Abstract

Language as an important symbol system is a means to record culture. Sexism in language reflects some kind of hierarchical set of power relationships in society and embodies the male dominance of the society. Based on previous researches, the author puts emphasis on the illustration of sexism existing in English and Chinese, and analyzes the sexism from a cultural perspective.

This thesis firstly defines “sexism”, illustrates the performance and analyzes the reasons. The author goes on to introduce the sexism in both English and Chinese respectively in terms of weddings, proverbs, vocabulary, interpersonal appellations, word order and word meaning; then analyses some similarities and differences of sexism in English and Chinese from the cultural perspective and proposes some suggestions to reduce the sexism in language. Finally, it comes to the conclusion that the elimination of sexism in language depends on the progress of the society. 

Key words: sexism; language; cultural perspective; English; Chinese

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3. Sexism in English and Chinese-3

3.1 Weddings (man-centered)-3

3.2 Proverbs and idioms-4

3.3 English vocabulary and Chinese character-4

3.4 Interpersonal appellations-5

3.5 Word order-6

3.6 Word meaning-6

4. Comparing Sexism in English and Chinese from the Cultural Perspective-7

4.1Similarities-7

4.2 Differences-9

5. Methods of Reducing Sexism in Language-10

5.1 Using gender-neutral language-10

5.2 Adjusting word order-11

5.3 Using other words-11

5.4 Other methods-11

6. Conclusion-11

Works Cited-12