GENDER STEREOTYPING SHOWN BY SEXIST LANGUAGE
IN PHYLLIDA LLOYD’S
THE IRON LADY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
YENNI
Student Number: 094214023
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
vi
Never run with the crowd, go your
own way.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to thank Adventina Putranti S.S., M.Hum., for giving me many valuable advices and comments in finishing my thesis and finding information and sources for my thesis and giving me valuable suggestion and discussion in this thesis. My deepest appreciation goes to Anna Fitriati, S.Pd., M.Hum., and Dr. Francis Borgias Alip, M.Pd., M.A., for the references and discussions in doing my thesis, my ex-academic advisor Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M. Hum, who always encourages me during my study in university and Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M.Hum., my academic advisor for the help during my study in the few last semesters. Gratitude goes to all of the staff and lecturers in the Department of English Letters in Universitas Sanata Dharma who always give me a hand whenever I need it.
I dedicate this thesis for my mother, brothers and sisters in-law for helping me in persuading father to let me get an education at university, my father for his passion in waiting his only daughter to study far away from him, uncles, aunts, cousins, my husband for all of his love that has been given to me and my beloved friends (Nanairo, BnB family, Yeyen, Debby, Lenny, Aldo, Fenny, Mega, Aldo, Adel, and Ivan) who always encourage me and helping me in my study.
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CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY 67
x ABSTRACT
YENNI. Gender Stereotyping Shown by Sexist Language in Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Until the late 1990s, women were put in the second place while men were put in the first place (Davies 2004: 304). As the result of being put at the second place, women became the marginalized, people judged that women were less worthy than men. The differences between the way males and females were treated also can be seen through the use of sexist language. Sexist language consists of speech that shows gender stereotypes and unequality between men and women. Therefore, as the result of the gender stereotypes in the society, the phenomenon of gender stereotypes also can be found in literary works.
One of the works by Phyllid Lloyd which shows the gender stereotypes and contains sexist language is a documentary movie about Margaret Thatcher, which entitled The Iron Lady. This movie was chosen because in this movie we could find many sentences in the dialogue that shows stereotype towards women. Dialogue is preferable in studying about sexism in language because the utterances by both male and female characters contain many sexist expression.
In this research there were two problems to be solved. The first problem was kind of sexist language that could be found in the movie’s dialogue. The second problem is the kind of stereotypes revealed through the use of sexist language in The Iron Lady (2011).
In order to solve the problems, the writer took some steps. Firstly, the writer chose the source of the data. Next, the writer selected the dialogue of The Iron Ladycontaining many sexist languages that reveal gender stereotypes. After finding and selecting the data, the writer started to collect the data. After all of the data had been collected, the writer identified the data. Then, the writer classified the data and categorized the data into: utterances, implied meaning, situational context, sexist language. After classifying the data into kinds of sexist language, the writer categorized the data into kinds of gender stereotypes (traits, roles, behaviors, and physical characteristics) which is revealed through the use of sexist language. This research dealt with sociolinguistics because it studies about the use of sexist language which was related to gender stereotypes.
xi ABSTRAK
YENNI. Gender Stereotyping Shown by Sexist Language in Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady. Yogyakarta: Departemen Bahasa Sastra, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Sampai akhir 1990-an, perempuan ditempatkan di tempat kedua sedangkan pria ditempatkan di tempat pertama ( Davies 2004: 304 ). Sebagai hasil dari berada di tempat kedua, wanita menjadi marginal, orang menilai bahwa wanita kurang layak dibandingkan pria. Perbedaan perlakuan terhadap pria dan wanita juga dapat dilihat oleh melalui penggunaan bahasa seksis. Bahasa seksis terdiri dari pidato yang menunjukkan stereotipe jenis kelamin dan ketidakadilan antara pria dan wanita. Oleh karena itu, sebagai hasil dari stereotipe jenis kelamin dalam masyarakat, fenomena stereotipe jenis kelamin juga dapat ditemukan dalam karya sastra.
