Taallandskap van die vrou in rooi rose (1948– 2020)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of linguistic sexism in Afrikaans and its evolution over seven decades, reflecting possible societal changes. More specifically, the inquiry sought to investigate the presence of sexism in Afrikaans women’s magazines from 1948 to 2020. To achieve this, a corpus was constructed using 57 editions of the Afrikaans women’s magazine, rooi rose. The data was then analysed by means of the #LancsBox corpus software tool. Situated within the domain of language and gender, the study delved into the intricate interplay between linguistic and societal norms. We accept that there is a symbiotic and reciprocal relationship between language and the way humans experience the external world. This also applies to the relationship between a (specific) language and the way in which the concept of gender is embodied by speakers of the language. In particular, linguistic sexism, a subfield of the language and gender field, can be seen as the lens through which possible discrimination against women can be made visible. Linguistic sexism manifests inter alia through lexical items of the following types: forms of address and titles; gendered nouns like skryfster (“female author”) and sekretaresse (“female secretary”); the generic he and the frequency of co-occurrence of the pronouns hy (“he”), hom (“him”) and sy (“his”) with gender-neutral nouns like baba (“baby”), kind (“child”) and mens (“humankind”, “man”). The findings from the rooi rose corpus paint a nuanced picture. While the prevalence of mevrou outweighs that of mejuffrou, suggesting a lingering gender bias, the diminishing gap between their usage indicates a gradual shift. However, traditions like beauty competitions perpetuate linguistic sexism, with titles like Mejuffrou Persoonlikheid (“Miss Personality”) and Mejuffrou Glimlag (“Miss Smile”) reinforcing traditional gender norms. Me, the Afrikaans equivalent of “Ms”, appears so infrequently in the corpus that its frequency is negligible. The analysis of professional and personal names reveals a changing landscape, with certain terms evolving into gender-neutral descriptors, albeit with remnants of gender stereotypes persisting in certain contexts. The generic use of masculine pronouns (“hy”, “hom”, “sy”) when referring to gender neutral nouns underscores linguistic bias. GraphColl (a function of #LancsBox) was used to ascertain how many times hy (“he”), hom (“him”) and the possessive pronoun sy (“his”) refer to mens (“person”), kind (“child” and baba (“baby”) where the gender of these words is uncertain. An example of such occurrences is the following: Wie kan werklik begryp wat die kind dink en voel en glo daar waar hy in sy eie betowerde wêreldjie verlore raak? (“Who can really understand what the child thinks and feels and believes where he gets lost in his own enchanted little world?”) References to baba (“baby”), kind (“child”) and mens (“person”) in most cases show a clear preference for the male personal or possessive pronouns. To conclude, while the linguistic landscape of Afrikaans women in rooi rose demonstrates strides towards inclusivity, traces of entrenched linguistic biases endure, illustrating the complex interplay between language and societal norms.

Hierdie artikel ondersoek die taallandskap van die Afrikaanse vrou soos wat dit te sien is in die rooi rose van 1948 – 2020 en vra of hierdie landskap, veral wat taalseksisme betref, soos te siene in rooi rose sedert 1948, verander het. Die rooi rose-korpus was die databron wat ontleed is met die moontlikhede wat korpuslinguistiek as metode bied. Die studie val in die sosiolinguistieksubveld wat in die breë as die taal-en-gender-veld bekend staan. Taalseksisme val in hierdie deelgebied. Taalseksisme (en gepaardgaande stereotipering) kom voor wanneer daar deur en in taal teen ’n geslag of gender gediskrimineer word. Kwantitatiewe navorsing is gebruik om frekwensies van leksikale items soos aanspreekvorms en titels, die generiese hy en manlike en vroulike persoons- en beroepsname vas te stel. Soekwoorde binne konteks, soos wat verkry word in konkordansiereëls, asook kollokasies is kwalitatief ontleed. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe die studie kom, is dat daar verandering op te merk is wat die gebruik van sommige leksikale items betref. Daar is ’n frekwensieafname te bespeur in sommige titels en aanspreekvorme, maar die neutrale me (wat nie onderskeid tref wat huwelikstatus betref nie) word nie in die korpus aangetref nie. Afrikaans volg die wêreldtendens deur sommige manlike en vroulike selfstandige naamwoorde te vervang met een naamwoord wat na beide mans en vrouens kan verwys. Daar is egter nog tekens van taalseksisme in die korpus. Die generiese hy word tot 2020 nog baie gebruik en onderskeid word ook nog getref wat betref die huwelikstatus van vroue.