英语谚语中的性别歧视

英语谚语中的性别歧视

摘 要

语言与性别研究一直是语言学家关注的重要课题，国内外诸多的语言学家都对语言中性别歧视这一现象进行了深入研究。语言是现实社会的一面镜子，能够真实地反映这种社会习俗及价值观念，而作为语言中的精华——谚语更是浓缩了文化的内涵。本文以女权主义为视角，侧重于对性别歧视在英语谚语中的现象进行研究。

本文首先结合国内外学者对语言中性别歧视这一现象的研究，并结合这些研究探讨英语谚语中性别歧视现象，指出谚语与性别歧视的含义与特点；再从性格、言行、才智、婚嫁、地位等五个方面指出性别歧视在英语谚语中的具体表现；然后从历史、社会、文化三个不同的角度分析了性别歧视在英语谚语中形成的根源，通过对谚语的分析揭示语言中对女性的歧视，从而提高人们关于性别歧视的意识，帮助人们减少，继而消除在日常生活以及语言中的性别歧视现象；最后指出性别歧视在英语谚语中的发展趋势。

关键词：英语谚语；性别歧视；表现；根源；发展趋势

ABSTRACT

The language research in relation to gender has remained on the important topic in

linguistics. Lots of linguists who show interest in this field have done many deep and

profound researches. Language, a mirror of the real world, could give us a reflection of

social customs and values. And the proverbs, the essence of language, are actually a

concentration of culture. The thesis aims at specializing in sex discrimination reflected

in the English proverbs from the feminist perspective.

Combined with some researches on sexism in English proverbs by scholars home

and abroad, the thesis firstly points out the meanings and features of proverbs and

sexism. And then the thesis explains the manifestations of sexism through a study of the

proverbs applied in English from five aspects: character, words and deeds, ability and

wisdom, marriage and social status. Then the thesis has also investigated into the causes

of sexism from three aspects: history, culture, society. Through the research on English

proverbs, the thesis tries to reveal the sex bias against women in language, and find out

solutions to help people reduce and eliminate the sexism in the daily expressions.

Finally, the thesis points out the development trend of sexism in English proverbs.

Keywords：English proverbs; sexism; manifestation; causes; development trend

Contents

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1

2. Definitions of proverb and sexism .................................................................................. 4

2.1 Definition 4

2.1.1 Meaning of proverb ....................................................................................................... 4

2.1.2 Features of proverb ....................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Definition of sexism ......................................................................................................... 6

2.2.1 Meaning of sexism ........................................................................................................ 6

2.2.2 Features of sexism ......................................................................................................... 6

3. Manifestations of sexism in English proverbs ............................................................... 7

3.1 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about character ............................................... 7

3.2 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about words and deeds ................................... 8

3.3 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about ability and wisdom ............................... 8

3.4 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about marriage ............................................... 9

3.5 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about social status ........................................ 10

4. Causes of sexism in the English proverbs .................................................................... 11

4.1 Historical reasons ........................................................................................................... 11

4.2 Cultural origin ................................................................................................................ 11

4.3 Social factors .................................................................................................................. 12

5. Development trend of sexism in the English proverbs ............................................... 14

6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 15

Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 16

References ........................................................................................................................... 17

1. Introduction

American linguist Edward Spair once said: “Language is a guide to social reality.”

[1]. Language, a mirror of the society, loyally reflects not only a nation’s history and

culture, but also beliefs and biases. Language and gender is a popular issue in the area

of sociolinguistics. Sex discrimination exists in English speaking communities.

Therefore, we can find sexism here and there in English.

Denmark linguist sen is the first one to study sexism from the angle of

linguistics. In 1923, his book named Development and Structure of English had ever

pointed out that English was the most masculine language all over the world. In 1960,

as an interdisciplinary subject of linguistics and sociology, sociolinguistics formed and

developed fast in USA. The development of West Women’s Liberation and Feminism

studies as well as development of sociolinguistics promoted sexist language studies to a

certain extent. Some scholars thought that a kind of new linguistics about equality

between men and women appeared. The linguists, Lakoff, Trudgi, KZimmerman, West,

Thonle, Henle and Bolinger taken as representatives in the period between 70s and 80s,

did further studies on sexism and discussed the causes of sexism in language. In his

article Language and Women’s Place, Lakoff pointed out that in the world expressed by

the language, the male was in the center and the female’s image was incomplete

[2].

