Sexism in English and Vietnamese 1
Sexism in English and Vietnamese: A Contrastive Analysis
Student: Phạm Thị Thanh Xuân
4B08
Lecturer: Bùi Nguyên Khánh
December 2011
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 2
Abstract
By the typical definition, sexist language includes words and phrases that
devalue, ignore, or stereotype members of either sex or that needlessly call attention to
gender. In most cases, the discrimination is against women. This paper is intended to
cast an eye on sexism in English and Vietnamese as well as some major comparative
considerations. The paper is ended with a part of teaching implications where I put
some recommendations for teaching and using of nonsexist language, particularly
focusing on a certain number of gender sensitive English words and phrases.
Sexism in English
The ‘masculine’ pronouns: he, him, his
Generally, the 'masculine' pronouns such as he, him and his are used
automatically when the sex of the person is unknown. This is because in English, there
is no third singular pronoun which is non-gender-specific or gender-neutral. The abuse
of using these male pronouns in writing and speaking is really confusing and inaccurate.
More seriously, it shows sex discrimination by making women invisible and assuming
that all the subjects are male. Such a notion is reflected in the following examples:
The driver should take his completed registration form to the window and pay his
registration fee.
When a student writes a paper, he must proofread carefully.
When a reporter covers a controversial story, he has a responsibility to present both
sides of the issue.
Each student should bring his notebook to class every day.
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 3
Everyone packed his own lunch.
If a customer has a complaint, send him to the service desk.
The handicapped child may be able to feed himself.
The individual is strongly influenced by his family’s values.
The generic use of man
In the past, maybe since the time Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of
Independence “all men are created equal…”, the word man was truly a generic word
referring to all humans. Nowadays, its meaning has become much narrow that it is
closely identified with adult male human beings only. However, many English users may
find it hard to abandon the habit of using words, phrases and terms containing man or
sometimes father, brother to refer to functions that may be performed by individuals of
either sex because such a male-oriented habit has deeply rooted in them for so long.
The genetic use of man unfairly excludes women in categories that they could definitely
undertake and get high achievements. Also, it is another strong evidence of sexism
existing in modern English. Below are some examples:
mankind, men
man's achievements
the best man for the job
man-made
the common man
nine man-hours
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 4
businessman
fireman
mailman
policeman
congressman
working men, workmen
forefather
manhood
founding fathers
manpower
brotherhood of man
statesmanship
anchorman
cameraman
chairman
craftsmen
fishermen
foremen
pressmen
salesman
spokesman
sportsmen
watchmen
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 5
weatherman
Feminine suffixes: -ette, -ess, -trix, -enne
Gender inequality is also reflected through the use of feminine suffixes added to
occupational nouns and job titles such as actor and actress, usher and usherette, etc.
Feminine suffixes unnecessarily refer to the person's sex, suggest triviality,
unimportance, or inferiority of women holding such a position. Considering the following
instances:
manager
Manageress
prince
Princess
god
Goddess
author
Authoress
mayor
Mayoress
count
Countess
shepherd
Shepherdess
host
Hostess
steward
Stewardess
poet
Poetess
usher
Usherette
heir
Heiress
sailor
Sailorette
hero
Heroine
conduct
Conductett
actor
Actress
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 6
poet
Poetess
priest
Priestess
waiter
Waitress
aviator
Aviatrix
comedian
Comedienne
executors
Executrixes
proprietor
Proprietress
suffragist
Suffragette
Sex-linked modifiers
People psychologically conceive that persons who achieve success are
supposed to be males. Women who get famous are supposed to be exception.
Although some words about profession, such as doctor, lawyer, reporter, attendant,
etc. are natural words, people only connect them with men owning to longtime habits.
When women work in these fields, it seems that they are always added some modifiers
showing their different sex from men. Then, woman doctor, lady lawyer, girl reporter,
etc. come into being. The use of sex-linked modifiers implies that women are
incompetent and have to be men’s shadows. Here are some examples:
doctor
woman doctor
professor
woman professor
engineer
woman engineer
lawyer
lady lawyer
reporter
girl reporter
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 7
writer
woman writer
lawyer
female lawyer
athlete
girl athlete
heroes
heroic women
Lack of parallelism
While there is only one title to address a man: Mr., women are defined as either
Miss or Mrs. which implies their marital status. This lack of parallelism unfairly forms
the notion that it is more important for a woman than for a man to show whether they
are married.
In terms of marital status, a man who never gets married is called a bachelor
while to indicate the same situation of a woman, there are up to three terms: single girl,
spinster and old maid which all contain sarcastic connotations.
Gender stereotypes
When people refer to women who hold prestigious occupations such as doctor,
engineer, lawyer, writer, etc., they tend to use woman doctor, woman engineer,
female lawyer, woman writer to show the different sex from men. However, when it
comes to less favorable jobs, there is no need to add woman or female before the job
titles because people would automatically render women as the job occupiers. Whore is
an example. If people say whore, it is automatically understood as a female prostitute.
