Question 1

Grammatical Genders

Accepted Answer

English doesn’t have a grammatical gender as French, German and many other languages do. "Le crayon" (French masculine) and "la table" (French feminine), for example. English speakers might consider it peculiar to think of a crayon as masculine or a table as feminine. On the other hand, stereotypical gender conventions probably make it easy to envisage a rose as feminine. And instrument is a common noun so is naturally suited to being gender-neutral, though we could probably think of types of instrument that we would classify as feminine or masculine! This is the result of social conditioning rather than distinctions being hardwired into our language.

Question 2

Gendered Language

Accepted Answer

Which is the better term for a female who acts, actor or actress? Ascribing a male designation to supposedly gender-neutral terms is just one of the ways in which gender permeates our language. Similarly, it is all too common for speakers or writers to use the gender-specific noun when stipulation is not required, e.g. asking ‘Have you seen a policeman?’ instead of ‘Have you seen a police officer?’ Some people might construe this as a natural habit that causes no harm; others would go so far as to describe an insistence on gender-neutral terms as ‘political correctness gone mad’. However, at what point does a trickle of examples turn into a flood that makes women feel discriminated against by their own language?

Question 3

Why it Matters

Accepted Answer

Just as Adam holds primacy over Eve because she was created from one of his ribs, grammatical and syntactical rules are built in a way that feminine terms usually derive from the corresponding masculine form. To avoid treating women like second-class citizens we need to be aware (however implicit) of the functions and effects of language.

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