Minding our P's and Q's in the age of gender equality

Abstract

Males and females act and talk differently. This idea is not merely a folk linguistic, but has been proved by linguists such as Robin T. Lakoff (1975). These linguistic differences span from the way males and females ask for advice, to the way they describe the world around them. In general, all types of verbal interactions are tinged with gender differences and this includes being linguistically polite or not. The aim of the dissertation is to give a sociolinguistic perspective of linguistic politeness strategies used in phone-in conversations during live television shows and to identify whether these strategies are gender related or not. It will thus intertwine two sociolinguistic variables: politeness and gender in a specific local context. This dissertation will first explore the basic theories of politeness. However, the foundational theory of the dissertation will be based on Brown's and Levinson's (1987) concept of Face Threatening Acts and strategies of positive and negative politeness. Lakoff (1975) states that in general, females are more linguistically polite than males, and gives several reasons supporting her ideas. The folk linguistic stipulates that females appear to act more politely than males because of their stereotypical position in society. Recent studies, such as the study conducted by Sara Mills (2003), challenge this idea .The hypothesis which needs to be tested seeks to challenge the folk linguistic and aims to show that there are many circumstances in which females are capable of being as impolite as their male counterparts. Through the use of several secondary research methods, as well as meticulous primary field research, the dissertation will aim to confirm the stipulated hypothesis and to create a link between politeness and gender in a public telephone calls oriented context.