Abstract
M.A.
Language plays an important role in maintaining and reflecting socially structured power roles. According to Poynton, (1985:3), contemporary feminism has focused a great deal of attention on the issues of socialization into gender roles and sexist discourse. Such issues are interrelated because situations to which children are exposed from the day of their birth, in which they themselves become ultimate participants, are the primary means by which their socialization is effected (Poynton, 1985:3). Many feminist critiques of
language have specifically concerned themselves with representation, and have concluded that languages are sexist. This implies that languages 'represent' or 'name' the world from a masculine viewpoint, and 'in accordance with stereotyped beliefs about the sexes' (Cameron, 1990:12). It is this 'male monopoly of naming', which has detrimental effects on relationships between women and men. Some feminists, therefore, affirm that many languages have an underlying semantic rule, whereby male is positive, and female negative, which results in the 'tenets of male chauvinism being encoded into language'
(Cameron, 1990:12). Moreover, the reason why languages are structured in a sexist manner is that their rules and meanings have been literally 'man made', and women have been excluded from naming and defining? (Cameron, 1990:12)
Another issue which raises serious concern is that language used in
the media is highly sexist, and there is irony in the fact that even on the eve of
the new millennium, the media in democratic South African still perpetuate
prejudices and sexual stereotypes. Newspapers and magazines still feature
articles on superficial issues such as physical beauty and appearance, and
these issues, which should not matter to women, are still regarded as a
measure of women's worth. Ironically, beautiful bodies, hair and clothes cause
more concern than the appalling rape statistics. According to Thuli Nhlapo,
whose article in the Sunday World is titled 'Nineties Women oppressed by
vision of beauty'; this is a violent backlash to feminism, which uses images of
female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement (Sunday
World, 23 May 1999). A study of discourse analysis as well as critical
language awareness would therefore be a consciousness-raising 'struggle',
which will ensure that women in South Africa are liberated from all forms of
oppression and abuse, more especially, sexism in language. It is important to
note that culture plays an important role in the oppression of women. It is
therefore not surprising that in African culture, language awareness of the
lexicon of certain concepts pertaining to the oppression and abuse of women,
such as date rape, sexual harassment, sexism, femicide and many other
'problems that are without names', which affect women, is still non-existent.
This implies, therefore, that for the plight of women who are affected by such transgression mto be addressed, studies such as this one will have to play a very dominant role in influencing policy change and implementation in as far as language awareness is concerned. it will also be the aim of this study to initiate both women and men in African communities into the wiles of discourse.