Bolinger, in his book, said that this was a phenomenon of sexism in language. Some

other scholars such as Lakoff, tried to use all scientific knowledge to describe linguistics.

er, published his books Aspects of Language in 1965 and Language: the

Loaded Weapon in 1980, which provided some points for the study of sexism [3]. In

1973, , published his book Language and Women’s Place, which elaborated on

women’ social place and sexism in language. From the end of 80s to 90s, linguists such

as , , n, , did further studies on differences of sexist

language. Their studies emphasized the forms of men and women’s terms.

In our country, the study on sexist language is very late, which began from the end

of 70s or the beginning of 80s. With the development of Feminist movement, Chinese

scholars gradually switch their study to that of sexism. A lot of articles are published on

various periodicals, such as Wang Wenchang’s Chairman or Chairperson―American

Women's Movement and Reform of Language. These scholars are the first ones to

discuss the influences of sexism on language, especially on English from the

中国最大的论文知识平台

perspective of Western Feminist movement. In other words, they begin the study on

differences of sexist language. Up to the end of 80s, compared with those studies of

sexism in language in the western countries, Chinese scholars pay their attention to

differences of sex. They observe and study differences of men and women’s term from

the angle of intonation, tone and lexicon. Sun Rujian published his book Sex and

Language [4]

and Bai Jiehong published Sexist Language and Linguistics, which

elaborated on the study on sexist language from the angle of social psychology and

pragmatics

[5]. Qin Xiubai discussed sexist language from the angle of history, society

and culture, and provided a new angle of studying sexist language for us in her article

published on Modern Foreign Languages [6]. Kong Qingcheng objectively analyzed a

phenomenon of sexism existing both in English and Chinese in his article

[7]. Zhuang

Hecheng, a very famous linguist who published Sexism in English Lexicon, discussed

sexism in English from the aspect of lexicon [8]. Chen Lin published her article Sexism

in English Advertisement to put sexism into a different aspect to study its character. The

field of these researches is broader than before, which makes other linguists grasp the

relationship between language and sexism more accurately [9].

The proverb, a special form of language, is a kind of idiom. It is very popular

among the people, and contains very deep implication in sentences. It is also a kind of

folk literature. The proverb is human being’s crystal of wisdom, and embodiment of

concise language. The proverb is always iconically compared to “clear mirror of a

nation” and “living fossil of language” by linguists. Among the researches of sexism in

English proverbs, linguists mostly study the definition of sexism and proverb, sexism

reflected in proverbs, its origin and tendency. In 2000, Xu Zhixng, Li Lifang and Li

people put women at a very low position, and linked them with some bad habits

[10]. For

instance, they thought women were very stupid and loved to gossip. In their essay, they

also talked about tendency of sexism in English language. Then A Probe into the Causes

of Sexism in English Proverbs was written by Yang Qing, Yu Xiangyue in 2003. They

put a lot of emphasis on the causes of sexism. Their paper probed into the causes of

sexism from the three aspects: historical reasons, cultural origin and social factors. It

was thought that the phenomenon indirectly reflected women’s social status in different

periods of social development and had close relations with women’s status and its

changes

[11]. In 2005, Zhang Lin, Liu Wanqiu published an article Sex Discrimination in

English Proverbs, which analyzed the phenomenon of sex discrimination in English

proverbs in the five aspects of character, words and deeds, ability and wisdom, marriage

中国最大的论文知识平台

Liming wrote an essay Sexism in English Proverbs. They said that

and social status; it also discussed the root of the phenomenon from the angle of social

linguistics [12]. Rong Nannan, a postgraduate of Heilongjiang University, wrote a thesis

for the Degree of Master of Arts entitled Sexism in Chinese and English Proverbs

in

2007. The thesis aimed at specializing in sex discrimination reflected in both English

and Chinese proverbs from the feminist perspective. The thesis probed into the

phenomenon through a comparative study of the proverbs applied in both languages

from different aspects [13].

