Linguistic markers of sexism in the Italian media: a case study of ministra and ministro

Corpora ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Formato
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Job Titles ◽  
Sexist Language ◽  
Gender Specific

This paper examines the way that the Italian media use language to refer to female ministers in the last three governments. While Italian is a gender-specific language (e.g., a root of the job titles can be followed by either feminine or masculine morphemes, singular and plural), it is common to use masculine forms to refer to and address women. Ministro is one of those cases where masculine forms replace feminine ones – a practice which could be construed as sexist, is only rarely challenged in institutions, and to which attention has only recently been paid in academia ( Fusco, 2012 ; and Robustelli, 2012a , 2012b ). The investigation presented here focusses on how grammar is translated in a way that reproduces women's invisibility in a sexist society. A corpus-based quantitative analysis of feminine and masculine forms of ministr– used in three widely read printed Italian newspapers (Corriere della Sera, Il Resto del Carlino and La Stampa) is undertaken. Newspaper articles were collected in the period 2012–14 to cover the Monti technocratic government (three female ministers), and left-winged Letta (seven female ministers) and part of the Renzi (seven female ministers) political governments. This paper contributes to the literature on language reform and sexist language in traditionally male-inhabited physical and metaphysical (stereotypes, prototypes) spaces such as the institutional public sphere.

scholarly journals Assessing recognition of sexist language: Development and use of the Gender-Specific Language Scale

Sex Roles ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 741-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. McMinn ◽  
Paul E. Williams ◽  
Lisa C. McMinn
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Sexist Language ◽  
Gender Specific

Quantitative analysis of farmer attitude towards water-saving planting structure adjustment: A case study of Heihe River middle reaches

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1105-1112
Author(s):  
Juan WANG ◽  
Pu-Te WU ◽  
Yu-Bao WANG ◽  
Xi-Ning ZHAO ◽  
Jian-Feng SONG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Structure Adjustment

Rethinking crisis dynamics from the perspective of online publics: A case study of Dolce & Gabbana’s China crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 2046147X2110268
Author(s):  
Zhuo Ban ◽  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Interactive Process ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
Chinese Public

On November 18, 2018, the Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) released a controversial video on all their social media channels. The video triggered an instant outcry from the general Chinese public, who called the video a racist caricature of Chinese culture. D&G responded to the crisis with several image repair strategies. This study examines D&G’s crisis communication efforts in the wake of this incident. Departing from corporate-oriented perspectives prevalent in the field of public relations, this study employs a dynamic, public-oriented view of crisis communication, which focuses on the dynamic, interactive process of crisis development from the standpoint of the publics. By analyzing communicative behavior on Twitter (an increasingly influential alternative public sphere in China) and in particular, comments and responses toward the crisis communication strategies employed by D&G, we have identified four prominent themes, or ways that publics framed their key messages against the corporation: “Apology not enough”; “Apology done badly”; “Call to unite against D&G”; and “Sarcasm, mockery, and abuse.” And they can be interpreted as a number of crisis communication strategies of the global, online publics. Based on our analysis of the D&G case, we discuss the theoretical implications of a dynamic, public-oriented perspective (DPOP) on crisis communication, highlighting its key areas of difference from the corporate-oriented perspective (COP).

scholarly journals Quantitative analysis of folds by means of orthorectified photogrammetric 3D models: a case study from Mt. Catria, Northern Apennines, Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (160) ◽  
pp. 480-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amerigo Corradetti ◽  
Stefano Tavani ◽  
Mario Russo ◽  
Pau Cazo Arbués ◽  
Pablo Granado
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Northern Apennines

Wounded Because of Religion: Identifying the Components of Gender-Specific Religious Persecution of Christians

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-141
Author(s):  
Helene Fisher ◽  
Elizabeth Lane Miller ◽  
Christof Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Central African Republic ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Religious Persecution ◽  
The World ◽  
Gender Specific ◽  
The Church ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Emerging understanding of gender-specific religious persecution in some of the world’s most difficult countries for Christians offers timely insight into complex dynamics in which the church and missions have too often been unwittingly complicit due to limited visibility of the components contributing to these wounds. Fresh research into these deeply wounding global phenomena stands as both a warning and a pointer towards an avenue for effective ministrations by churches and Christian ministries that are working in the most severely affected areas of the world. Drawing on the latest trends identified by World Watch Research, outcomes of the Consultation for Christian Women under Pressure for their Faith, a contemporary case study from Central African Republic, and a biblical narrative, we will explore practical opportunities for a holistic approach to bring preparedness, healing, and restoration for communities under severe pressure for their Christian faith.

‘Eww wtf, what a dumb bitch’: a case study of similitudes inside gender-specific swearing patterns on Twitter

Corpora ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-61
Author(s):  
Michael Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Gender Specific ◽  
The Way

Contrary to the idea which has been widespread for at least a hundred years that women differ substantially from men when they express themselves in English-speaking contexts (e.g., Jespersen, 1922 ; and Steadman, 1935 ), empirical studies have shown that these differences are often minimal and are not due to gender alone (e.g., Eckert, 2008 ; and Baker, 2014 ). This also frequently applies to the way they swear, despite certain preferences which have been documented in empirical studies. With the growing impact that social media now has in our everyday lives, these represent a unique opportunity to study vast quantities of written data. This paper is based on a corpus of about one-million tweets and is an attempt to delve deeper into the analysis of gendered swearword habits. First, the goal is to show that even if there are certain gendered preferences in terms of the choice of swearwords, women and men frequently display similar patterns in using them, thus reinforcing the idea that they are not so linguistically different. Secondly, this paper provides insights into how collocational networks can be used to achieve this, and thus how focussing on differences can be one way to spot similarities across two sub-corpora.

The Role of Cognitive Patterns in Modelling Reality by Means of Natural Language (The Case Study of the English Cognitive Pattern “Cleanness / Dirtiness”)

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Savitskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Cognitive Patterns ◽  
Cognitive Pattern ◽  
The World ◽  
Internal Comparison

In the field of cognitive linguistics it is accepted that, before developing its capacity for abstract and theoretical thought, the human mind went through the stage of reflecting reality through concrete images and thus has inherited old cognitive patterns. Even abstract notions of the modern civilization are based on traditional concrete images, and it is all fixed in natural language units. By way of illustration, the author analyzes the cognitive pattern “сleanness / dirtiness” as a constituent part of the English linguoculture, looking at the whole range of its verbal realization and demonstrating its influence on language-based thinking and modeling of reality. Comparing meanings of language units with their inner forms enabled the author to establish the connection between abstract notions and concrete images within cognitive patterns. Using the method of internal comparison and applying the results of etymological reconstruction of language units’ inner form made it possible to see how the world is viewed by representatives of the English linguoculture. Apparently, in the English linguoculture images of cleanness / dirtiness symbolize mainly two thematic areas: that of morality and that of renewal. Since every ethnic group has its own axiological dominants (key values) that determine the expressiveness of verbal invectives, one can draw the conclusion that people perceive and comprehend world fragments through the prism of mental stereo-types fixed in the inner form of language units. Sometimes, in relation to specific language units, a conflict arises between the inner form which retains traditional thinking and a meaning that reflects modern reality. Still, linguoculture is a constantly evolving entity, and its de-velopment entails breaking established stereotypes and creating new ones. Linguistically, the victory of the new over the old is manifested in the “dying out” of the verbal support for pre-vious cognitive patterns, which leads to “reprogramming” (“recoding”) of linguoculture rep-resentatives’ mentality.

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