Catalina Shirley

Stephen Sellers
9th Grade Humanities
November 18, 2016

A Foreign Identity
Can something as commonplace as language shape something as large as our identities?
Absolutely! Every aspect of our culture socializes us, even if we can only decipher it on a surface
level. Hidden messages are so ingrained in our daily lives that we forget to notice them. Both
males and females are unknowingly socialized by the very language we speak every day. Phrases
are a given- sayings like fight like a man and play like a girl shape our ideas of ourselves
and others. Statements like these are obvious culprits, but did you know that even the essence of
language; words- influence us as well? On top of that, occupation titles like fireman and
policeman give impressionable young people ideas on who can do certain jobs. People of
different ages are discriminated against too- young people are blamed for killing the English
language. Young girls and boys cannot imagine their lives without language- but I believe the
inherently sexist english language and carelessness of its speakers forces an unwanted identity
upon them.
Have you ever been told that you are strong for a girl, or smart for a girl? I have.
Phrases like this are transmitted through peers, the media, sports, and even the people we love
and trust the most- our families. In the beginning - the first stage of the cycle of socialization;
we are born into a society with norms and stereotypes already put into place. Phrases like these
already exist, and before were even old enough to talk, we are being filed away as an agent or
target. This sorting is based on the seven social identity categories. These are as follows: race,
gender, age, religion, economic class, sexual orientation, and ability/disability status. In first
socialization, we are taught by parents and relatives who we should be. We accept this, as we are
too young to have our own opinions. During institutional and cultural socialization, we are
bombarded with messages both consciously and subconsciously. These messages come from
institutions like school, church, and TV. However, they also come from our culture; which
includes language.
Fireman, policeman, housewoman these words socialize. Occupations like these are
traditionally male or female, but nowadays these gender specifications are irrelevant. We have
tried to reform these words by replacing them with words like firefighter and police officer, but
the new terms arent always used. In fact, some feminist groups have changed words like
freshman to freshmyn to promote gender equality. Although they speak English, these
feminists speak with their own dialect. Dialects are subsets of a language used by certain groups
of people, or in different regions. Individuals belonging to these groups with the same dialect
have their own definitions for words. The language of a particular individual is referred to as
the persons idiolect.1
There are seven social identity categories; race, gender, age, religion, economic class,
sexual orientation, and ability/disability status. So far Ive only touched on gender socialization
through language, but there is more to it than that. Young people are accused of killing the
English language, but I dont believe thats true. In fact, according to TIME magazine: Texting
properly isnt writing at all its actually more akin to spoken language. And its a [spoken]
language that is getting richer and more complex by the year.2 In fact, spoken language and
written language are completely different. Linguistics- An Introduction to Language and

Communication, proves my point in stating that they are completely different, and that neither
one is right or wrong. Current dictionaries of English derive from [traditional prescriptive]
grammar, and almost invariably have focused on the written language. You can probably think of
numerous words and uses of words in current spoken, informal English that do not appear in
dictionaries. From a prescriptive point of view these unlisted words and uses might be termed
incorrect or improper. Hence, although dictionaries might be useful in providing certain
basic explanations of common words, they do not, by and large, reflect accurately the meaning of
words in current use in everyday spoken language.3
Its clear to see that our language is accidentally used for more than just communication.
Both males and females struggle with harmful stereotypes imposed upon us. Teens suffer toothey are accused of destroying a language that is centuries old. Girls are told by their parents in
first socialization (the second stage in the cycle of socialization) that they can be whomever they
want, but that is contradicted in the third stage - institutional and cultural socialization. It is then
enforced again and again throughout the remainder of the cycle. The results of all this blame and
stereotyping isnt good- in fact, it results in anger, self-hatred, dissonance, silence, and
dehumanization. Results is the fourth stage in the cycle. So remember; instead of doing nothing
and promoting the status quo; take action and choose to create change and stop negative
stereotypes and harmful socialization. Before you discriminate against someone because of their
race, gender, age, religion, economic class, sexual orientation, or ability/disability status,
remember just how powerful your words and our language really is.
1.
Akmajian, Adrian, Richard A. Demers, and Robert M. Harnish. Linguistics, an Introduction to Language and Communication.
Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1979. Print.
2.
McWhorter, John. "Is Texting Killing the English Language?" Time. Time, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

3.

Akmajian, Adrian, Richard A. Demers, and Robert M. Harnish. Linguistics, an Introduction to Language and Communication.
Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1979. Print.