This essay from one aspect—English proverbs analyzes sexism and finds out its

origin. However, in this aspect, the researches made by scholars home and abroad are

not very rich and profound. Therefore, this thesis aims at studying sexism in English

proverbs, and understanding the values and philosophy of life of people from

English-speaking countries, which is helpful for making English communications

successfully.

中国最大的论文知识平台

2. Definitions of proverb and sexism

The proverb, a special form of language, is a kind of idiom. The proverb is very

popular among the people, and contains very deep implication in sentences. It is always

iconically compared to “clear mirror of a nation” and “living fossil of language” by

linguists. “Sexism”, derived from

the word “racism”,

is created by American feminists.

Sexism is the phenomenon resulted from physiological sex.

2.1 Definition of proverb

2.1.1 Meaning of proverb

A proverb (from the Latin proverbium), also called a byword or nayword, is a

simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth,

based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. A proverb is a kind of

folk literature. It is human being’s crystal of wisdom, and embodiment of concise

language. Proverbs, as one of the varieties of English language, reflect its social

customs and cultural connotations. British writer William Penn once said: “The wisdom

of nation lies in their proverbs.” [12]

And some people thought that proverbs were

daughter of daily experiences. The proverbs are the product of cultural concepts and a

mini social encyclopedia. People put a high value on proverbs, which have become an

encyclopedia for people to recognize life, seek opinion of the world, and strengthen

people’s will. It reflects culture, life, custom and mode of thinking. As a product in

some special cultures, the proverbs, this ancient way of language manifestation, are

bound to present a nation’s social life.

2.1.2 Features of proverb

Longman Modern English Dictionary gives a definition of “proverb” that a brief

familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold

image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory. So we can see the features of

proverbs as followed.

(1) Originating from and circulating in non-governmental circles.

中国最大的论文知识平台

The proverb is a form of folk literature, and folk literature is a kind of literature

created and passed on by oral form, and continuously revised by the collective. Most of

the proverbs in English are created by the majority of laboring people, but not by the

minority of writers in literary, also not by the ranking officials and noblemen in

luxurious saloons and theatres. As we know, lots of peasants on farms, workers in

factories, hunters in woods, sailors on the sea, cooks in kitchens and housewives, etc

get proverbs from manufacture and labor. In order to sum up these experiences and

introduce them to descendants, they make those experiences and lessons from their lives

and fights against nature into another kind of language using words not of imposing

stature but strong, capable and easy to remember. This kind of language after long

time’s thinking becomes proverbs at last. The contents of proverbs are very plentiful and

range over lots of aspects, particularly contain profound moral.

(2) Abundant in content, profound with meanings, full of philosophy, providing

much food for thought.

English proverbs mostly express moral outlook of people, display noble moral

character, and inspire people. They also become good teachers and helpful friends of

people, and many people take them as their guide to action. English proverbs not only

contain abundant contents, but also have their profound connotations and philosophic

meanings. People who read them will get the upper brunt of soul, and receive endless

experiences and edification.

(3) Concise language, vivid image, easy to read.

Language of English proverbs is highly condensed and concise. Only a few words

can contain much plentiful content, explaining a deep principle, which make people

think deeply, provide food for their thoughts, and realize many profound ideas. Due to

their origination from laboring people, the language of English proverbs which has few

uncommon words is very easy to understand and easy to grasp. Because the proverbs

are imparted by the oral words, they are easier to spread and remember.

(4) Harmonious metre, easy to speak.

The reasons why the English proverbs can spread so widely, accepting their

abundant content, with concise language and rich philosophy, etc, has a very important

element—harmonious metre. English usually use alliteration, rhyme, or alliteration plus

rhyme to increase beautiful phonetic rhyme.

中国最大的论文知识平台

2.2 Definition of sexism

2.2.1 Meaning of sexism

According to Webster Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, sexism is “prejudice or

discrimination based on sex; esp. discrimination against women”. While in Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, sexism is defined as “unfair or

unreasonable discrimination between the sexes; unreasonable maintaining of traditional

sexual rules (e.g. that men are strong and women are weak)”. Therefore, sexism is a

system of beliefs and practices that affirm the dominance of men over women.