If they want to talk about a male prostitute, they would use the term male whore. The
man in the street and The woman in the street are rendered in the same way. Even
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 8
though the man and the woman in these sentences are just ordinary persons, the latter
sentence can indicate that she is a prostitute. Below are some other gender-biased job
titles:
house wives (homemakers)
fish wives (fish sellers)
servants, maids (domestic helpers, household helpers)
chambermaids (hotel workers)
Sexism also exists in words and terms used to characterize the two genders.
Men are often described by positive words such as: unemotional, strong, rational,
sensible, independent, dominant, superior, etc. whereas, women are stereotyped as
emotional, weak, irrational, sentimental, dependent, passive, inferior, etc.
Besides, there are many terms which devalue women by comparing them to
types of food to be eaten: tart, sweetie pie, crumpet, honey, dish, sugar, etc.; or to
animals regarded as unpleasant: bitch, cow, dog, shrew, vixen, crow, etc.
Additionally, gender stereotype can be reflected perfectly in proverbs, for
example:
A woman gets thirty percent of her beauty from nature and seventy percent from
makeup.
A woman is like a lemon; you squeeze her and throw her away.
Women have got long hair and short sense.
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 9
A woman’s tongue cracks bones.
A woman has even cheated the devil.
A woman is like a blanket: If you cover yourself with it, it bothers you; if you throw it
aside you will feel the cold.
A woman is like a cup of tea; you'll never know how strong she is until she boils.
A woman is probably at the heart of the quarrel.
A woman keeps secret only what she does not know.
A woman prefers a man without money to money without a man.
A woman talks to one man, looks at another, and thinks about a third.
A woman's tongue is a double edged knife.
A woman's will is God's will.
Etc.
The proverbs above irrespectively diminish women’s dignity by characterizing
them as superficial, troublesome, spiteful, etc. as if they exist on earth to merely do
things to the detriment of men.
Sexism in Vietnamese and some comparative considerations
The ‘masculine’ pronouns
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 10
In Vietnamese, male gender is represented by some masculine pronouns such
as ông, anh, cậu, hắn, thằng, etc. Bà, chị, con, cái, etc. are for females. Different
from English, Vietnamese does possess some nonsexist singular pronouns that can be
applied to both sexes, for example, in the utterance ‘Cậu đi chơi với mình nhé?’, cậu
may refer to a male or a female; or in the utterance ‘Đừng có hỏi hắn, hắn chẳng biết
chi mô.’, hắn is a nonsexist third singular pronoun mainly used by people in central
Vietnam. However, it is not the rule for these gender-neutral pronouns to be exploited in
all cases where the subjects are sex-unspecified. When it comes to formal cases like
newspaper headings, Vietnamese users tend to rely on male pronouns like anh in
‘Doanh nhân, anh là ai?’. If anh is replaced by chị, hắn, or cậu, then ‘Doanh nhân,
chị là ai?’, ‘Doanh nhân, hắn là ai?’ or ‘Doanh nhân, cậu là ai?’ would sound
awkward and inconvenient.
Sex-linked modifiers
Sex-specific modifiers are used in both English and Vietnamese job titles to
discriminate against women by considering them as the exception in some respected
professions. These professions are automatically assumed to belong to males, if
women work in these fields, nữ, a sex-linked modifier, is generally added the same way
woman or female appears in English job titles. Such a sexist norm results in the
existence of nữ bác sĩ, nữ luật sư, nữ thẩm phán, nữ diễn viên, nữ đại sứ, nữ anh
hung, nữ phóng viên, nữ nhà văn, etc.
Lack of parallelism
In English, sex discrimination is reflected through the lack of parallelism in
personal titles. While a woman’s marital status is indicated in her titles, Miss or Mrs., a
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 11
man is never to be known married or not by the title Mr. This norm does not exist in
Vietnamese. However, gender imparallelism makes its appearance in some femaleoriented terms where the equivalents for males are completely absent. For example,
tiết phụ without tiết phu, goá phụ/quả phụ without goá phu/quả phu; trinh nữ
without trinh nam; gái già without trai già, etc.
Gender stereotypes
While the admired jobs titles are implicitly attributed to male gender, less
favorable ones such as gái điếm, bà nội trợ, vú em, bảo mẫu, etc are set aside only
for women.
Sexism also exists in words and terms used to characterize the two genders.
Men are often described by positive words such as: nghiêm nghị, mạnh mẽ, hào hoa,
chững chạc, hào phóng, etc., whereas women are stereotyped as nhiều chuyện, yếu
đuối, lệ thuộc, ủy mị, nhẹ dạ, lẳng lơ, lèm bèm, nhỏ nhen, etc.
Besides, women are extremely devalued by the way they are “exploited” as sex
objects, especially on newspapers. Terms used to describe women’s physical
appearance like gợi cảm, bốc lửa, chân dài, hàng khủng, tậu ngực mới, lộ nội y,
vòng một lấp ló, lưng trần nuột nà, etc. seem to appear more and more frequently.
