FOA FOA Part 1 help

[sushichan*-*]

I am planning to do my FOA, which is this Wednesday.. on Gender and Language in the Big Bang Theory. I am still not really sure how I should connect Language with this thing. Although I did think of some things such as the register and style of the characters that can be related to their gender. 

 

Now I am a bit confused, does language affect gender or does gender affect language or some other relationship between them?

 

Another thing is, how am I supposed to put it into cultural context?

[Guest Sonia]

Gender affects language (being sexism, sex inequality or in Big Bang Theory's case the portrayal of women, especially Penny's stereotype)
For cultural context you can talk about how the show is pretty American... And how you can see that through behavior, habits etc. But they still have an international touch to the show (Indian, Jewish culture). I think this is what you could talk about.
For your FOA are you showing a clip from the show or how will you do it?

[sushichan*-*]

Gender affects language (being sexism, sex inequality or in Big Bang Theory's case the portrayal of women, especially Penny's stereotype)

For cultural context you can talk about how the show is pretty American... And how you can see that through behavior, habits etc. But they still have an international touch to the show (Indian, Jewish culture). I think this is what you could talk about.

For your FOA are you showing a clip from the show or how will you do it?

Thanks for the tip! I think I'm going to do the FOA in the most "orthodox" way, I am going to talk about some concepts conveyed in the TV show and give some examples

[Blackcurrant]

I'll add to Supersonic post just a bit here. Prepare for a little lecture (unsolicited - no obligation to read):

 

You probably were already introduced by your teacher to Simone de Beauvoire's notion that women are not born they are created? She put it more pithily  "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman". It helps us distinguish between the idea of sex (biological) and gender (social).

 

Language is one of the most powerful ways of creating and propagating social categories -- like "a woman" or "man"  or a "real man" or "sexy woman" or whatever. These categories do not pre-exist language -- they are shaped and formed through language. In a sense, language can be said to call into existence what was not there before. Sure, our basic animal senses tell us that this creature is "female" and that one is "male" (and don't mix up the two in spring time), but only language lets you make the distinction between "girl" "juvenile" "woman" etc

 

This last idea is perhaps best understood when you learn a new word or if a routine way of seeing the world is rudely interrupted. This is what feminist-teaching managed to do quite well -- and sometimes our teachers (if we're awake at the right time). 

 

Does gender affect language? Sure. Maybe not gender, but those aware of gender issues may choose a different way of expressing things. Again feminists have shown how this can happen (in significant or trivial ways) for example coining new terms or substituting gender-neutral terms into our vocabulary (postman to mail carrier or other alternatives, ..). Also the ways men and women talk are often thought to be very different - even at odds (Deborah Tannen has shown some of these in a compelling way).

 

Anyway, maybe that helps. Supersonic gives you ideas for Big Bang Theory (I haven't watched it), so that's good.

[sushichan*-*]

I'll add to Supersonic post just a bit here. Prepare for a little lecture (unsolicited - no obligation to read):

 

You probably were already introduced by your teacher to Simone de Beauvoire's notion that women are not born they are created? She put it more pithily  "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman". It helps us distinguish between the idea of sex (biological) and gender (social).

 

Language is one of the most powerful ways of creating and propagating social categories -- like "a woman" or "man"  or a "real man" or "sexy woman" or whatever. These categories do not pre-exist language -- they are shaped and formed through language. In a sense, language can be said to call into existence what was not there before. Sure, our basic animal senses tell us that this creature is "female" and that one is "male" (and don't mix up the two in spring time), but only language lets you make the distinction between "girl" "juvenile" "woman" etc

 

This last idea is perhaps best understood when you learn a new word or if a routine way of seeing the world is rudely interrupted. This is what feminist-teaching managed to do quite well -- and sometimes our teachers (if we're awake at the right time). 

 

Does gender affect language? Sure. Maybe not gender, but those aware of gender issues may choose a different way of expressing things. Again feminists have shown how this can happen (in significant or trivial ways) for example coining new terms or substituting gender-neutral terms into our vocabulary (postman to mail carrier or other alternatives, ..). Also the ways men and women talk are often thought to be very different - even at odds (Deborah Tannen has shown some of these in a compelling way).

 

Anyway, maybe that helps. Supersonic gives you ideas for Big Bang Theory (I haven't watched it), so that's good.

Thanks for the great help! Things are making more sense for me now. My teacher has only spent three lessons on this topic (4-5 hours), Gender and Sexuality, because he has been occupied with his personal matter. It's also his first year teaching IB. It seems like we don't look at a lot of sources and theories. Are sources and theories really important for the course? Do I need to like attribute some interpretations/ideas in my exam paper to some famous theories or something? 

[Blackcurrant]

They are very important but not *crucial* for the course.

 

Having said that...They really do help you understand how things work (language, ideology, gender, etc) and are therefore quite important to your learning. They also help you define and pin down issues, so that your approach to questions on say language and identity will tend to be more sophisticated.  How eloquently and coherently you write and talk about these topics on your papers and exams may depend on your reading these theorists. 

 

Presumably your teacher (regardless of personal matters) will be introducing you to popular writers and theorists like Deborah Tannen or Noam Chomsky, who tend to be easier to understand, once you catch on, than others like Kristeva or Homi Bhabha  (hard-core, ivory tower intellectuals -- definitely out of my and classmates' league!) 

Edited November 25, 2014 by Blackcurrant

[sushichan*-*]

They are very important but not *crucial* for the course.

 

Having said that...They really do help you understand how things work (language, ideology, gender, etc) and are therefore quite important to your learning. They also help you define and pin down issues, so that your approach to questions on say language and identity will tend to be more sophisticated.  How eloquently and coherently you write and talk about these topics on your papers and exams may depend on your reading these theorists. 

 

Presumably your teacher (regardless of personal matters) will be introducing you to popular writers and theorists like Deborah Tannen or Noam Chomsky, who tend to be easier to understand, once you catch on, than others like Kristeva or Homi Bhabha  (hard-core, ivory tower intellectuals -- definitely out of my and classmates' league!) 

It's really nice to hear these suggestions. Basically he is finished with teaching this topic (in three lessons) and probably won't have anymore lessons on Gender & Sexuality. It's seems like you know lots of sources that can be helpful in the course. If it's not too inconvenient for you, maybe you could post a new topic and share all the theorists one could do some research about for topics in this course? 

[Blackcurrant]

 I'll see what I can do. Teachers should be doing this anyway, in their courses, but why not have a list of theorists here too? Good idea.