{"id":31340,"date":"2012-08-13T11:41:47","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T16:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=31340"},"modified":"2012-08-13T07:45:46","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T12:45:46","slug":"gender-gap-in-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/13\/gender-gap-in-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender Gap in Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

By Jen Doll<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a new study that reveals that shifts are being made in the way we write. For a research project led by\u00a0Generation Me<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>author and\u00a0San Diego State psychology professor\u00a0Jean M. Twenge<\/a>, with\u00a0W. Keith Campbell and Brittany Gentile of the University of Georgia, the three combed through 1.2 million texts in the Google Books archive, tracking pronouns by gender in works published from 1900 to 2008. Their survey of those books (note: the archive contains 4 percent of books ever published)\u00a0found that, as\u00a0Hillel Italie writes in a piece for the AP<\/a>,\u00a0the \u201cgender pronoun gap\u201d has changed. Yes, add this to your file on\u00a0gender byline<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0media coverage gaps<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0How To Tumblrs for Women<\/a>; there is a \u201cgender pronoun gap\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

From\u00a0Twenge\u2019s paper<\/a>: \u201cBetween 1900 and 1945, 3.5 male pronouns appeared for every female pronoun [she, her, herself, hers<\/em>], increasing to 4.5 male pronouns during the postwar era of the 1950s and early 1960s. After 1968, the ratio dropped precipitously, reaching 2 male pronouns per female pronoun by the 2000s. From 1968 to 2008, the use of male pronouns decreased as female pronouns increased.\u201d Italie writes, \u201cThe ratio had shrunk to 3:1 by 1975, and less than 2:1 by 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the significance of this? Twenge explains in her paper that \u201cthe gender pronoun ratio was significantly correlated with indicators of U.S. women\u2019s status such as educational attainment, labor force participation, and age at first marriage as well as women\u2019s assertiveness, a personality trait linked to status. Books used relatively more female pronouns when women\u2019s status was high and fewer when it was low. The results suggest that cultural products such as books mirror U.S. women\u2019s status and changing trends ingender equality over the generations.\u201d Or, more simply, the rise in all of those indicators\u2014as women married later, had careers, and became more independent and assertive\u2014correlated to a rise in the use of female pronouns\u00a0<\/em>in writing.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Twenge said the shift in language evidenced by the research is \u201cone of the largest, and most rapid, cultural changes ever observed,\u201d and that it reflects \u201cthe incredible increase in women\u2019s status since the late 1960s in the U.S.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jen Doll: There\u2019s a new study that reveals that shifts are being made in the way we write. For a research project led by\u00a0Generation Me\u00a0author and\u00a0San Diego State psychology professor\u00a0Jean M. Twenge, with\u00a0W. Keith Campbell and Brittany Gentile of the University of Georgia, the three combed through 1.2 million texts in the Google Books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGender Gap in Pronouns<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Jen Doll: There's a new study that reveals that shifts are being made in the way we write. 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