Gender differences in swearing in American sitcom: types and reasons

Abstract: The essay is a study on gender differences in the use of swearing on television. Data collected for the thesis is from the American sitcom Shameless. The work of Lakoff (1975) on women’s language and Stapleton’s (2010) study done on gender differences on the use of expletive in both genders are drawn on as the theoretical considerations. The show was chosen due to its strong use of swear words by both genders, which makes it suitable for this research regarding gender differences in swearing. The study was carried out qualitatively and quantitively using two episodes from the latest season. The research questions were: if there is a difference in the use of swear words between men and women, in the types of swear words as well as the reasons for swearing between men and women. The result suggests that all the male and female characters use strong swear words frequently, however women tend to swear less than men. Furthermore, when it comes to the types of swearing, men tend to swear significantly more in the category of excretory (bodily functions) and sexual types of swearing are proportionally highly done by men than by women. On the other hand, women tend to use more swear words related to religious profanity and avoid swear words related to women’s body. Lastly, the reasons for swearing for male and female characters include all expressing emotions, verbal emphasis, and humour; however, women tend to use swear words for solidarity as well, which was not visible in men’s conversations.