Sex Differences in Uses and Perceptions of Profanity Selnow, Gary W Sex Roles; Feb 1, 1985; 12, 3; ProQuest pg.

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SEX DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE USE

Over the years scholars have reported a variety of language differences

between the sexes. One of the earliest writers on the topic, Otto Jesperson,
wrote in 1922 that, among other dimensions, women's language differs from
that of men in the selection of vocabulary and formation of sentence struc­
ture. Men swear more, use more slang and coarse language, and are disposed
more to build puns into their speech. In contrast, he claimed that women
avoid "rough" language, use a greater number of euphemisms, and general­
ly have a more limited vocabulary (Jespersen, 1922). In terms of sentence
structure, men develop mere complicated sentences involving imbedded
clauses. Women construct sentences Jespersen described as "a string of
pearls," where thoughts are linked one after the other by conjunctions. He at­
tributed these language differences to the "superior- readiness of the speech
of women," which he described as a female predilection to talk as soon as
she has formed a thought (Jespersen, 1922).
In more recent times Jesperson's opinion-based descriptive method has
been joined by two additional approaches to understanding language differ­
ences between the sexes. In this literature review three sources of hypotheses
on sex differences in language usage are considered: (l) opinions of scholars
based on logic and reason, (2) empirical research based on subjects' percep­
tions of male and female language characteristics (stereotypes), and (3) em­
pirical research on actual male and female language samples. While each
successive approach generally represents a higher level of rigor in analysis,
as this review demonstrates, all three contribute to an understanding of lan­
guage differences.
In a study of language use stereotypes, Kramer (1974) found that sub­
jects of both sexes who were asked to identify cartoon captions as products
of a male or female speaker characterized women's speech according to the
stereotypes of "stupid, vague, emotional, _confused and wordy" (Kramer,
1975). Male speech, on the other hand, was identified by Kramer's subjects
to be logical, concise, businesslike, and in control. Kramer argues that what
people believe about sex differences in language may be as important as any
real differences which may exist. In a content analysis of actual language
samples Gieser et al. (1959) found that females used a greater number of
words implying emotion and feeling, while males selected words relating to
time, space, quantity, and destructive action. Other studies, also based on
actual language samples, have similarly discovered that women's speech ap­
pears to contain a greater emotional component (Wood, 1966; Barron, 1971 ).
Based on a review of published research, case studies, and general observa­
tions, Bernard (I 972), too, recognized emotional features of language used
by women and, in a portion of her book, reviews the nature of these fea­
tures (see Bernard, 1972, Chap. 6).

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