Salah satu karya Phyllid Lloyd yang menunjukkan stereotipe jenis kelamin dan mengandung bahasa seksis adalah film dokumentasi tentang Margaret Thatcher yang berjudul The Iron Lady. Film ini dipilih karena dalam film ini kita bisa menemukan banyak kalimat dalam dialog yang menunjukkan stereotipe terhadap perempuan. Dialog dianggap lebih baik dalam mempelajari seksisme dalam bahasa karena ucapan-ucapan oleh kedua karakter laki-laki dan perempuan mengandung banyak ekspresi seksis.
Dalam penelitian ini ada dua masalah yang harus diselesaikan. Masalah pertama adalah jenis bahasa seksis yang dapat ditemukan dalam dialog film tersebut. Masalah kedua adalah jenis stereotipe terungkap melalui penggunaan bahasa seksis diThe Iron Lady (2011).
Untuk memecahkan permasalahan, penulis mengambil beberapa langkah. Pertama, penulis memilih sumber data. Selanjutnya, penulis memilih dialog The Iron Lady mengandung banyak bahasa seksis yang mengungkapkan stereotipe jenis kelamin. Setelah menemukan dan memilih data, penulis mulai mengumpulkan data. Setelah semua data telah dikumpulkan, penulis mengidentifikasi data. Kemudian, penulis mengelompokkan data dan dikategorikan data ke: tuturan, makna yang tersirat, konteks situasional, bahasa seksis. Setelah mengelompokkan data ke dalam jenis bahasa seksis, penulis mengkategorikan data menjadi jenis-jenis stereotipe jenis kelamin (sifat, peran, perilaku , dan karakteristik fisik) yang terungkap melalui penggunaan bahasa seksis. Penelitian ini berhubungan dengan sosiolinguistik karena penelitian ini mempelajari kajian tentang penggunaan bahasa seksis yang terkait dengan stereotipe gender.
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1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of The Study
Language reflects the culture and the importance of the way of life in a society. That is why the words people use in their language show or reflect their perception about the world. One of the perceptions which are reflected through their language is the perception about the sexes. This kind of perception becomes general for people in the society as they differentiate roles, abilities, and status of people with their sexes. It leads people to use sexist language, which is language that shows the distinction between the sexes, in their daily life, consciously or unconsciously. Mills said that
What extend our perception of the world, and what we understand ‘natural sex roles to be, is in fact influenced by the language we speak. (Mills 1995: 83).
doctors, chief of the offices, etc. As what Alan Dundes said, “The female path is that of love, marriage, and childbearing, not in careers like doctors, lawyers, Indian chief” (Ahmad 2009: 11). These kinds of statement is considered as the example of gender stereotype which is shown by the used of sexist language.
The use of sexist language is related to gender stereotypes. It is because sexist language consists of speech that shows gender stereotypes and unequality between men and women. Therefore, as the result of the gender stereotypes in the society, the phenomenon of gender stereotypes also could be found in literary works. One of the works which shows gender stereotypes which can be seen through the use of sexist language is a movie entitled The Iron Lady. The Iron Ladyis a documentary movie about the first female Prime Minister in Britain that created in 2011. This movie was chosen because there are many sentences that show gender stereotypes in the dialogue of the movie. The gender stereotypes are seen through the use of sexist language in the dialogue that is uttered by both male and female characters which show the distinctions between both male and female which are unequal and are constructed by the society.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the above background, the problems of this research can be formulated as follows:
1. What kind of sexist languages are found in the movie’s dialogue?
C. Objectives of the Study
This research is aimed to find out kinds of sexist language in The Iron Lady. The second objective of this study is to find out the gender stereotypes which are revealed through the use of sexist language in the dialogues.
D. Definition of Terms
To help us to understand this research, we should have a better understanding about the definition of Stereotypes. Pilcher and Whelehan in their book Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies, stated that “A stereotype is a method of understanding, which works through classifying individual people into a group category” (2004: 166).
5 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this chapter, the writer will present the review of related studies, the review of related theories and the theoretical framework. The first one is the review on related studies which contains the previous researches done by other researchers or writers on the same topic. The second one is the review on related theories which explains the theories used to answer the problems of the research. The last one is the theoretical framework which is applying the theories which are relevant for this research.
