Socio-linguistic reflection of gender : a case of Basotho in Thabo Mofutsanyane district in the Free State province

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between language and gender. Gender, is a term that denotes the distinction: male or female. It is the term that relates to roles which boys and girls, women and men are socialised into, that is their respective and different types of behaviour, attitudes and so on. Further, whilst sex indicates a biological fact or distinction, gender refers to the social stereotypes and expectations of the way in which men and women should and do behave, that is, it describes socially constructed categories and roles based on sex. Theories on women's language suggest that females use a language style that reflects diffidence, shyness, and lower self-confidence, indicating a lack of commitment or strong opinion. One device is euphemism, where a person uses words such as “fudge” or “heck” instead of profanity. Another device is the use of tag questions and hedges, The researcher conducted interviews as sources of data for analytical study. The population comprised of Basotho in the Free State province. Boys and girls, men and women as well as elders were interviewed with regard to the manner in which they speak. The views of different researchers in Chapter two, combined with the results of the empirical study revealed the following about the difference between language and gender. From the foregoing, it is evident that the language of men and women is different. What is evident from this is that from, the cultural approach to language and societal behaviour became apparent because they are trained as part of the societal norms at a young age. Men were speaking with self-confidence and forcefully, whereas women’s language was characterised by hedges and some adjectives to name a few. In most of their responses, men were a bit harsh, and the eye contact was not compromising as they wanted to emphasise male importance in the community. Another observation is that women seemed to be more apologetic when they from time to time respond to this question because at home they are still subservient to men, and if they can boldly reflect their views on this matter, they feel that they may be branded as being opposed to cultural norms.