Abstract

Sex discrimination exists in all the social systems and countries, and as a common social phenomenon, it is surly reflected in language. This paper lists out different forms of sex discrimination in English and Chinese languages, analyses the social and cultural causes of such phenomenon and summarizes the corresponding methods of eliminating sex discrimination in English and Chinese speaking.

Key words: English & Chinese languages; sex discrimination; causes; solutions

摘要

性别歧视在不同的社会制度和国家中都不同程度地存在。而作为一种普遍的社会现象，自然会在语言中得到折射。本文介绍了英语和中文中的性别歧视语的种种表现形式，分析了这种现象产生的社会原因和文化根源，并总结了在语言运用过程中消除性别歧视的方法。

关键词: 英汉语言；性别歧视;产生原因；解决方法
 
1 Introduction

Language is the carrier of the culture, as the peculiar result of the development of human society, language is a kind of social phenomenon and reflects all the sides of human society naturally. Sex discrimination in society is thus inevitably reflected in several aspects. Sex discrimination is closely linked with social attitudes of human beings and to a great extent is affected by their social views and values. Although women have achieved equal status in the aspects of law and politics, there still exist deep-rooted thought that women should be subject to men historically and sociologically. And as we all know, our society is still man–centered and women are still regarded as a weaker sex in society, every aspect of which is dominated by men. The phenomenon of sex discrimination reflected in languages can not be simply regarded to be linguistic matters. In other words, Language is closely related to society where they exist in, and the two terms interact with each other. In linguistic aspect, languages are bias-based and women always suffer from language discriminations. Sex-differentiated language use can reflect and help perpetuate the subordinate status of women in the society. Since 1960s, feminists have striven for the elimination of sex discrimination, for the great recognition of women’s contributions to the society and aim to change many cultural and social customs that perpetuate patriarchal value systems. Many fields of life around the world have been, or are being, affected by this movement. One of the most important points is its impact on language. Languages were and are seen by many feminists as a powerful instrument of against patriarchy.