Awareness of Gender Stereotypes and Sexist Pronouns
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Abstract
Gender inequality is firmly entrenched in every society. We learn how each person should be treated through language socialization. Early in life, one is implanted with ideas that women and men are different and should be treated differently. Stereotypic characteristics are baselessly assigned to women who, as a consequence, are constrained from attaining their maximum potential. Language in textbooks, without our realization, turns out to be the channel through which wrong ideas get passed on to our young. This study investigates language in textbooks which are loaded with gender stereotypes and sexist language to find out if the students are aware of them. It also interviews the instructors to see if they consider gender stereotypes and sexist language detrimental to the mind of their learners. Through questionnaire administration and interviews, the findings revealed that learners were indeed aware of the existence of gender biases. However, a notable inclination among lecturers can be observed whereby they tended to downplay the issue as relatively inconsequential and disconnected from the learning materials.
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