A. Review on Related Studies
The first previous study was done by Afrilla Nita Sari entitled “Chinese Stereotypes of Women in Question Using the Women’s Contribution in Buck’s Selected Novels The Good Earth, The Mother, and Imperial Woman” (2007). According to Sari, there were three main problems discussed in her thesis. The first problem was about the contribution of each female character based on the personality, the second was about the stereotypes of women revealed in those novels, and the last problem was about in what way and why the contribution challenged the stereotypes.
socio-cultural approach believed that a piece of literary work was the product of the civilization that produced it.
Sari in her research found that the female characters had contributed things showing that the stereotypes of women were wrong. She had found that one of the characters named O-Lan had saved her family from starvation and poverty. She found out that the contribution of some female characters had given a tool to question the Chinese stereotypes portraying women as evil powers, burdens, stupid creatures, and unqualified as leaders. She stated that the contribution showed that women were human beings who could make differences, brought a lot of positive things to others.
Sari’s thesis was chosen as the related study of this research because in her thesis, Sari also talked about the stereotypes towards women which were considered as the part of gender stereotypes from the literature’s point of view. The writer in this thesis tried to see the gender stereotypes from a different perspective which was the linguistics’ perspective.
extent of sexism involved and the history used by people nowadays in playing a role. In her research, Ahmad did not found as many examples of sexism in Bangia as she found in English. She stated that one of the possible reasons was Bangia had not been studied extensively in this respect. As the result she found that the best thing to be interested and to discuss sexist language was that as they make conscious decisions about what pronouns they would use, what jokes they would tell or laugh at, how they would write their own names, or how they would begin their letters, they were forced to think about the underlying issue of sexism.
The study that would be done in this research was different from the previous studies. In this research, the writer focused on the use of sexist expression in The Iron Lady movie’s dialogue. The study would investigate the sexist expression and stereotypes shown in the movie’s dialogues.
B. Review on Related Theories
In order to solve the problems in this research, the writer used the related theories that would be applied to the analysis. These theories would be used as a ground of the research to help the researcher in proving the accuracy of the result.
1. Communicating with Language.
by not telling exactly what we mean. In order to understand an indirect speech, we got to know about the context of the speech. Bonvillain in his book Language, Culture, and Communication, The Meaning of Messages, Fourth Edition states that there are some factors that are used to understand speech action in contexts (in direct speech) (2003: 77).
a. Setting: The first factor is the setting (time, place, background, etc) where the communicative events are occurred.
b. Participants: The second is the participants who are expected to join the events. Each member of the participants of a communicative event is conditioned by his or her role.
c. Topics: Next one is the topics of the conversation which is discussed in the events. The communicative event is “about something,” and all speech behavior must be relevant to that issue.
d. Goals: The last one is the goals or the purpose of the communicative event. A speaker chooses words, tone of voice, facial expression, and gesture, and so on to accomplish their purpose.
a. Attitudes
We learn attitudes in our daily life. Our attitudes which are formed about favorable or unfavorable things give direction to our behavior causing uss to act in predisposed ways in different situations (Koch 1995: 135).
b. Motives
Things that are reasons or something that pull us to do something is called motives. There are two kind of basic motives; they are physical motives and social motives. Physical motives refer to basic human drives, such as hungry, thirsty, threatened, and so on. It is different from social motives. Social motives are learned. For an example, a baby learns to cooing, smiling, laughing, and the like, win approval (Koch 1995: 136).
c. Specific Motive Appeals
Specific motive appeals are motive which is used to attract people. Some examples of specific motive appeals are; sex, security, approval, conformity, success, creativity.
The first one is sex. Sex plays an important role in persuasion area. In advertisements and public entertainment, we usually found that sex is used to attract people.
The second one is security. Everyone does some activities in order to protect something, whether it is the wealth, life, family, or etc.
The third one is approval. A person might do kind of thing in order to be approved by the society or other people.
Conformity closely related to the approval motive is the motive to conform. Even in the most primitive societies, people have customs. Mores, and rules to which they must conform in order to live in harmony with their peers (Koch 1995: 137).