Apprehended by most people as “only natural” sexism pervades social relations and

institutions, affecting everything from people’s domestic arrangement to their career

choices. With the arrival of the feminist movement within English speaking countries,

attention has been given to changing the structures which support and promote sexism

within the society. One of these structures is language. Sexism in language is the

phenomenon that when you use the language, it shows discrimination against women.

Sexist language has been defined as “words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily

differentiate between females and males or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either

gender”.

[14]

2.2.2 Features of sexism

Sexism is a kind of discrimination, especially, against women. Thus linguistic

sexism refers to the language that favors one sex, especially, the male, and diminishes

the other sex, particularly the female.

Sexism registers as sexist language in English. Sexist language as many people

pointed out not only encodes stereotyped attitudes to women and men, but also is an

example of the way that a culture or society conveys its value from one group to another

and from one generation to the next. Some linguists in their essay offer examples of

sexism in language and the ways in which the English language reflects a sexist culture.

According to them, sexist language is any language that expresses “stereotyped attitudes

and expectations or that assumes the inherent superiority of one sex over the other.

Sexist language includes words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily

differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender.”

[14]

中国最大的论文知识平台

3. Manifestations of sexism in English proverbs

3.1 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about character

(1) Weakness

Woman is made to weep. (女子生性好哭。)

Frailty, thy name is woman. (弱者，你的名字是女人。)

It is no more pity to see a woman weep than to see a goose go bare foot. (女人哭如鹅光脚走路，根本不值得可怜。)

The upper proverbs always use tears and fragile glass to represent women’s

weakness. We can explain this phenomenon from physiology and sociology.

Physiologically, the nervous system of the female is not as stable as male’s, and the

female’s mood is likely to get influence from the special physiological state. Socially

speaking, women’s weakness seems right and proper, because women are endowed with

weakness in the public’s eyes. And in such a case, women are also willing to depend on

protection from men, but men are always a disappointment to them. Therefore, women

always feel a loss of identity, because men are not as strong as their words, which makes

those women who emphasize emotive experiences weep alone.

(2) Vanity

Every woman would rather be beautiful than good. (女人爱美不重德。)

The more women look in their glass, the less they look to their house. (女人成天照镜子，无心照管家务事。)

Tell a woman she is fair and she will soon turn fool. (跟女人讲她长得漂亮，很快她就会晕头转向。)

These proverbs emphasize virtue and at the same time play down good look.

Actually, men are the same as women placing great emphasis on appearance. When they

try to select mate, they demand the opposite having both good look and great capability.

In men’s eyes, “the smell of an onion from the mouth of the lovely is sweeter than that

of a rose in the hand of the ugly.” (美女口中葱蒜臭，胜过丑女手中玫瑰香。). Male’s

measure of selecting mate is gentleness and prettiness, and the female always stay at a

passive position. Therefore, men have to use every conceivable means to pursue beauty

to cater for them. So pursuit of vanity is the choice that women have to choose, and the

arch-criminal still is weakness.

中国最大的论文知识平台

(3) Malignity

Women are the devil’s nets. (女人是万恶之源。)

No thing agrees worse than a lady’s heart and beggar’s purse. (女人的心和乞丐的钱包一样，糟糕透顶。)

Women are the snares of Stan. (女人是撒旦设下的陷阱。)

These proverbs contain obvious sexism. God felt that making woman was a big

mistake. He thought she was the origin of evil, because Eve violated God’s prohibition

and tempted Adam to eat apples. And then God drove them out of Garden of Eden and

inflicted severe chastisement on human beings. In order to punish Eve, God made her

obey her husband and stayed in a subordinate position forever. In ancient Greek

mythology, Zeus created a very beautiful goddess——Pandora and gave her a box full

of evils. Zeus told her that she couldn’t open it. However, Pandora broke the promise

and opened the box. At the same time, all kinds of evils spread around the world. In

some proverbs, they describe women as obstinate criminals behind the scenes.

