A colloquialism is a phrase used in
informal speech. Consider this one: ‘Stick
it to the man.’ In the 2003 film, School of Rock, Jack Black’s character taught kids that the
essential message of classic rock was to ‘stick it to the man.’ Although it was derogatory to be “the man” [aka: the establishment] in this context and “cool”
to resistance authority, few of us would have considered this gendered speech,
but actually it was because the embodiment of those in-charge are male. Here’s
another: "You da man!" Although
positive, this compliment for an athletic accomplishment or other achievement
is clearly gendered as well.
So
too do we blithely bypass the quotation, “So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he created him.” No one would stand up in church to identify
this as the biblical genesis of male hegemony – the original covenant takes
place between the supreme, heavenly being (a male) and the first earthly
inhabitant (a man). What’s more: the bible holds that this was the moment God
created mankind. Much has been argued
about this. Was mankind created or
evolved? For the moment the discourse is less about how our species came into
existence and instead focused on the reference to mankind. This is another subtle gender reference in
our language. Next, let’s look at how careers
and academia reflect gendered language.
Time-honored
professions that represent authority and power in our society – Congressman,
policeman, chairman of the board – reinforce masculine
hegemony. Even those words that
represent college levels – upper classman, freshman – were contrived when
college attendance was male-dominated. Compare
this to the 2012 Forbes report of the
male-to-female ratio in public universities:
43.6% male to 56.4% female. Yet, the reference to a freshman
class still prevails. It’s time to
transform our language to the 21st century, perhaps referring to
first- year students as ‘neophytes.’ There’s nothing wrong with that…right?
After reviewing the slang timeline of both male and female
genitalia, it would seem that while these slang terms had been specific to
describing genitalia, now we use these insulting ways to describe people.
For example, look at Snoop Dogg’s lyrics [Bitches ain’t shit but hoes
and tricks] as cited in Tricia Rose’s article, There are Bitches and Hoes, where the author explained the
derogatory, gendered meaning as “women are bitches, and bitches are whores and
prostitutes” (387). Further, in Jim
Rome’s commentary from David Nyland’s Heterosexism,
Homophobia, and Sports Talk Radio, the talk show host referred to dancers at The Gold Club as skanks and tramps (230). What do rapper Snoop Dogg and Jim Rome have in
common? Answer: They both exploit gendered,
popular words to gain popularity and ratings, trickling these into casual
speech, so that they carelessly surround us.
Today, words like “bitch” (typically said when men are off-put by an
aggressive woman) and “dick” (oftentimes spoken by women to describe an
insensitive man) are so mainstream they’re practically acceptable, tossed
around freely on primetime sitcoms like Two-and-a-Half
Men and 2 Broke Girls. Gender slang has
become so mainstreamed it’s as though we are anaesthetized to even hearing it
anymore.
Works Cited
Borzelleca, Daniel. “The Male-Female Ratio
in College.” Forbes Magazine. 16
February 2012.
Web. 28 February 2015.
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