Then success is also the specific motive appeal. The desire to be success can be a powerful motive (Koch 1995: 137).
The last one is creativity. Creativity motive usually comes from the person himself. Creativity motive usually does not come out because of a person being forced by any other person.
2. Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is different from sociology of language. It is because, while sociology is about the study of society in their relation with language, sociolinguistics is the study of language in their relation with society. According to Wardhaugh,
sociolinguistics is concerned with investigating the relationships between language and society with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication (1986: 13).
Susan Ehrlich, in Alan Davies’ and Catherin Elder’s The Handbook of Applied Linguistics, added that at least in 1970s and 1980s, the correlations between linguistic variables and the aspect of social identities such as age, race, ethnicity, and sex, exist before and determinate linguistics behavior (2004: 304).
‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’ for women and for men. Although the separation is not complete, in contemporary Britain as many other Western industrial societies, paid work, jobs, levels of job hierarchies, payment, and the prospects for training and promotion are segregated by gender (Pilcher 2004: 30-65). For the example, while men have a primary responsibility as the financial provider for the household, women’s primary responsibility is as the one who should do the housework and take care of the household. Ehrlich in Davies’s and Elder’s book The Handbook of Applied Linguistics added the examples by saying that women and men involved in same-sex dyadic conversations with friends. They also concluded that it was the demands of a particular type of talk – friendly conversations with same-sex individuals – and notgender that was responsible for the emerge of this speech style (2004: 307).
In the relation with sociolinguistics, the gender segregation is reflected through the use of language. It is proven by Verdonk’s statement in his book Stylistics. According to Verdonk, girls and boys talk differently even if they are from the same family.
Girls and boys, even those who have been brought up in the same family, like sisters and brothers, grow up in different worlds with different behaviors and different languages (Verdonk 2002: 73).
The differences between the way males and females speak can be seen by the use of grammatical features such as phonetics and grammar, choice of words, vocabulary, adverbs, and periods (Cameron 1990: 208-216). Some social dialectologist suggested that women were status conscious, and that this was reflected in their use of standard speech forms. However, Lakoff argued that women were using language which reinforced their subordinate status; they were ‘concluding in their own subordination’ by the way they spoke (Holmes 1992: 312-313).
Holmes argued that clearly, a community’s attitudes toward different speech styles reflect the status of those who use them. There are many sources of insight into the attitudes and values of a community in books, in adverts, in TV soap operas and even in the terminology used to describe and refer to different group. The range of labels and connotation of terms are used to refer the minority groups such as children and young people, or to refer to women. It also can reveal a great deal about a culture’s view of the groups concerned (1992: 335).
3. Sexist Language
In the daily conversation, some people even do not realize that they are using sexist language in their conversation and it causes they produce sexist language unconsciously. As Mills mentioned that sexist language is the language-use, conscious or unconscious on the part of the speaker, which may differentiate females and males. Mills also added that sexist language may also lead to be the establishment of an environment which is not conclusive to communication and effective social interactions (1995: 86).
According to Mills there is a way to analyze the Phrases/Sentence. It is by concerned with the way we can analyze language-use beyond the level of the word’s analysis (1995: 128). When concentrating on words in isolations, sometimes it can show if we have a particular view of meaning. Some words do indeed have a history of usage which leads the listeners to interpret them in particular ways. However, in order to make the words make sense, we have to pay intention to the relation of the words and the context. For example, the word ‘girl’ can have two possible meaning. It can be neutral when it is used in a specific context, such as ‘She goes to a girls’ school’, but may take on sexist connotations (the implication and association that might be carried by a word) when it is used in another context; for example, when someone told a little boy who is crying to stop crying by saying, ‘Don’t be such a girl’, or when someone states, ‘The school she goes to isn’t very good: it’s only a girls’ school.’ In these cases, the word ‘girl’ begins to bring negative connotations (1995: 128).
concerned on the way that phrases and sentences make sense in their relation with the co-text, context, history of the usage and also the background knowledge which is needed in order to make them make sense.