3.2 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about words and deeds

Words are women, deeds are men. (女子巧舌，男儿实干。)

Husbands are in heaven whose wives scold not. (老婆不唠叨，丈夫就像生活在天堂里。)

Many women, many words; Many geese, many turds. (鹅的屎多，女人的话多。)

The above proverbs comment on women being talktive, and we can find that

women are usually compared with animals. Goose is a kind of bird species which is

always connected with women’s world. Generally speaking, “speechful” goose walks

and clucks along the path of a small village, which looks like the group of people who

are fond of talking endlessly and maligning. According to a physiological research, the

capacity of language centering in women’s brain is more than men’s. The female like to

communicate with others, which is not a shortcoming. As for prate, this is a way for

women to release their pent-up emotions. Men don’t understand the needs of women

and are unwilling to communicate with them.

3.3 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about ability and wisdom

A woman’s advice is never to seek. (女人的建议一文不值。)

Women have no soul. (女人没有灵魂。)

中国最大的论文知识平台

When an ass climbs a ladder, we may find wisdom in women. (毛驴登梯时，女人有才智。)

Long hair, short wit. (女人头发长，见识短。)

In British history, the chances that women received normal education were less

than men, and the higher education was merely for men. Up to the period of Victorian

(1837-1901), some colleges were willing to accept a few women. But the expectation

for women from people is different from the one for men. At that time, after women

receiving education, people hoped they could learn to manage household affairs and

foster the quality of tenderness, gentleness and dependence. On the contrary, men were

expected to be the host of bringing home the bacon. Ironically, society deprives of

women’s equal chances to get education and doesn’t allow them to be as able and

efficient as men. Meanwhile, society thinks that women have no knowledge and lack

learning talent. Men’s beating the drum for those women with no knowledge is a

paragon of virtue, but when women don’t learn anything, they scold women with long

hair and short wit; when men scold that women haven’t their own ideas and abilities,

they also criticize that women always do wrong and destroy their prestige. In fact, the

conflicted expressions of opinions from men show that men need women’s ignorance to

show off their talents.

3.4 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about marriage

Marry your son when you will, your daughter when you can. (娶媳不忙， 嫁女宜速。)

Daughters and dead fish are not keeping wares. (女大不中留，鱼死不能存。)

Marry a wife of thine own degree. (娶妻，应与己般配。)

He that marries for wealth sells his liberty. (娶得富家女，自由受限制。)

The above proverbs reflect those ideas of looking up to men and women, and also

reflect tendency of making women as a commodity. In the views of marriage centring

on men, women’s good look is the condition of marrying talented men, getting riches

and honor. Taking appearance as a standard to measure women’s value explains that

women fall into sadness of becoming a doll in the society centring on men. Although a

woman owns rich and good family background, she still suffers from being questioned

and doubted.

中国最大的论文知识平台

3.5 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about social status

Man, woman and devil are three degrees of comparison. (男人、女人和魔鬼，三个等级分贵贱。)

If the husband be not at home, there is nobody. (丈夫不在家，等于说没有人。)

A man of straw is worth of a woman of gold. (稻草男儿抵得上金玉女子。)

A man is a man though he have/has but a hose on his head. (家贫袜当帽，仍是男子汉。)

The above proverbs which express strong androcentrism reflect women’s low

social position. Wife is just a garment for husband to throw at any time, and a beast for

husband to curse and beat freely. A poor man is better and stronger than a common

woman. Bible says that the first creature made by God is man. Woman is made by a rib

of man. When God creates human beings, he puts man at the dominant position and

makes woman depend on the existence of man. So we can see that women’s position is

so petty and low.

中国最大的论文知识平台

4. Causes of sexism in the English proverbs

The proverbs reflect culture, life style and customs. And further, the culture of

human contains sexism, namely to discriminate women. Therefore the proverbs

naturally involve sexism. The appearance, existence and alteration of sexism in the

English proverbs are not occasional, and all of them have their deep historical reasons,

cultural origin and social factors. This thesis plans to investigate and analyze the causes

of this phenomenon from the following aspects.

