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【Abstract】Sexism， broadly speaking， refers to the gender bias. In most cases， such a bias manifests as the discrimination against women， which exists worldwide in all aspects of social life， including linguistic discrimination. For the purpose of exploring linguistic discrimination， this paper is devoted to the study of the causes of sexism in the English language. To start with， the paper analyses the phenomena of sexism in English by means of illustration. Then the thesis traces the reasons for the occurrence of sexism in the English language in three parts： religion reason， social and economic reason， political and cultural reason.
【Key words】Sexism; phenomenon; causes
【作者簡介】华晓宇，长安大学外语学院，硕士研究生，研究方向：英语新闻写作。
Sexism， broadly speaking， is bias of a certain gender， while such bias usually refers to the discrimination against females. In English， sexism refers to a linguistic phenomenon that some English expressions reflect sexist views about the differences between men and women through the prejudicial use of certain words. This paper is going to provide a systematic analysis on the causes of sexism from regional and social aspects.
1. Religion reason
Sexism in English vocabulary does not exist naturally， but is caused by a certain kind of culture and changes along with the changes of culture. In the western culture， the religious language─ the Holy Bible and traditions have often negatively excluded and discriminated against women. Both in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible， women are often imperceptible. For instance， Jacob’s daughters， Rebecca， Lea， Rachel and Dina are not mentioned as the descendants of Jesus’ ancestors. Even if they are ever mentioned in the texts， they are described as the property of men.
The New Testament of The Holy Bible plainly approved woman’s attachment to men. “Wives， submit yourselves unto your husbands， as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife， even as Christ is the head of the Church……Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ， so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” （Ephesians 22-24）
The Lord God created man first and made woman from one of man’s ribs. From the order of the birth， it is obvious to know that woman is only part of man， which indeed is a kind of discrimination against woman. Even worse， woman is always related to evils， trouble， sins， and weakness and so on. Holy Bible influences western culture and social values so deeply that it is seen as the origin of sexism in English. Since Christianity is such a powerful religion in western countries， it inevitably helps to set and consolidate the inferior position of women. 2. Social economic reason
2.1 Labor division
Both the Western and Eastern societies pay attention to gender， to one degree or another， in allocating tasks， activities， rights， and responsibilities. As for the job done by men and women， there is a long-stereotyped notion of what they can do. It is the unequal status among men and women that led to sex discrimination. Early in matriarchal society， women had a higher social status than men because they played the dominant role in economic production. With the development of productivity， men turned from fishing and hunting to agriculture and breed. Because men were stronger than women， and also it took women much time and efforts to bear children， men had dominance over women gradually， and women had to depend on men to survive. Hence， in paternal society， slavery society and capitalist society， women’s status had been on the bottom level of society. Later， in addition to domestic work， women began to take the outside paid work. However， even though half of women are employed outside the home， the belief that woman is mainly and primarily in the roles of wife and mother persists.
The traditional conception of breadwinning men and homemaking women is still widely spread in Europe and America even after the industrialization. Women are treated as the weaker part against men and they could only realize their own values by their marriage with men. Though women liberation movements are carried out， though women are struggling for higher social status， though women’s roles in the society are becoming more and more important， there still is a long way for women to go to change their present social status. Due to women’s relative physical weakness and lower educational background， they primarily take the low social status and do low-paying jobs. Although men also have family roles， they are defined firstly by their economic or occupational position.
2.2 Socialization
Socialization begins with birth. Children are typically dressed in either pink， or blue， which initially sets girl and boys apart. Parents actively impart their own learned and observed sense of what it means to be male or female to their children， thereby creating much personality and behavioral patterns. For instance， parents will stop a crying boy immediately and ask him not to cry anymore because in their minds men will be laughed at if they cry. Contrarily， people sympathize females if they cry. These differences continue as they receive subsequent reinforcement through school education， literature and the mass media， which help both men and women define their “place” in adult society. Educationists have been concerned about sexism in print resources， which provided in school education. For instance， in textbooks， the predominance of male examples may suggest children that science is the field created for male. In children’s literature， girls and boys are frequently differently depicted. Girls are pictured as kind， attractive and serving， while boys are pictured as adventuresome and strong.
Furthermore， socialization through the mass media begins even earlier than socialization in the educational system. Through nursery rhymes such as “Little Miss Muffet” and “Jack Be Nimble” children learn that girls should be fearful and boys should be active and adventurous. Through fairy tales and Disney movies such as Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella， children learn that females succeed by being beautiful， obedient， passive and subordinate to men; only in this way can they marry and live happily even after. What’s more， most people spend a lot of time watching TV and reading newspapers everyday. So few people escape exposure to the vivid and recurrent patterns of images， information and values in the world of mass media， among which some are sex-biased. A survey of American television programs indicated that only 22% of the characters shown working outside the home were female. Most often women were presented in terms of relationships， such as lover， wife， or mother. Thus television has encouraged and reinforced the inequalities between men and women.
2.3 Political and cultural reason
Because women become housewives or lack economic power， they have been removed away from political life. In United State Constitution made and taken effect by males， ‘he’ was the only word to describe explanatory articles related to the election eligibility of member of the US House of Representatives， senator and president， because there was no ‘she’ in United State Constitution at that time. That is the reason why in 1888， when the first woman， Shirley Chisholm took part in the election of president， people felt it unacceptable， and thought that women should got out of policy. In reality， now in the United States， women nearly take up fifty percent of the general population; however， very few of them have the chance to mount the political stage. So far there has not been a female president; even female members of US House of Representatives or female senators are few and far between. The low political status of women must be reflected in vocabulary， and a great number of sexism words emerge. We can say that women’s low-grade political status is the main cause of sexism in English vocabulary. There are different customs and conceptions in different counties. But discrimination against women is common in the world. Social customs formulate women to be gentle and soft， small and weak， tamed and so on. Females are being forced to retain their inferior and obedient status in society. They have to submit to men and sacrifice themselves to men to help them succeed. “A woman must regard her husband as her king and serve him with her highest adoration. Submitting is the most important and persistent obligation of a woman.”（Lackoff 67）
3. Conclusion
According to the study above we come to profoundly understand about the origin of sexism in English vocabulary in western culture. However， great effort has to be done on the elimination of sexism in Language， which needs a long period. It can predict that along with the women’s liberation movement， women’ status will rise day by day and the sexism in English Language will gradually disappear.
References：
[1]Holy Bible. 中国基督教协会出版社[M].2000.
[2]Hudson， R. A. Sociolinguistic[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.
[3]Cheshire， Jenny. The Relationship between Language and Sex in English[M]. London： Academic press，1984.
[4]Lakoff，
【Key words】Sexism; phenomenon; causes
【作者簡介】华晓宇，长安大学外语学院，硕士研究生，研究方向：英语新闻写作。
Sexism， broadly speaking， is bias of a certain gender， while such bias usually refers to the discrimination against females. In English， sexism refers to a linguistic phenomenon that some English expressions reflect sexist views about the differences between men and women through the prejudicial use of certain words. This paper is going to provide a systematic analysis on the causes of sexism from regional and social aspects.
1. Religion reason
Sexism in English vocabulary does not exist naturally， but is caused by a certain kind of culture and changes along with the changes of culture. In the western culture， the religious language─ the Holy Bible and traditions have often negatively excluded and discriminated against women. Both in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible， women are often imperceptible. For instance， Jacob’s daughters， Rebecca， Lea， Rachel and Dina are not mentioned as the descendants of Jesus’ ancestors. Even if they are ever mentioned in the texts， they are described as the property of men.
The New Testament of The Holy Bible plainly approved woman’s attachment to men. “Wives， submit yourselves unto your husbands， as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife， even as Christ is the head of the Church……Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ， so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” （Ephesians 22-24）
The Lord God created man first and made woman from one of man’s ribs. From the order of the birth， it is obvious to know that woman is only part of man， which indeed is a kind of discrimination against woman. Even worse， woman is always related to evils， trouble， sins， and weakness and so on. Holy Bible influences western culture and social values so deeply that it is seen as the origin of sexism in English. Since Christianity is such a powerful religion in western countries， it inevitably helps to set and consolidate the inferior position of women. 2. Social economic reason
2.1 Labor division
Both the Western and Eastern societies pay attention to gender， to one degree or another， in allocating tasks， activities， rights， and responsibilities. As for the job done by men and women， there is a long-stereotyped notion of what they can do. It is the unequal status among men and women that led to sex discrimination. Early in matriarchal society， women had a higher social status than men because they played the dominant role in economic production. With the development of productivity， men turned from fishing and hunting to agriculture and breed. Because men were stronger than women， and also it took women much time and efforts to bear children， men had dominance over women gradually， and women had to depend on men to survive. Hence， in paternal society， slavery society and capitalist society， women’s status had been on the bottom level of society. Later， in addition to domestic work， women began to take the outside paid work. However， even though half of women are employed outside the home， the belief that woman is mainly and primarily in the roles of wife and mother persists.