According to Sarah Mills in her book Feminist Stylistics, in order to get an understanding about this level of analysis, we have to have known about a. Ready-Made Phrases
Mills stated that there are phrases which are preconstructed and which convey sexist meanings (1995: 128). This case deals with proverbs which contains sexist messages underlying them. Proverb and set phrases are the main elements because they are used as commonsense knowledge which is unbeatable. For example, ‘A woman’s work is never done’, there is a sense that the message seems to be that this is a natural state of affairs (1995: 129). It is very difficult to counter when it is used, because it is presented in a form which is not personal means that the person using the phrase does not claim responsibility for inventing it. However, it is simply calling upon pre-existing knowledge that it is to be assumed as self-evidently true. If a particular woman complains that she has too much work to do, the phrase can be used to suggest that the specificity of the difficulty of the conditions of her working life is not as important as the general ‘fact’ that women always have too much work to do.
b. Presupposition and Inference
speaker “may implicate something rather different from what they actually say” (1992: 291). Therefore, in order to understand about the indirect speech, we should know about ‘what is the speaker wants to say’ and ‘why it is said in that way’.
In the process of implicature, the speakers and the listeners are allowed to figure out relationships between the said and the unsaid. As what Wardhaugh said, the theory of implicature explain how, when A says something to B, B will understand A’s remarks in certain ways because B will recognize that A said more than was required, or gave a seemingly irrelevant reply, or deliberately hidden the issue. Then, B will interpret what A says as a cooperative act of a particular kind in the ongoing exchange between A and B, but that cooperation may be shown somewhat indirectly. Therefore, B will have to figure out the way in which A’s utterance is to be fitted into their ongoing exchange, and B’s operating assumption will be that the utterance is coherent, that sense can be made of it, and that the principles necessary to do so are available (1986: 291).
c. Metaphor
the language acquisition and use (1995: 136). In other hand, when a writer uses a metaphor, this writer is drawing on a body of thought or background knowledge which might in fact affects his/her analysis or thinking of that particular object. For example, if someone uses the phrase ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ they cannot claim to have invented the sentiments; this phrase is used only to refer to older women who are presumed to be dressing in a way which is more suitable for younger women (not used to refer to men who are behaving in a similar way). This following way are more complex phrases which work on a metaphorical level (1995: 129).
Mutton needs to be cooked in a way appropriate for older meat since it is
tougher.
Mutton cannot be treated as lamb, since lamb is young, tender meat.
Mutton is older meat and therefore is a metaphor for older women
Dress can relate the metaphor to its grounds because it can mean both ‘to be
clothed in’ and also ‘to be treated (for meat)’
As the conclusion, it would be absurd to cook old meat in the way you would cook young meat, it is absurd for older women to behave in the same way as younger women (1995: 130).
4. Stereotype
rather than judging on individual merits. Holmes also added that sexist language encodes stereotyped attitudes to women and men (1992: 336).
There are so many ideas that come from different persons about stereotype. However, the theory of stereotype used in this research is about the stereotypes toward women’s role and characteristic. According to Pilcher and Whelehan, a stereotype is “a method of understanding, which works through classifying individual people into a group category” (2004: 166). One of stereotypes that can be seen in the society is gender stereotype. Gender stereotypes in this research vary on four dimensions. The first one is the Stereotype on Traits which refers to the attitudes of men and women (Arliss 1991: 19). The second one is the Stereotype on roles which refers to the role of men and women in their daily life (Arliss 1991: 18). Next is the stereotype on behavior which refers to how men and women act in their daily life (Arliss 1991: 23). The last one is the stereotype on physical characteristics which differs men and women by their nature anatomical characteristics (Arliss 1991: 6).
i Stereotypes on Traits
Deborah Tannen in her book You Just Don’t Understand also give an
examples of stereotype on women’s trait by saying that men stereotypes women as noisily clucking hens. It is because women are considered as the one who is talkative (Tannen 1990:208).
Laurie P. Arliss in her book Gender Communicationstated that men were still
ii Stereotypes on Roles
Noted folklore author Alan Dundes in Naufela Nafisa Ahmad’s thesis states
that women are expected to marry and the female path is that of love, marriage, and childbearing (Ahmad: 11).
Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan in their book Fifty Key Concepts in Gender
Studies said that men have primary responsibility for the necessary financial provision of their family household (via laboring/working outside the home in exchange for a wage), and women have primary responsibility for the management and performance of housework and caring work (such as cleaning, laundry, shopping, cooking, and caring for children) (2004: 31). iii Stereotype on Behavior
Ronald Wardhaugh mentioned the stereotypes on women’s behavior by saying
that women are considered as the one which the speech is trivial, gossip-laden, corrupt, illogical, idle, euphemistic; or deficient is obviously false; not is it necessarily more precise, cultivated, or stylish, or even less profane – than men’s speech (Wardhaugh 1992: 313).
iv Stereotype on Physical Characteristics
Ronald Wardhaugh in his book An Introduction to Sociolinguistics gave
C. Theoretical Framework
20 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This research dealt with the verbal communication in The Iron Lady. The Iron Lady is a biographical movie which is created based on the life of the first female Prime Minister in Britain, Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady was directed by Phyllida Lloyd and produced by The Weinstein Company.The Iron Lady is chosen as the source of the study because the verbal communication in the movie’s dialogue contains sexist language which shows gender stereotypes.
However, after her husband passed away, the elderly Margaret could not accept the reality and then, she was haunted by her past or things that happened when she was young, where she gave everything and worked very hard to get the political status until she became a Prime Minister. She even could not forget her husband and she still acted like as her husband still alive. Beside of the old ages, these all happened because she still could not accept that she was no more a Prime Minister and the reality that her husband (the one who always stood beside her and supported whatever she did) was already dead.
Through The Iron Lady, Margaret shows us that although she is a woman and she is a daughter of a grocer, she still can be a Prime Minister. This is why besides of love and politics, the themes of the movie are social-class discrimination and gender stereotypes.
As a documentary movie of the first female Prime Minister in Britain, this movie has gained many positive and negative reactions from the audience. One of the reactions came from Catherine Mayer, who stated in TIMEmagazine that The Iron Lady showed Margaret Thatcher again and again, wrenching Britain, often brutally, out of a sense of all-encompassing failure that had blighted it for much of the era after the end of World War II (2013: 26).
B. Approach of the Study
In order to analyze the language style in the dialogue of The Iron Lady, Sociolinguistics approach is chosen as the approach of the study. Ronald Wardhaugh in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics stated that, “Sociolinguistics is concerned with investigating the relationships between language and society with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication”. Sociolinguistics is used as the approach of the study because gender stereotype is one of the examples of problem in society (1986: 13).
C. Method of The Study
Firstly, the writer chose the documentary movie named The Iron Lady as the source of the data. The writer downloaded movie from
http://ganool.com/the-iron-lady-2011-bluray-720p-600mb-ganool , while the
script which is used for the transcription of the dialogue was downloaded from http://cbsla.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/the-iron-lady.pdf. Next, the researcher
identified the dialogue of The Iron Lady which contains many sexist languages that reveal gender stereotypes. Based on that reason, the writer decided to use The Iron Ladyfor the research.
The main data which is used by the writer is the dialogue of the movie. After finding and identifying the data, the writer starts to collect the data. After all of the data had been collected, the writer identified the data. In identifying the data, the writer also recorded the dialogue and compared it to the script of the movie to make sure that the data which already collected were valid.
Then, the writer classified the data and categorized the data into many types in a table. Firstly, the writer categorized the data into: utterances, implied meaning, situational context, sexist language (explanation about the data as ready-made phrases, phrases with implied meaning, and metaphoric phrases). This was used in order to solve the first problem formulations which is questioning about kinds of sexist language that can be found in the movie.
25 CHAPTER IV
THE ANALYSIS RESULT AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, the writer is going to present the analysis result and discussion of the research. The first part is the analysis result and discussion about kind of sexist language that can be found in the dialogue of The Iron Lady (2011). The second part is the analysis result and discussion of the stereotypes revealed through the use of sexist language in The Iron Lady (2011).
A. Sexist Language
In The Iron Lady, there are 18 data which contain sexist language. These data are categorized according to the types. There are 3 types of the data; they are ready-made phrases, phrases with implied meaning, and metaphoric phrases.