4.1 Historical reasons

As for the establishment of matriclan in the primitive society, anthropologists point

out that the female had the economic authority in hand. Therefore, females took the

dominant position in the primitive society. However, when lots of fortunes appeared in

the late of matriclan, males became stronger and snatched the control of economic

arteries, so females became the ruled object. This is the historical turning point of

women’s position. From that time, women always stayed at the bottom of the society

and were torn by discrimination, oppression and outrage. From the primitive society to

the western capitalist society, men firmly hold women in their hand. During the long

historical processes, the discrimination to women becomes firmer and firmer. With the

development of movement for women’s rights, women’s social position gradually

becomes higher, but weakness and lowliness as words to describe women will not

disappear easily, because sexism in people’s minds has become deep-rooted. Although

women continuously fight for their higher social position after being awaken, although

movement for women’s rights is developing vigorously, although women have indeed

played a very important role in societies, to change their social position completely still

has a very long process. Consequently, sexism in the English proverbs will still exist.

4.2 Cultural origin

The English proverbs are mainly derived from Greek myth and influential literary

outputs (such as plays by Shakespeare). There is much sexism among the above

writings.

中国最大的论文知识平台

(1) Sexism originating from Greek myth

The grey mare is the better horse. (妻胜其夫。)

As long as we have eyes, or hands, or breath, we’ll look, or write, or talk you all to

death. Yield or she——Pegasus will gain her course, and the grey mare will prove the

better horse. (只要我们有眼有手，只要我们还有生命，我们就要看要写，就要讲到你们的临终。屈服吧，否则女佩枷索斯就会大显身手，从而证明女人就是比男人行。)

Although meanings of the above proverbs contain no sexism against women, when

we think of the reason why people make those proverbs go around, we can see that they

involve sexism. And further, the word “prove” in the second proverb expresses

aspirations of women fighting against sexism, which reflects women’s low position

from the reverse side.

(2) Sexism originating from writings by Shakespeare

Frailty, thy name is woman. (脆弱啊，你的名字就是女人。)

This sentence originates from a famous monologue in Hamlet. We can see that the

queen only put her happiness and destiny on marrying a man, which contains lots of

blood and tears of women in the class society.

4.3 Social factors

The English proverbs appear at all aspects of social life, and reflect sexism against

women. These contents can be basically classified into several aspects. And every

aspect has its own social origin, ideas, emotional factor and women’s own reasons.

The idea that man is superior to woman appears among the public because the role

played by women in society is not as important as that of men. So women are neglected

gradually, and this neglect even becomes a kind of contempt and outrage. At last, this

neglect becomes the worship of men, which is a kind of blind adoration. Chauvinism

prevails in western countries. For example:

A bad woman is worse than a bad man. (女人变坏比男人更糟糕。)

In the husband wisdom, in the wife gentleness. (夫要智，妻要柔。)

Men make houses, women make homes. (男人盖房，女人持家。)

Virtue is another shackle that women can not shake off. Men destroy women’s

virtue, at the same time they emphasize women’s virtue. Women not only bear pressure

and hurt from men, but also have to undertake blames from far and near. In analyzing

the proverbs about social status, we find sexism is due to women’s low position.

中国最大的论文知识平台

Consequently, men are posted as masters and pursue pleasure, and women can not

betray them. For example:

Who has a fair wife needs more than two eyes. (老婆长得漂亮得多长一只眼睛。)

Ask the mother if the child be not like the father. (孩子长得像不像爸爸，妈妈心里最清楚。)

The society discriminates women from all kinds of aspects. They think that women

are very foolish, weak, speechful, and even dangerous. From the angle of society,

women’s weakness is innate. Because in people’ eyes, women are the weak. For

example:

Beauty and folly are often companions. (蠢与美常相随。)

Trust not a woman when she weeps. (不要相信女人的眼泪。)

Nothing dries so fast as women’s tears. (女人的泪水干得最快。)

中国最大的论文知识平台

5. Development trend of sexism in the English proverbs

Due to historical reasons, cultural origin and social factors, the opinions about

sexism are deep-rooted in people’s mind, and these ideas have been reflected vividly

and incisively. But delightfully, with the development of movement for women’s rights,

western feminists have made great efforts to eliminate sexism in English, and also have

got amazing achievements, which are reflected in the following aspects.

(1) Gradual loss of masculine words widely used, and replacing them with neutral

words. For instance, businessperson, salesperson, chairperson, and police officer are

used to replace businessman, salesman, chairman and policeman.

