I like to think of myself as a happy woman. I also like to think of myself as a lover of walking, and as a fairly worldly and easy-going person who likes to meet people regardless of their gender, and loves to have meaningful conversations. But to describe myself as the above, in Bangladesh, would be to some to call myself a “fallen woman.”
All of those terms when attributed to men carry no sexual connotations, but if those characteristics are attributed to women, suddenly the meaning transforms. Patriarchal society deems a woman who goes out walking, comes back home late, or who looks happy, or knows the world, must also be highly sexually active, and these are then attributed to her dignity.
Some experts believe that language may perpetuate covert sexism, which is often the result of cultural remnants from a time when patriarchy was stronger, or at least less challenged, than it is today. When it comes to achieving gender equality, are our mother languages a stumbling block? Is language just a reflection of society, or does it contribute to the formation of our worldview, altering our behavior?
There has been a fair amount of writing exploring the links among language, gender, and power. For instance, there are lexical differences in the way we talk about men with power, versus women with power. We use different words to describe similar or identical behaviour by men and by women.
Words like dushchoritra, for example. There are no equivalents for men. There are words with negative connotations for men who do not dominate “their” women -- “ghar jamai” and “bou er achol e badha,” among them. There is no female counterpart to these terms in Bangla, implying that women are expected to be subservient to their husbands, but if they are opinionated and see themselves as equal partners to their husbands, they are labelled as “immoral women” once again.
Another example is the way our language expresses emotion. While both women and men are constrained in their ability to express emotions, the restrictions on both seem to be intended to exacerbate the power imbalance. Until recently, males were not allowed to weep or show sorrow, while women were prohibited from expressing rage and use curse words. However, sadness is seen as a statement of weakness and helplessness; rage is a show of strength. Thus, these “rules” increase male authority and encourage female helplessness.
Terms used to describe women are often devaluing (eg, madam, mistress, upostree/ protipalita beshya). Male equivalents of these words often have more positive connotations. The language used to describe women not only sexualizes women, but also constructs them as passive objects.
Another language experiment could be to present native speakers of standard Bangla with pairs of syntactically and lexically identical phrases that differ only in the choice of a meaningless particle, and ask them to identify which phrase was uttered by a man and which by a woman.
Consider the following:
(a) Dhetteri, tumi chinabadam fridge e rakhte bhule giyecho.
(b) Dhuro ****, tumi chinabadam fridge e rakhte bhule geso.
It is reasonable to assume that the first phrase would be classified as “women’s language” and the second as “men’s language.” While it is true that many self-respecting women are growing more comfortable publicly using phrases like (b), this is a very new development, and while the majority of our society condones the usage of (b) for males, most would still oppose its use by women.
It is worth noting that women are increasingly using men’s language, but men, (with few exceptions) are not adopting women’s language This is comparable to the fact that women seek men’s professions, yet few men hurry to become housewives or secretaries. The language and non-linguistic conduct of the preferred group, the group in power, are usually adopted by the other group, not vice versa.
Language organizes thinking and establishes cultural norms. The words we say have the ability to change our thinking in subtle, sub-conscious ways, which in turn have the ability to impact our behaviour. Language is by its very nature dynamic and always changing. In addition, language is gendered, and as a result, it plays an important role in human cognition and behaviour, since it is one of the most frequent processes through which gender is created and reinforced.
The gender distinctions in some languages are not systematically marked, while others use pronouns to distinguish between male and female. Some languages go even further, extending the gender distinction to inanimate objects.
Gendered language shapes our sense of what it means to be equal. Our understanding of women’s responsibilities is shaped by gendered language, which has a direct effect on women’s involvement in all areas of society. As shown by the research, the use of gendered language may contribute to the marginalization of women in the workplace, hinder their educational achievement, promote conventional gender roles, and encourage harmful traditional behaviours. It may also be used to empower women, improve their careers, and promote equality between men and women.
There are many areas in which we need long-term commitment and substantial resources in order to make meaningful progress toward gender equality. Gender-inclusive language, on the other hand, is not one of them. We can all get started right away. Changing our language is a simple and gratifying step that everyone can take to foster gender equality in society.
Sayeda Karim is an independent researcher working on environment, climate change, and gender.
