In sociolinguistic studies, researchers state that there is such a thing as gendered language. These studies looked at gendered language in discourse and came up with a list of stereotypical...Show moreIn sociolinguistic studies, researchers state that there is such a thing as gendered language. These studies looked at gendered language in discourse and came up with a list of stereotypical linguistic characteristics used by women and men. In other words, certain linguistic features such as emotional adjectives and tag-question are more feminine, whereas judgemental adjectives and directives are said to be more masculine. However, the findings are divided and do not always give a common consensus on the reason behind the phenomenon. The differences could stem from social norms, personal preferences, inherited schemata, or the social setting in which the discourse occurs. For example, specific situational settings could be more likely to induce gendered language than other settings. James Bond movies present settings that are potentially more likely to induce gendered language due to the sexually charged nature of the relationship between James Bond and his women. In these situational settings, men are more likely to behave like stereotypical men, and women are more likely to behave like stereotypical women. Therefore, this thesis will look at the specific sociolinguistic context of the potentially sexually charged relationship between James Bond and various female characters and investigate if the characters use stereotypical feminine versus masculine linguistic features and, therefore, contribute to the sociolinguistic corpus of gendered language and its origin. In addition, it looks at the change over time, taking into account the changing Western society in regard to social norms and gender roles. To summarize, this thesis will look at whether the language in discourse found in the movies reflect findings in previous studies, whether the use of linguistic features changes over time, and if the changes can explain the nature of gendered language. This thesis is divided into five chapters the introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and last but not least, the conclusion. In chapter one, the introduction will give a brief overview of the significant sociolinguistic theories present, their relation to gendered language, what research has been done regarding James Bond movies, and how this research contributes to current discussions of feminism. Chapter one also includes a literature review, which goes into depth about the aforementioned sociolinguistic studies. Last but not least, it will give an overview of the research question. Chapter two will discuss the methodology, how social and linguistic factors were chosen, and which difficulties were encountered. Chapter three displays the results found with the help of graphs and figures. Chapters four and five will discuss the findings, their relevance to the ongoing discussion of sociolinguistics and gendered language, and the study’s main takeaway.Show less
This paper researches Burkina Faso, an African country that is known for its performance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a form of violence against women and girls. Does a higher level of...Show moreThis paper researches Burkina Faso, an African country that is known for its performance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a form of violence against women and girls. Does a higher level of education for women decrease the performance of FGM in developing countries? The research is about FGM in Burkina Faso which eventually allows us to say more about the influence of educational levels on the performance of FGM in general. In Burkina Faso, we have seen a decrease in the prevalence of FGM over the last 10 years. Even though FGM has been banned since 1996 the practice is still very common. Even now more than 70% of girls and women underwent this operation (Equality Now, 2021). We will do a statistical analysis to show the relationship between education and the prevalence of FGM. We also highlight the social norms and convention theory that lay behind this causation. The findings indicate that a higher level of education increases the chance that a woman is uncircumcised, controlling for Type of Place of Residence, Religion, Worked in the Last 12 Months, Ever Heard of Female Cutting, Wealth, and Husbands/Partner’s Education. We also found that the odds of being uncircumcised rise when women have educated partners. When educated men become more willing to marry an uncircumcised woman it suggests a break, caused by education, from the social norms and beliefs that form the traditional practice of FGM within Burkina Faso.Show less
This study investigates the normative framework and the experienced reality of a social norm to enable effective policymaking, which improves the financial situation of the underserved in Eastern...Show moreThis study investigates the normative framework and the experienced reality of a social norm to enable effective policymaking, which improves the financial situation of the underserved in Eastern Province, Zambia. Social norms are becoming increasingly part of social science research, but working with social norms is not straightforward. This thesis contributes to this field of knowledge by giving in-depth qualitative knowledge of how a social norm influences people in rural Zambia. A previously conducted quantitative research revealed tensions between the desire for individual control over money and social and personal norms prohibiting secrecy, advocating the communal over personal interests. During a fieldwork period of ten weeks, seven group and twenty-two individual interviews were conducted. The group interviews show the content of the social norm and how salient it is in the communities where the interviews were conducted. The individual interviews shed light on how a social norm and its behavioral prescriptions are personally experienced. The main conclusion is that it is context-dependent on how social norms influence people's behavior choices, and this differs with time and personal circumstances. The behavioral prescriptions of the social norm prohibiting saving in secret do not guide all community members' actual behavior all the time. Some people sporadically elude or violate the norm secretly, while others do it openly, and again others never transgress. This norm is dynamically and flexibly interpreted depending on people's living situations. Effective policies should include this variety of households and living situations to improve the financial situation of the underserved.Show less