(2) Some changes in the form of address. Ms is used to replace Mrs and Miss; in

some countries, women are allowed to use their own family name instead of husband’s.

(3) Adding feminine words after masculine words or changing them into the plural

of some neutral words. For instance, someone left his or her bag in the classroom.

(4) The elimination of sexism in legislation. British government has eliminated

sexism in legislation, and made some laws to maintain the equality between men and

women.

Although movement for women’s rights has got big achievements in changing

sexism, this way is very rough and long. Because language is a mirror of society, so

sexism and differences between men and women reflected in language are not decided

by language’s natural quality, but social values and national mode of thinking. Language

itself is neutral, but users can give language some pragmatic colour according to social

values. In order to eliminate the phenomenon of sexism in language, we must eradicate

opinions about sexism which exist in the society at first. The reform of language must

be realized on the basis of social reform.

中国最大的论文知识平台

6. Conclusion

This thesis aims at studying sexism in the English proverbs. From this research, we

can understand social values and philosophy of people from English-speaking countries.

Paying more attention to the phenomenon of sexism in the English proverbs helps make

communication successfully. To most of English learners, grasping the English proverbs

equals grasping the soul of English. We can also learn moral codes and grasp historical

pulse of the development of English. When communicating with foreigners, we should

try to avoid using some proverbs with sexism.

In order to eliminate the phenomenon of sexism in the English proverbs, we must

change people’s wrong ideas, eradicate prejudices against women completely, reform

the phenomenon of inequality in the society and develop women’s social position.

Through those ways, sexism in the English proverbs will die out and be replaced by

some new words that respect and admire women.

The author hopes that ideas of the equality between men and women can sink deep

into the hearts of the people. Even though people use languages with some colour of

sexism, they will not take prejudicial ideas.

中国最大的论文知识平台

Acknowledgements

My initial thanks go to my supervisor Zhu Min, who patiently supervised my

dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions.

Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.

I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered

me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are

Shi Yun, Zhu Ping, Yang Lufei, and many others.

My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a

soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness

and sweetness for me.

The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my

own.中国最大的论文知识平台

References

[1] 邓炎昌. 语言与文化[M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社, 1989.

[2] LAKOFF ROBIN. Language and women’s place[M]. NewYork: Haper & Row

Publishers, 1975.

[3] BOLINGER DWIGHT. Aspects of language[M]. NewYork: Harcourt, Brace &

World, 1968.

[4] 孙汝建. 性别与语言[M]. 江苏：江苏教育出版社, 1998.

[5] 白解红. 性别语言文化与语用学研究[M]. 长沙：湖南教育出版社, 2000.

[6] 秦秀白. 英语中性别歧视现象的历时文化透视[J]. 现代外语, 1996 (2).

[7] 孔庆成. 性别歧视两面观—兼议语义贬降规律和语言的从属性[J]. 上海外国语大学学报, 1993 (5).

[8] 庄和诚. 英语词语中的性别歧视现象[J]. 外语研究, 1990 (3).

[9] 陈琳. 英语广告语言的性别歧视[J]. 解放军外国语学院学报, 1993 (4).

[10]许之所, 李丽芳, 李丽敏. 英语谚语中的性别歧视[J]. 武汉工业大学学报, 2000

(12).

[11]杨青, 余祥越. 英语谚语中的性别歧视探源[J]. 桂林师范高等专科学校学报,

2003 (9).

[12]张凌, 刘晚秋. 英语谚语中的性别歧视[J]. 嘉兴学院学报, 2005 (2).

[13]荣楠楠. 英汉谚语中的性别歧视[J]. 黑龙江大学, 2007.

[14]PARKS J.B. & ROBERTON M.A. Contemporary arguments against nonsexist

language[M]. Sex Roles Vol. 39, Nos. 5/6: 445-461, 1998.

[15]JOHN SIMPSON & JENNIFER SPEAKE. Oxford concise dictionary of

proverbs[M]. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

[16] MARTIN . The fact on file dictionary of proverbs[M]. BeiJing: China

Translation and Publishing Corporation, 2002.

[17]王福祯, 赵友斌. 英语谚语荟萃[M]. 北京：中国国际广播出版社, 2007.

中国最大的论文知识平台