Swedish Students’ Perceptions of and Attitudes toward Stereotypical Gender Images in Speech

Abstract: The research conducted within the linguistic subdiscipline of language and gender was carried out as early as in the 1970’s, when Lakoff (1975) identified nine main traits for female language. Based on Lakoff’s research, this project investigates Swedish students’ attitudes to and perceptions of gender stereotypes in speech. The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes and perceptions of the participants and to investigate if there has been a change in the way a speaker interprets a speech act in comparison to the 1970’s. A survey was carried out in order to be able to identify and elicit the attitudes and perceptions of stereotypical gender speech of the participants. The survey was based on the traits that Lakoff (1975) found to be typical for female speech. The survey consisted of a first part where the participant had to identify the gender of the speaker and a second part where the participants were asked about typical gender stereotypes in speech acts. The main finding was that Swedish students have a negative attitude toward filing individuals in categories based on their gender. In addition, it was found that the participants have unconscious prejudices toward both men and women based on learnt gender patterns. In conclusion, this study has shown the pattern that there has been an attitude change toward gender stereotypes since the 1970’s. However, it revealed that the students in Sweden participating in the study have a tendency to unconsciously apply gender stereotypes when interpreting a speech act.