Additionally, gender stereotype can be reflected perfectly in Vietnamese folk
verses, for example:
Trai khôn năm thê bảy thiếp.
Gái chính chuyên chỉ có một chồng
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 12
Xấu xa cũng thể chồng ta,
Dù cho tốt đẹp cũng ra chồng người.
Chồng ta áo rách ta thương,
Chồng người áo gấm xông hương mặc người.
Đi đâu cho thiếp đi cùng,
Đói no thiếp chịu lạnh lùng thiếp cam.
Chồng giận thì vợ làm lành
Miệng cười hớn hở rằng anh giận gì?
Thưa anh, anh giận em chi,
Muốn cưới vợ bé em thì cưới cho.
Chồng giận thì vợ bớt lời,
Cơm sôi, nhỏ lửa một đời không khê.
Đốt than nướng cá cho vàng,
Lấy tiền mua rượu cho chàng uống chơi.
Thân em như tấm lụa đào,
Phất phơ giữa chợ biết vào tay ai.
Chưa chồng đi dọc, đi ngang,
Có chồng cứ thẳng một đàng mà đi.
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 13
The image of women in these folk verses is unfairly shaped to be weak, patient,
devoted, dependent and loyal to their husbands for the whole life.
In general, stereotypes against women in English and Vietnamese are somehow
identical in the basic and deep-rooted notion that women are always inferior to men
domestically and socially as well.
The generic use of cái
The Vietnamese pair of words đực-cái means male-female in English. Perhaps
the generic use of cái in terms such as con dại cái mang, sông cái, nhà cái, nhụy
cái, ngón cái, đường cái, etc. has created the biggest difference between English and
Vietnamese in terms of sexism. So far, women’s status in English speaking Western
countries are supposed to be more treasured than that in Eastern countries, including
Vietnam. Paradoxically, such treasure has not been reflected in English as it is in
Vietnamese. Sông cái is the main and the biggest river in a river system. Similarly,
đường cái is a major and wide road. Other Vietnamese terms of cái can be interpreted
the same way. Some people may find Vietnamese complicated and inconsistent. It may
be true because in the vast sea of sexist lexicon against women, there are still terms
emphasizing the importance of their role.
Teaching implications
First of all, teachers of languages should raise students’ awareness of the fact
that language is not simply used to communicate ideas, but also to create social
standards and altitudes. From that point, using nonsexist language will help to eliminate
sex discrimination, foster social development, sex equality and fair competition.
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 14
In order to achieve these goals, the teachers themselves must be the very first
persons to use gender neutral terms and phrases, etc. because what educators use
provides an important model for students and the larger community. To put it simply,
when teaching English or Vietnamese we must use terms that include women such as
police officer instead of policeman, chairperson instead of chairman, humankind in
place of mankind, người nội trợ in place of bà nội trợ, người giữ trẻ in place of vú
em, so on and so forth.
But that is insufficient. Students’ life is not restricted to the teacher-student
interaction. Stepping out of the class, they are more likely to get exposed to sexist
language in various circumstances. Thus, teachers or educators play an important role
in equipping their students with a variety of gender neutral terms and phrases so that
they can easily deal with gender-biased language in daily life. Below are some
recommendations for the use of nonsexist English:
Sexist
Nonsexist
mankind, men
humanity, people, human beings
man's achievements
human achievements
the best man for the job
the best person for the job
man-made
synthetic, manufactured, machine-made
the common man
the average person, ordinary people
nine man-hours
nine staff-hours
businessman
business executive
fireman
firefighter
mailman
mail carrier
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 15
policeman, policewoman
police officer
congressman
congressional representative
working men, workmen
workers, wage earners
forefather
ancestor
manhood
adulthood, maturity
founding fathers
founders
manpower
human resources, staff, personnel
brotherhood of man
the family of humanity, the unity of
statesmanship
people
anchorman
diplomacy
cameraman
anchor, anchorperson
chairman
camera operators, cinematographers
craftsmen
chairperson, chair
fishermen
artisans, craft artists, craftpersons
foremen
fishers
pressmen
supervisors
salesman
pressmen, press operators
spokesman
salesperson, sales representative
sportsmen
spokesperson, representative
watchmen
sports enthusiasts
weatherman
guards
manager, manageress
weather reporter, weathercaster
steward, stewardess
manager
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 16
poet, poetess
flight attendent
conduct, conductett
poet
actor, actress
conductor
ballerina
actor
woman doctor
ballet dancer
woman professor
doctor
woman engineer
professor
lady lawyer
engineer
girl reporter
lawyer, attorney
woman writer
reporter
fish wives
writer
servants, maids
fish sellers
housewife
domestic helpers
chambermaids
house keeper
hotel workers
Sexism in English and Vietnamese 17
References
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Sexism in English and Vietnamese 18
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