Gender, society and language use: evidence from Mexico and Spain

Although the notion of gender as a variable in sociolinguistic research has grown more complex during past decades, in practice many quantitative studies still rely on a binary, essentialistic operationalization of ‘gender’. This research project challenges the practice by combining social psychological, quantitative sociolinguistic and discourse analytic theories and methods. We examine variation in phonetic, morphosyntactic and pragmatic features (e.g. pronunciation of phonemes, choice of person forms and of discourse strategies) that have been found to correlate with speakers’ gender. We collect comparable linguistic data (phonetic data, sociolinguistic interviews and role plays) and social psychological data (using survey tools measuring e.g. gender role self-concepts, norms and stereotypes) in two speaker communities (Guadalajara, Mexico and Valencia, Spain) that speak the same language but present considerable societal differences, in particular with regard to gender. By including informants representing two generations, we also factor the role societal change in the study. Three groups of research questions are examined: (1) How do differences between societies and generations shape informants’ gender-related self and how do informants perceive societal gender-role norms? (2) Are gender differences in language use manifested similarly in the two speaker communities, and are they better accounted for by a complex, scalar operationalization of gender than e.g. the traditional binary model? (3) In what discourse contexts do gendered differences between speakers arise and how are they related with gender performativity? All research questions are tackled both quantitatively – operationalizing gender as a complex, scalar variable and disentangling aspects like the speakers’ gender-related self and the gender-role norms prevalent in their society – and qualitatively using discourse analytic methods in order to pinpoint the ways in which gender is produced and performed in discourse. The project aims at deepening our understanding of gender and society as linguistic and social psychological categories, and to elucidate the observed interdependences between gender, society and language use. Ultimately, the goal of the project is not limited to the comparative study of language and gender in Mexico and Spain: rather, it aims at providing new insights and deepening our understanding of the ways in which gender, society and language interact in general.