Sexism in Language: Thief of Honor, Shaper of Lies

Produced by Lynn Lovdal. 29 min. Color. 1995. Available as: VHS and DVD Captioned: No Catalog #: 0068 Order this title Sale Price: $225.00 Apply for Discount

Designed for use in a broad range of educational settings and disciplines, this lively and provocative video analyzes the gender bias that permeates our everyday language. Quick-paced, wide-ranging, and frequently humorous, the video explores sexism in both the syntax and semantics of language and shows how it is often unintentional or even unrecognized.

Four key areas are explored: female words that are dependent on a male version; words that are more positive for men than for women; words for women that carry negative sexual connotations; and neutral words that become inferior when applied to women.

This is a powerful resource for anyone concerned with understanding and eliminating the harmful effects of sexist language. It was produced by and features Prof. Lynn Lovdal.

Reviews

"This video is sure to spark productive classroom discussion and encourage self-reflection by students and teachers. It cogently highlights the historical and ideological components of sexist language. It will increase classroom awareness of gender, language, and social power in much the same way that Killing Us Softly did for gender and advertising. I highly recommend this for classes in basic writing and speaking, interpersonal communication, gender studies, and communication." -- Matthew P. McAllister, Prof. of Communication Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute