female, think that the use of slang is more suitable for males. We can find this sexist attitude towards the use of slang in de Klerk‟s (1990, 1992) research.4. OriginsThe sexism in English slang and its long existing are not coincidence, to a large degree, by historical, social and cultural forces.4.1 Historical perspectivesSlang is created by some special groups, such as hooligans, bandits, criminals, etc. which are mostly made of males. So, slang was controlled by male at that time. Males renew slang terms and words frequently to avoid others understanding them.Therefore, more and more slang terms appearing among women around these men. Then, women tried to learn and use them. To some extent, it strengthened the use of slang terms. But what women know is far less than men slang-users. Thus, it can‟t be denied that sexism appears when slang is created.Nowadays, slang is more and more popular among people in different groups and even women begin to create slang terms. Generally speaking, their influence is still very small and weak.4.2 Social realitiesSexism in slang is partly because of historical reasons, but the deeper fact or is the social realities which are reflected by language. So, I will trace socia l factors from labor division and Socialization.4.2.1 Labor divisionWestern society assigns tasks, activities and rights according to sex like eastern society. There are two periods in early society---matriarchal and patriarchal. In matriarchal society, women ruled men. With the development of productive forces, men became stronger than women in many aspects. Then the patriarchal comes. Men ruled the society. We can found clues in Simone de Beauvior‟s (1990) essay Woman as other:She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the Subject; the Absolute-she is the other.In this society, women were second-class citizens; they had few rights and little contributions to work in arts or literature and science.Today, with development of democracy and women‟s struggling for higher social status and equal treatment. They are also playing more and more part in society. However, it is still a slow and long process for women to improve their social status because sexism against women in deeply-rooted.4.2.2 SocializationSocialization is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologists, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society.Children learn their proper behavior from role models, toys, children‟s literature and educational institutions. They accept the sexism against women in the textbooks and develop according to gender stereotype. In a word, a person‟s socialization is mainly realized by education and influence of mass media.Education can socialize people into different roles in the society. In these children‟s stories, girls and boys are frequently described as “boys are”, “girls do”, which can be proved in Girls, Boys and Language written by Swann (1992):But there is also a concern about continuing, more general effects: that the female and male image conveyed to pupils contribute to their sense of what is normal for girls and boys and women and men in our society; that children‟s reading material helps reinforce gender as a social division, and perpetuates inequalities between girls and boys and women and men.Apart from books that may convey inequality in education, the public media in people‟s socialization is worth to draw attention. Such as fairy tales, Disney movies, TV, radio and newspapers really have a great influence on people‟s view about gender roles. By watching “Cinderella”, “Snow White”, “The Seven Dwarfs”, children know that if females want to success, she should be beautiful. By reading “Little Miss Muffet”, children know that girls should be tearful and boys should be active and adventurous.4.3 cultural perspectives (the influence of Bible)Women in the west have often been discriminated in the religion. Women are just used in reference to earthly matters while men are used to mostly spiritual matters. So, the Bible will be taken as an example to discuss this. In the Bible, women are described as the appendage which can be justified in the process of creating man and woman. It was said that women were just made of a rib of the man. So, she is doomed to be appendage of man. Also, the name woman means …she was taken out of a man‟according to the Bible. (The following excerpts are from Bible):And Adam said, this is now bones of my bones, and flesh of me fleshes; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. (Holy Bible, 1978, Genesis, 2:18-24)Wives, submit yourselves to your husband, as unto the lord. For the husband isthe head of wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church…therefore as the church is submit unto Christ, so let the wives be to their husband in everything. (Ephesians 5: 22-24)From the quotations, we can see clearly the men‟s superiority and women‟s inferiority.In the Bible, almost all the important figures are men. God, the most powerful figure; Abraham, the ancestor of the Jew, who settled in Hara; Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt; the thirteen disciples are all men. When mention some famous women, the way they are mentioned is different from men. For example, Herodias and Willy Laban are famous for their evil deeds; Mary and Elizabeth are famous for their sons. They were requested to stay at home, giving birth to children and doing housework.The Bible is definitely a book of men, it is reasonable to believe this helps to build women‟s inferior position. Therefore, we can not deny that it was cultural reasons in the west that have great impacts on women‟s status in society and the sexism in language. This is also the reason why slang terms about are positive and active while those about women are negative; why slang terms of men sound strong and vulgar than those of women.5. Tendency of sexism in English slangIt‟s known to all that every important historical events or political event even a new invent has a great influence on language (slang).Christian in western world places me n‟s interest at the first place while women‟s main duty is to take care of family and children. It is no doubt has a great influence on gender difference. People‟s values changed dramatically since the industrial involution in 18th century, they began to understand life in a scientific way not religious belief. Nowadays, the young seldom accept the stories in the Bible blindly.For years, women are more and angrier to their unfair treatments. At the climax of feminism, they ask for the equal rights on education, work, social security and other fields. Many women began autarkical and shared the expenses with husband, their status has improves gradually. But the discrimination to women is far from over, only a part of jobs open the door for women, also, the possibility of women‟spromotion is less than men.However, with the development of the social civilization and women‟s status, some words and expresses are out of date; people avoid using the words indicating sexism. In some situations, if we are not sure to the sex, try to avoid using masculine, replace the masculine to neutral terms. For example:Camera man——camera operator; congressman——member of congress; forefather——ancestor; housewife——house maker; spokesman——spokesperson; weatherman——weather reporterHow will the sexism in English slang going? Some slang indicating sexism directly will step down from the stage of history. Nowadays, people gather experience in study and life and popular in oral, temper through a prolonged time, form new slangs eventually. Because women has the same equal rights with men, also, people are tapu to sexism terms, the slang which are forming or will form would carry less and less discrimination meaning.6. ConclusionSexism in English slang is deeply rooted in the historical, social and cultural aspects, there are two ways to solve the problems, that is change social discrimination against women and improve women‟s self-consciousness.People have a prejudice to women, they figure women are less capable and intelligent than men, so women often depend on men. Eventually, this kind of prejudice reflected in the language. So, it is necessary to change social discrimination against women to avoid the sexist language and slang.Because of the sexism from society, quite a lot of women become passive about their life. They didn‟t take any actions to win back rights and fight against discrimination even though they were dissatisfied about it. In order to achieve the equal rights, women should try to develop their self consciousness about their social status. They should take in and active in social activities, strive for every means for improving their life quality. Only when women pay attention to improve self consciousness can our effort for changing social sexism against women in society be accelerated and so do the sexism in language.This essay mainly focus on the sexism form the perspective of English slang, based on the previous studies on gender including some relative sociolinguistictheories. Though analysis, we can see that sex sexism in English slang is mainly reflected in four aspects: in special types of slang, in slang terms for each gender, in slang meaning changes and in social attitude toward the use of slang. As for the reasons of this phenomenon, sexism in English slang is mainly caused by historical, social and cultural factors. Originally, it is western religion that has a prejudice against women, which caused the sexism in English slang but the main reason is the social reality. Thus, only when the discrimination against women in society has been eliminated can sexism in English slang be eliminated.Besides those achieved above, this research has its own limitations. This study is chiefly referred to the basis of historical documents and written texts. Because of the limited conditions, it is hard to carry out the empirical study.Up to now, there are many slang-gendered researches in western countries by experts abroad, but there is few carried out by home researchers, not to mention the English learners. Thus, if such kind of research can be carried out by English learners in the future, it would be much better.。
英语语言性别歧视现象及其文化内涵
英语语言性别歧视现象及其文化内涵
英语语言中存在着一些性别歧视现象，这些现象反映了一定的文化内涵。
本文将介绍一些常见的英语语言性别歧视现象，并探讨其背后的文化内涵。
英语中的一些成语和俗语也存在性别歧视。
“man up”（挺起胸膛，勇敢面对困难）这个短语暗示了男性应该勇敢坚强，而女性则被认为需要依赖他人。
类似地，一些关于知识和技能的短语中含有性别刻板印象，比如“fight like a girl”（像女孩子一样去战斗）这个短语被用来贬低男性在竞争中的表现。
这些成语和俗语不仅歧视了某一性别，也对整个社会形成了一种不公正的认知和价值观。
英语中的一些语法规则和用法也体现出性别歧视。
使用“he”作为第三人称单数代词时，这种用法默认性别为男性，而使用“she”时，则默认性别为女性。
这种用法暗示了男性在社会中的优先地位。
一些形容词和名词的性别化也体现了性别歧视，比如“handsome”（英俊的）和“pretty”（漂亮的）这两个词分别用来形容男性和女性。
这些英语语言中的性别歧视现象反映了相应文化内涵。
在很多社会中，男性被认为具有更高的社会地位和更强大的权力，而女性则被期望扮演支持者和依附者的角色。
这种思维方式在英语语言中得到了体现，导致了一些性别偏见的词汇、表达方式和用法。
随着社会的进步和性别平等意识的提高，人们逐渐开始反思和纠正这些性别歧视的语言现象。
一些人试图使用更中性的代词，比如“they”代替“he”或“she”，以避免性别歧视。
一些不含性别偏见的称呼也被提出并逐渐被接受和使用，比如“flight attendant”（航班服务员）代替“stewardess”。
汉英谚语中性别偏见的对比研究
目录
01 一、汉英பைடு நூலகம்语中性别 偏见的体现
03 三、结论
02
二、消除性别偏见的 必要性
04 参考内容
谚语是人们长期以来在生活和工作中积累和传承的一种智慧和经验的结晶， 具有丰富的文化内涵和鲜明的民族特色。然而，在许多谚语中，我们不难发现一 种性别偏见的痕迹。本次演示将通过对汉英两种语言中的谚语进行比较，探讨其 中反映出的性别偏见。
1、提升自我认知
消除性别偏见首先需要提升男性和女性的自我认知。我们应该鼓励男性和女 性认识到自身的能力和潜力，而不是被传统的性别角色定义所束缚。只有当我们 能够超越这些刻板的性别偏见，才能真正实现自我价值的最大化。
2、倡导平等与尊重
消除性别偏见需要倡导平等与尊重的原则。无论男女，每个人都应该被赋予 平等的机会和权利去追求自己的目标。我们应该建立一个包容性的社会环境，鼓 励人们勇于挑战传统的性别角色和偏见。
汉英谚语的文化内涵也有所不同。汉语谚语深受儒家文化影响，强调道德、 礼仪，人际关系和修身养性。如“滴水之恩，涌泉相报”表达感恩回报的思想。 英语谚语则强调个人主义、自由和竞争，如“No pain, no gain.”（无苦无甜） 反映了努力付出才有回报的观念。
使用场景
汉英谚语的使用场景大多与日常生活、工作、社交场合密切相关。汉语谚语 在传统节日、风俗习惯、民间信仰等方面应用广泛。如“礼到人心暖，无礼讨人 嫌”表达礼仪的重要性。英语谚语则在日常生活的方方面面发挥作用，如“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”（每天一苹果，医生远离我）提醒人 们注意健康饮食。
1、文化背景引入：介绍汉英谚语的背景和出处，帮助学生了解中英文化传 统和价值观的差异。
试析谚语中的性别歧视
读与写杂志Read and Write Periodical 2011年6月第8卷第6期Vol.8No.6June2011语言是文化的载体，是人类思维的工具；语言是现实世界的一面镜子，能够真实地反映各种社会习俗及价值观念。
而作为语言中的精华，谚语更是浓缩了文化的内涵。
谚语是一个民族的经验，真理和智慧的结晶，反映了特定时期人们具有的特定社会文化，生活，习俗及思维方式。
英语谚语源远流长，记录了不同时代劳动人民的经验和智慧。
它的来源极为广泛，从民间传说到文学作品，从自然现象到宗教信仰，不同时代，不同阶层人民的经验智慧和心得体会都浓缩在当时的谚语中。
自古以来，涉及女性的谚语非常之多，但总体而言，赞扬女性，具有积极意义的不多，大多为贬低女性，反映女性的从属地位，劣势地位。
这就是说在英语谚语中存在性别歧视现象。
以下谚语中就含有明显贬低，歧视女性的词汇和语义特征。
在古代，鼓吹女子的美德就是对男人绝对服从。
男性常与bear，tiger，lion等强类动物词打比方，而女性用bird，chick，kitten等词显示年轻，漂亮，温柔和可爱。
Women in state affairs are like monkeys in glass-houses.(女人处理国家大事如同猴子闯人玻璃店摸不着头脑。
)这句谚语表明女人遇上国家大事就如同玻璃屋里的猴子一样笨拙，不知所措。
实际上这句谚语从另一个角度颂扬了男性的智慧，倡导男性对国家事务的主宰。
女人常被形容成“泼妇”，“长舌妇”。
例如:Many women，many words;Many geese，many turds.(鹅的屎多，女人的话多。
)Women and geese want no noise.(女人象鹅，叽叽喳喳闹得很。
)英语谚语中形容女性话多时，经常把女性比作边走边叫苦，让人心烦的“鹅”，暗指女性爱喋喋不休，婆婆妈妈。
因此，从以上例句我们可以看出英语谚语认为女性智力低下。
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从英语谚语探究性别歧视现象作者：杨童瑶来源：《中国校外教育·高教（下旬）》2013年第09期本文主要借助英语谚语，从社会地位与家庭地位、性格弱点以及传统意义上对女性的要求等三个角度，深入探索英语谚语中女性受歧视的现象，剖析性别歧视产生的根源，关注性别歧视的发展变化，旨在引起人们对女性受歧视现象的重视，从而推动语言改革，以期实现真正的男女平等。
英语谚语性别歧视产生根源发展和变化一、引言英国作家佩恩曾指出：“民族之智慧在其谚语”。
谚语是一个民族经验与智慧的概括与总结，其内容精辟，寓意深邃，具有广泛的感染力，从中能折射出整个民族所特有的地理、历史、社会观念、生活哲理等丰富的文化内涵。
众所周知，男尊女卑的思想古来有之，人类文化中包含着这种观念，自然就会体现在谚语中，也就形成了谚语中的性别歧视。
丹麦著名的语言学家叶斯柏森（Jespersen）早在1923年出版的《英语的发展和结构》一书中就指出：“英语是他所熟悉的所有语言中最男性化的语言。
”英语谚语作为英语语言的精华，也就反映出英语语言男性化这一特点。
二、性别歧视在英语谚语中的具体表现英语中涉及女性的谚语很多，但内容大多体现了女性低下的社会地位和家庭从属地位、性格弱点及传统意义上对女性的要求。
下面就从这三个角度分别举例予以说明。
1.社会地位和家庭地位长期的社会生活使得人们对男人和女人在社会和家庭中的地位持有不平等的看法，女人的地位远在男人之下。
如：Man， woman and devil are three degrees of comparison.（男人、女人和魔鬼，三个等级分贵贱。
）A woman， a dog and a walnut tree， the more you beat them， the better they’ll be.（拳脚之下出好妻，棍棒之下有义犬，胡桃敲打多结果。
