Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Jennifer Lawrence . . .

The context of this text explains that actress Jennifer Lawrence is both upset and angered after reading the postings from the Sony hack which revealed that she was earning a substantial amount less than her male co-stars in one recent film. The text is a post by Jennifer Lawrence on the social media site facebook, explaining her thoughts and views on this recent discovery. During the post she writes about how she has never talked about feminism much before as she didn't want to seem like she was only talking about an issue because it was ''trending', but the Sony hack seems to have given Lawrence the last push to make her talk about these views and feelings. 

When reading this text I noticed that Jennifer Lawrence has used both some 'male' and 'female' features (according to Robin Lakoff) in her writing. The use of the short sentence ''Fuck that.'' is a typically male way of speaking as it is classed as vulgar behaviour showing frustration. Another way Jennifer Lawrence uses masculine language is when she talks about somebody who worked for her, ''I spoke my mind and gave my opinion in a clear and no-bullshit kind of way'' This type of language is viewed as a typically male way to speak, being blunt and concise with words, according to Lakoff. One sentence in particular at the beginning of the text stands out to me as she has used both a 'male' and 'female' style of speech simultaneously, ''but I fucking forgot, okay?'' This is interesting because according to Robin Lakoff's book 'language and the woman's place' when the word ''fucking'' is used it is seen as a male thing to do often adding to the stereotypical image of masculinity and anger whereas the use of tag questions such as the one Lawrence used '', okay?'' is something stereotypically a woman uses to gain reassurance. This could be a subtle way of showing feminist ideas, by destroying stereotypes set by older views and making speech equally used by men and women. Personally, I do not agree with Robin Lakoff's opinions of spoken language and genders, describing women as detailed, shy and humorless and men as blunt, angry and loud.

Overall, I agree with Jennifer Lawrence's post as it is unfair and incorrect for someone to be paid less than an equal co-star because of their gender. As time goes on and women are becoming very much an equally accepted power in society, why shouldn't women (both highly successful and less well known) be payed as much as men of equal positions in the workplace. However this can be argued against as for the recent film 'american hustle' which is the film in question Jennifer Lawrence worked 19 days, however her male co-stars Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale both worked for 46 and 45 days for double the pay that Lawrence received, as these numbers show she may have just been paid less as she did not work as many days as Cooper and Bale did. Although she wouldn't have earned exactly the same amount if she worked the same hours, the numbers would not be so dramatically different.

Bibliography: 

 http://deadline.com/2015/10/jennifer-lawrences-equal-pay-american-hustle-star-salaries-political-films-1201586975/

Jennifer Lawrence's post source- sheet handed out in class

Saturday, 14 November 2015

Article on accent and dialect . . .

A change in accents and dialect?


As England is a small country many people who do not live here or haven't visited may believe in that classic stereotype of everyone sounding like they live in middle class London. When in actual fact we have an extremely diverse amount of different dialects, which are now growing with more accents being created at increasing rates by mixing several different accents together. 

At this point in time there are a lot more ways for people to move around cities and countries on a regular basis, meaning other parts of the world's languages and accents are heard and remembered by travellers and they then come home and tell friends and family who then begin to use it, this is how it starts, soon after several groups start using a word or phrase and it becomes part of their dialect. The dialects of many cities are growing rapidly because of this and the fact that many places have such a diverse culture. It's not only travel which causes language diversity, the likes of social media, t.v, radio etc all have had a part to play in this dramatic increase.

There are many different types of dialects including Geographical dialect (Where the way you talk depends on your geographical location) and Social dialect (Where the way you speak depends on your class and/or the people you are surrounded by). The main dialects used throughout the UK include: Northern, Cheshire, Cumbrian, Geordie, Lancastrian, Mackem. Mancunian, Northumbrian, Pitmatic, Scouse, Smoggie, Yorkshire, East midlands, West midlands, Black country, Brummie, Potteries, Telford, East anglian, Norfolk, Suffolk, Southern, Received pronunciation, Higher received pronunciation, Cockney, Essaxon, Estuary, Kentish, Multi-cultural London, Sussex, West country, Anglo-cornish, Bristolian, Scottish English, Highland english,Welsh english, Cardiff, Gower, Ulster english, Belfast, Derry, South ulster, Manx english, Guernsey english, Jersey english. Each one of these is a unique way of using the English language, with these being mixed together with accents from other countries our way of communicating with each other becomes more diverse each day.


Bibliography:

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/dialectsofenglish.html   


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language#United_Kingdom

Sunday, 8 November 2015

Language Diversity . . .

Sociolinguistics- The study of Language Diversity, the social variables that influence language ( gender,age,region,ethnicity,occupation).

Sex- What makes someone male or female biologically determined (in relation to their reproductive organs).

Gender- What makes someone maleor female in relation to social/ cultural expectations.

Theory- Based on research not just personal experience/ observation


Group task- language and gender activities

Things men discuss in men only social groups:

Relationships
Gossip

Things women discuss in women only social groups:

Relationships
Appearance
Gossip
Menstruation

Things men and women discuss in mixed gender social groups:

Advice, General topics (tv, music, games, places), Sexuality, Masturbation, Relationships, Food, Education, Work, Family, Friends

What do men want from a conversation with other men:

Validation for actions (reassurance)
Acceptance of masculinity
Banter/ Jokes

What do women want from a conversation with other women:

Emotional support
Validation for actions (reassurance)
Advice

What do men want from a conversation with women:

Emotional support
Advice on the opposite sex

What do women want from a conversation with men:

Compliments
Advice on other sex
To be treated equally

What men use to insult other men:

Gay 
A****e
D**k
C**k
P***y
Girl
F****t

What men use to insult women:

C**t
A*****e
S**t
S**g
W***e
Spoilt

What women use to insult other women:

A****e
S**t
S**g
W***e
Chav

What women use to insult men:

Little S**t
F**k Boy
A*****e
Pig
Chav
Arrogant

Men use language in a competitive way:

Men use more direct statements
Men speak quickly and loudly
Men use insults a lot to assure dominance
Men speak all at once

Women use language to reinforce personal relationships:

Women use language to show they care
Women speak slowly to give reassurance
Women use past experiences to make a situation better
Women use more detail

Monday, 2 November 2015

TED Talks on language

1 Ethan Zuckerman: Listening to global voices

Ethan Zuckerman explains how we often choose to only see things on social media that we have similar interests to or people that we relate with. When talking about the early stages of technology and the internet he says'' the prediction was that the internet was going to be an incredibly powerful force to smooth out cultural differences '' Although when searching online or using social media we may think we are involved with a variety of cultures when infact we are just browsing our own interests and are most likely just viewing images of a place different to where we live which is tricking us into thinking that we are knowledgeable on several cultures/ countries.

2 Jamila Lyiscott: 3 ways to speak English

Jamila Lyiscott show how one person can use the English language in so many different ways, she lists the different 'tongues' that she uses ''Home, School and Friends''. She talks about these types of speech as if they are all completely different languages and she calls herself ''tri-lingual'' suggesting that is is a skill for people to understand and speak these versions of the English language on a daily basis; as many of us do now.

3 John McWhorter: Txting is killing language. JK!!!

John McWhorter explains how texting has enabled us to type text in the way we speak he gives an example using 'LOL'. McWhorter goes on to explain how 'lol' is now used as a way of expressing empathy. One person might text ''I love the font your using, btw'' then a reply from the other reading ''lol thanks gmail is being slow rn'' -This shows empathy towards their feelings about the font being used being terrible.