The traditional conception of breadwinning men and homemaking women is still widely spread in Europe and America even after the industrialization. Women are treated as the weaker part against men and they could only realize their own values by their marriage with men. Though women liberation movements are carried out， though women are struggling for higher social status， though women’s roles in the society are becoming more and more important， there still is a long way for women to go to change their present social status. Due to women’s relative physical weakness and lower educational background， they primarily take the low social status and do low-paying jobs. Although men also have family roles， they are defined firstly by their economic or occupational position.
2.2 Socialization
Socialization begins with birth. Children are typically dressed in either pink， or blue， which initially sets girl and boys apart. Parents actively impart their own learned and observed sense of what it means to be male or female to their children， thereby creating much personality and behavioral patterns. For instance， parents will stop a crying boy immediately and ask him not to cry anymore because in their minds men will be laughed at if they cry. Contrarily， people sympathize females if they cry. These differences continue as they receive subsequent reinforcement through school education， literature and the mass media， which help both men and women define their “place” in adult society. Educationists have been concerned about sexism in print resources， which provided in school education. For instance， in textbooks， the predominance of male examples may suggest children that science is the field created for male. In children’s literature， girls and boys are frequently differently depicted. Girls are pictured as kind， attractive and serving， while boys are pictured as adventuresome and strong.
Furthermore， socialization through the mass media begins even earlier than socialization in the educational system. Through nursery rhymes such as “Little Miss Muffet” and “Jack Be Nimble” children learn that girls should be fearful and boys should be active and adventurous. Through fairy tales and Disney movies such as Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella， children learn that females succeed by being beautiful， obedient， passive and subordinate to men; only in this way can they marry and live happily even after. What’s more， most people spend a lot of time watching TV and reading newspapers everyday. So few people escape exposure to the vivid and recurrent patterns of images， information and values in the world of mass media， among which some are sex-biased. A survey of American television programs indicated that only 22% of the characters shown working outside the home were female. Most often women were presented in terms of relationships， such as lover， wife， or mother. Thus television has encouraged and reinforced the inequalities between men and women.
2.3 Political and cultural reason
Because women become housewives or lack economic power， they have been removed away from political life. In United State Constitution made and taken effect by males， ‘he’ was the only word to describe explanatory articles related to the election eligibility of member of the US House of Representatives， senator and president， because there was no ‘she’ in United State Constitution at that time. That is the reason why in 1888， when the first woman， Shirley Chisholm took part in the election of president， people felt it unacceptable， and thought that women should got out of policy. In reality， now in the United States， women nearly take up fifty percent of the general population; however， very few of them have the chance to mount the political stage. So far there has not been a female president; even female members of US House of Representatives or female senators are few and far between. The low political status of women must be reflected in vocabulary， and a great number of sexism words emerge. We can say that women’s low-grade political status is the main cause of sexism in English vocabulary. There are different customs and conceptions in different counties. But discrimination against women is common in the world. Social customs formulate women to be gentle and soft， small and weak， tamed and so on. Females are being forced to retain their inferior and obedient status in society. They have to submit to men and sacrifice themselves to men to help them succeed. “A woman must regard her husband as her king and serve him with her highest adoration. Submitting is the most important and persistent obligation of a woman.”（Lackoff 67）
3. Conclusion
According to the study above we come to profoundly understand about the origin of sexism in English vocabulary in western culture. However， great effort has to be done on the elimination of sexism in Language， which needs a long period. It can predict that along with the women’s liberation movement， women’ status will rise day by day and the sexism in English Language will gradually disappear.
References：
[1]Holy Bible. 中国基督教协会出版社[M].2000.
[2]Hudson， R. A. Sociolinguistic[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.
[3]Cheshire， Jenny. The Relationship between Language and Sex in English[M]. London： Academic press，1984.
[4]Lakoff，