）A man of straw is worth of a woman of gold. （稻草男儿抵得上金玉女子。
）这些具有浓厚大男子主义色彩的英语谚语充分体现了女性受歧视、受欺凌的社会地位和家庭地位，反映出“男尊女卑”“重男轻女”等传统观念以及人们的社会价值观。
2.性格弱点英语谚语常常把女性描绘成软弱、多变、饶舌、缺乏智慧与判断力，甚至搬弄是非的恶毒之人，因而英文单词women也有了“脆弱、反复无常、爱慕虚荣、爱说闲话、恶毒、无知”等贬低女性的内涵意义。
如《哈姆雷特》中经典台词：Frailty， thy name is woman.（脆弱啊，你的名字是女人。
）又如，Women are wavering as the wind. （女人心思犹如风之多变。
） Many women， many words； many geese， many turds.（鹅的屎多，女人的话多。
） Women are the devil’s nets. （女人是万恶之源。
）Women have long hair and short brains. （女人头发长，见识短。
）显然，这些英语谚语刻意突出女性的性格弱点，含有强烈的歧视与贬低之义。
按理说男人和女人在性格方面，不能一概而论。
然而在实际生活中，却出现了以上的性别歧视现象。
在汉语文化中，若男性琐碎话多、优柔寡断，人们也会用“娘”“婆婆妈妈”等女性指称来形容，可见汉语中也存在着严重的性别歧视现象。
3.传统要求在男性占主导、女性受支配的社会中，男子高高在上，女子则处于被观赏和被品位的地位。
传统意义上对女性的要求，很多英语谚语都有所体现，如Silence is the best ornament of a woman.（女子文静，不须治容。
）A goodwife and health are a man’s best wealth.（贤妻与健康是丈夫最佳财富。
）不难看出，传统意义要求女人不仅要品貌兼备、贤良淑德，满足男性的欲望，更要维护男性的权威地位。
三、英语谚语中性别歧视产生的根源语言作为社会的一面镜子，能够折射出人们的社会观念和价值取向。
社会中的性别歧视真实地反映在英语谚语中，但性别歧视产生的根源并不在语言本身，而是由历史因素、文化意识、社会角色与地位、圣人的言词等多方面共同导致的。
1.历史因素作为一种社会现象，性别歧视的产生有其历史根源。
早在人类社会初期，男女生来平等。
到母系氏族社会时期，女性居统治地位，在物质生产中发挥着重要作用，这也为其受到社会尊重奠定了经济基础。
随着生产力的发展和私有制的出现，男性的经济地位迅速上升，女性在社会生产中的作用减弱，母系氏族制最终被父系氏族制取代，从此男人成了社会的主宰，反居统治地位；女人只是男人的附属品，退化为生殖工具，进而变成歧视的对象。
正如恩格斯在《家庭、私有制和国家的起源》中所说，“母权制的被推翻……丈夫在家中也掌握了权柄，而妻子则被贬低，被奴役，变成丈夫的奴隶，变成生孩子的简单工具了。
”“在家庭中，丈夫是资产者，妻子则相当于无产阶级。
”2.文化意识影响（宗教思想）英语文化中男优女劣、男尊女卑的意识在英语谚语中得到充分的体现。
在基督教盛行的西方文化中，《圣经》的地位举足轻重，在固定了人们“精神法典”的同时，也灌输了性别歧视的观念。
《旧约？创世纪》中描述说，上帝首先创造了第一个男人亚当，怕他寂寞，才用其一根肋骨做了女人夏娃，这就意味着女人天生是男人的附属。
而且，夏娃违反上帝禁令，偷吃禁果，使人类陷入苦难，自此女性便成了一切罪恶的根源。
《圣经》的故事揭示了千百年来潜藏在西方人心中的顽固偏见。
英文中阴性代词“she”中的字母“s”象征着伊甸园中的蛇，加在阳性代词“he”前就构成了“she”，且female和woman都是直接在male和man的基础上派生出来。
由此可见，宗教文化在社会价值体系中起到了重要的作用，在一定程度上强化了女性次于男性的观念。
3.社会角色与地位女性低下的社会地位和有限的权力也是导致性别歧视产生的原因之一。
千百年来，社会分工的不同使得男性和女性在社会和家庭中扮演着不同的传统角色：男主外，占主导地位，代表权利掌控一切；女主内，居从属地位，活动范围仅限于家庭。
Layoff曾在LanguageandWomen’sPlace一书中评论道：“最终结果是妇女被剥夺了拥有权力的资格，理由是妇女在她们的言谈举止中处处表现出她们没有掌握权力的能力。
具有讽刺意义的是，由于社会的影响，妇女也意味着她们的智力或受教育程度不如男性，该受到如此对待。
”4.圣人思想和言词影响除宗教、历史等因素外，圣人的思想和言词也对性别歧视的产生造成了一定的影响。
圣人们备受推崇的权威和地位使其言论拥有了一股无形而强大的控制力，支配着人们的观念。
柏拉图曾说：“女人、奴隶和下等人都不应该为高等人所模仿，懦弱的或者不义的人，在来生要变成女人。
”亚里士多德也表示，“女人是一种自然的残缺，正常的人类胚胎在正常条件下都发育成男人，只有那些遭受病理或其他因素侵袭而残缺不全的胚胎，最后才变成女人。
”毕达哥拉斯则认为：“世上善的法则创造了秩序、光明和男人，而恶的法则创造了混乱、黑暗和女人。
”这些言词都明显地表达了对女性的歧视和贬低，但却因是圣人的言词而在人们之间广泛传播。
因此，圣人们的思想和言词也是促使性别歧视语出现的渊源之一。
四、英语语言性别歧视的发展变化20世纪60年代以来，随着女权运动在西方再度兴起，整个英语世界展开了一场消除性别歧视的文字改革运动，对英语语言的发展产生了深刻的影响。
概括起来，英语语言性别歧视现象的变化和发展主要体现在以下四个方面：一是避免阳性代词的泛指现象，用he/she，him/her，his/her代替he，him，his；或用第三人称复数形式they，them，their来代替；或使用不定代词someone，one，each等。
二是创造中性化新词代替原来的阳性名词，如用spokesperson代替spokesman，chairperson取代chairman，humankind代替mankind等，以此来体现男女平等的社会地位。
三是采用阳性名词对应的阴性名词，比如businesswoman-businessman，policewoman-policeman，postwoman-postman等。
四是女性称谓上的变化。
如今Ms已广泛用于称呼成年女性，与Mr相对应，既可表示Miss，也可表示Mrs，而不显示当事人的婚姻状况。
女权运动多年的努力使得女性的地位迅速崛起，新词、新拼写、新意义的运用也为女性寻求了一片新的话语空间。
当然，一些女权运动的过激分子也有矫枉过正之嫌，例如把history 改成hertory，这也很难为社会所接受。
五、结论语言是文化的载体。
英语谚语中的性别歧视现象真实地反映了传统文化对女性的蔑视和偏见。
但随着社会的进步和妇女解放运动的不断推动，人们对女性的传统观念已在改变，一些旧时歧视和侮辱性的谚语正逐渐淡化出人们的视野。
坚信在彻底消除了社会中存在的性别歧视观念，实现男女平等之后，英语谚语中的性别歧视内容也必将消失。
参考文献：[1]Jespersen，O.The Growth and Structure of the English Language[M].New York：Norton，1923.[2]Lakoff，R. Language and Women’s Place [M].New York：Harper &Row，1975.8-10.[3]恩格斯.家庭、私有制和国家的起源[M].北京：中国社会出版社，2001.51-53.[4]杨永林.性别歧视在谚语中的表现[J].外语教学与研究，1987，（2）：39-43.[5]张丽娜.英语谚语中的性别歧视[J].考试周刊，2010，（30）：106-107.。