Linguistic Gender Bias

Language is more than just a tool for communication; it's a reflection of our culture and society, often mirroring the biases and stereotypes we hold. An intriguing yet underexplored aspect of this is the hidden sexism embedded in our everyday language. From English to Spanish, French, Italian, German, and beyond, words can sometimes carry different connotations based on gender, often favoring males or perpetuating negative stereotypes about females. For instance, certain job titles, common phrases, or seemingly neutral terms might reveal gender bias upon closer inspection. The exploration of these biases not only illuminates the pervasiveness of sexism but also underscores the power of language in shaping societal norms and perceptions. Recognizing and understanding these linguistic biases is a critical step towards fostering more equality and respect in our discourse and our actions.

[Katherine-gvpq]

On a more pleasant note, in Korean the word “wife” (마누라 manura) stems from the equivalent to “your highness”. It is a term of incredible respect and honour.

[noblelies]

A "steward" is someone put in charge of caring for something.

A "stewardess" is someone who provides service.

[patriciaa]

When a man gets married in Swahili its said "amepata jiko", meaning he's "found a stove".

[war_reimon]

In Spain traditionally you were "handcuffed" with a lace when married as a bonding, both Esposo/a are tied to handcuffs. It's not the other way.

[noodles]

In French we have a whole song that list words that are good in their masculine forms but means “sl*t” in their feminine form

[césium]

In French, "un gars" is just "a guy" whereas "une garce" is "a bitch"

[mendicius_jade]

In Philippine English, when a woman hosts a party, you should avoid calling her 'hostess' as it does mean 'prostitute' in this country. You would rather use the word 'lady host' instead.

[Emma-Maze]

It's also really prevalent in the ways people insult each other, p*ssy, c*nt, b*tch, "suck a dick", "get fucked". I also grew up constantly hearing guys telling each other not to "act like a girl". Once you pay attention it's everywhere, it really makes me understand better why I rejected everything "too feminine" until I was practically an adult.

[koffee_aurora]

here in Brazil you call a man "vagabundo" you're just calling him lazy, but if you call a woman "vagabunda" you're basically calling her a b*tch

[cornRipper]

My Japanese teacher loved teaching us that the word for husband and prisoner are separated only by the length of a single vowel. Lol.

[elastrorey]

In Hebrew, a wife אישה also means a woman, while the word for husband בעל has another meaning: owner, possessor.

[alaskanmoss]

I constantly try to get the attorneys in my life to use the term “executrix” because it does sound more fun than just your basic executor. 🤣

[yakubduncan]

In Farsi the word for "woman" (zaan) has kind of a weirdly negative connotation by itself. If you're trying to be polite, you refer to her as a "daughter" or "auntie" or "wife." Basically the good things she can be to men.

[juliejanesmith]

Two women- an argument
Two men- a war

[paulholleger]

One note on Chinese: "奻" (nuan) isn't a very common character at all, and certainly not the first (or even the top 5) translations of the concept of quarreling or arguing. But "姦" (jian), which is three characters for "woman", means evil, and seems to be at least a little more commonly used. But it has been simplified to 奸, which still has the semantic radical for "woman".

But I'd caution you about trying to analyze Chinese characters this way. Many characters are composed of a sound/phonetic component, and a meaning/semantic component, in what's known as a rebus. If you or your viewers aren't careful, you may accidentally confuse a component that's merely there for sound, with one that's there for meaning.

[Angryfeministwitch]

I just read the book Wordslut and learned just how deep the sexism and bias in English, as well as many other langauges, goes. It is actually really upsetting while also being incredibly fascinating.

[EdKolis]

A dominator is powerful. A dominatrix is kinky.

[eukaliptal]

In Norwegian the word for marriage is also the same for poison.
Not related to gender, but feels relevant

[frogwithlegs]

In latvian, the word "vecis" (old man) can be used like "bro." However, "vecene" (old woman) is almost always used negatively

[joaovitorfarinabraga]

In Portuguese “vadiar” simply means “to be lazy”

We call a guy “vadio” or thats he’s “vadiando” and that simply means that he’s lazy and it’s procrastinating.

Now when you call a woman a “vadia” you are literally calling her a bitch.