body language

[Kenneth Hyde]

On Mar 26, 2008, at 6:22 PM, Amy Sheldon wrote:

> But how we theorize gender is related to how we theorize language  
> and gender.

This seems to be rather worryingly Whorfian.  If by "theorize," you  
mean "talk about" or "write about," then I can accept your point.   
However, if you mean "conceptualize" or "think about," then I would  
have to demur.  I'm not persuaded that language has a deterministic  
effect on our thinking.  I'm fairly firmly committed to the  
proposition that concepts and categories exist independent of the  
existence (or lack thereof) of labels (i.e. words or other semiotic  
tokens) and that the mapping between the realm of thought and the  
realm of language is imperfect at best.

> Can you give an example of what "presents herself in a 'masculine'  
> way" is and what the "masculine zone of the collective gender-space  
> of her community" (or yours) is, or contains, or means, or a woman  
> would behave like when they're there?  And what is the "feminine  
> zone"?

Well, let me start by expanding on the idea of "gender-space."   
First, I posit that gender is a socially constructed abstract aspect  
of identity (this seems fairly unexceptionable).  In order to talk  
about this abstract construct, I'm using the model of a conceptual  
space.  That space is defined by the features (and values of those  
features) that are relevant to gender in a given community.  As the  
axes of features intersect and interact, zones of identity within the  
space are created.  The masculine zone would be the part of the space  
that contains those features and values that the social group  
collectively view as "masculine" (i.e. associated with the label  
"masculine")  Between social groups, the specific features and values  
that form the masculine zone of the gender-space could vary.  The  
feminine zone would be a similar part of the gender-space  
characterized by those features and values that are viewed by the  
social group as meriting the label "feminine."  Other zones of  
identity could also exist.  For example, in some social groups,  
"macho" might be a distinct zone from "masculine" or "femme" might be  
distinct from "feminine."  In theory, by mapping this gender-space,  
we could perhaps arrive at a more accurate picture of gender  
identities in a community, discovering specific zones that are not  
yet labeled but that nevertheless exist.

Okay, now, to the first question.  By "presents herself in a  
'masculine' way," I mean to say that the woman in question through  
behavior, speech, appearance, and other social and individual  
phenomena aligns herself with the features and values in the  
masculine zone of her community's gender-space.  Thus, in a community  
where masculine is associated with features of strong verbal  
posturing (braggadocio or one-upsmanship, etc.), the "masculine"  
woman would exhibit these features.  On the other hand, in a  
community where stoicism or withholding is a feature of masculine  
identity, then the "masculine" woman would exhibit this trait.

Nor would this presentation be limited to language behavior.  It  
could include actions, clothing, facial expressions, physical  
posture, etc.  In some communities (perhaps many), a woman who plays  
rough sports, wears sweats and a hoodie, maintains a closed  
expression and stands and moves in a certain way could be said to be  
"presenting herself in a masculine way."  And yes, these examples are  
simplistic stereotypes.  In reality, I realize that self-presentation  
is much more complicated, involving a vast number of variables.  In a  
properly mapped gender-space some features would be neutral, either  
because they are not associated with any identity zone or because  
they are associated with several different zones.  Other features or  
values might be more or less proximal to the center of an identity  
zone and thus more or less relevant in self-presentation.

And of course, self-presentation would not necessarily be a  
phenomenon of the conscious self.  I suspect that most people do  
gender identity and other types of self-presentation from a partially  
or entirely subconscious basis.  It would be very interesting to  
study whether conscious self-presentation of gender differs from  
subconscious...and how it differs if it does.

And once again, I think I'll stop here.

Ken



Kenneth Hyde
ELI & Dept of Linguistics
University of Delaware
kenny at udel.edu

"No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulders will  
seriously cramp his style.—K. Z. Steven Brust



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