1. Ready-made Phrases
Based on Mill’s sexist language theory, the first type is Ready-made phrases. Ready-made phrases are a kind of phrases which contains phrases that show the idea of sexist language explicitly. This kind of phrases does not have any implied meaning, because it already shows what is meant by the speaker directly. In this research, the writer found that there were three data of ready-made phrases. They were datum number 4, datum number 7 and datum number 17. a. Datum number 4
always been like this, fuss fuss fuss. You must find something better to do with your time. It’s the most unattractive in a woman. When I was your age the last thing I wanted to do was fuss around my mother” (00:14:06).
The utterance above came out when Margaret and her daughter, Carol, was having a debate. Carol complained about Margaret’s action to hang out alone. The debate started when Carol said,
“I hear you went out today… You mustn’t go out on your own Mummy. We’ve talked about that” (00:13:46).
Carol worried about Margaret’s action because she thought Margaret’s action was too risky. Margaret did not realized that she was no more a Prime Minister and that she was too old already to go out by herself. Therefore, when Carol was complaining about her action, she believed that Carol did it because she loved to complain about the small thing.
The explicit meaning which contained the idea of sexist language could be seen in the end of the debate, when Margaret tried to control her temper and tell Carol that she did not like Carol’s attitude which always complains about small things, she used phrases like “you always been like this, fuss fuss fuss” and “it’s the most unattractive in women” in datum number 4. These two phrases were used because the word ‘fuss’ in the first phrase is represented by the word “it” in the second phrase. Therefore, as the conclusion, what the meaning of utterance in datum number 4 was that complaint about small thing (fussy) is the most unattractive in women.
unfair distinction between the sexes. It had been written in the previous paragraph that the meaning of utterance in datum number 4 was that complaint about small thing (fussy) is the most unattractive in women, which means that ‘fussy’ is a minus point that owned by women (only women). The utterance in datum number 4 might not be considered as sexist language if the word ‘women’ is changed into ‘human’ because if it is changed into ‘human’, the meaning would be more neutral.
b. Datum number 7
Margaret: "A man might call it fiscal responsibility, a woman might call it good housekeeping" (00:17:52).
The utterance in datum number 7 appeared when Margaret was joining a dinner with parliament members. When they were talking about the economic problem in Dartford, Margaret said,
“I know much more than those who never lived on a limited income. Just like the man or woman on the street, when I am short one week, I have to make economies the next” (00:17:38).
After hearing what Margaret said, one of the parliament members argued “Nothing like a slice of fiscal responsibility” (00:17:50) and datum number 7 came out as the reaction of the male guest’s argument that the writer had written earlier.
should be dealt with was called ‘fiscal responsibility’, while the economic problem that a woman should be dealt with was called ‘good housekeeping’. The phrases of the datum showed that there were two different perspectives between men and women in seeing a problem.
In datum number 7, women and men were using two different perspectives in seeing a problem (in this case, the economic problem). It can be seen that when it comes to the fiscal responsibility (tax, contribution, etc), it is something that should be done by men (not for women) because usually the one who has responsibility to take care of family as the head of the family is man. However, when it comes to housekeeping, it is something that should be handled by women whose role is to take care of the house. Datum number 7 is considered sexist because it differentiates women’s and men’s economic problems based on their sexes.
c. Datum number 17
Margaret: “Prime Minister?! Oh no. Oh no no no. In Britain? There will be no female Prime Minister here, not in my lifetime. No. And I told Airey, I don’t expect to win the leadership, but I’m going to run. Just to shake up the party” (00:42:56).
The utterance above came out as the reaction of what Mr. Reece said. He said,
“If I may say so – I think that’s your trump card. You’re flying in the face of everything the Tories have been those far. It’s really very exciting. One simply has to maximize your appeal, bring out all your qualities and make you look, and sound, like the leader that you could be” (00:42:29).
‘that’s your trump card’ said by Mr. Reece represented Margaret’s background as a woman. It was because before Mr. Reece produces this utterance, Margaret argued, “It’s all very well to talk about changing my voice, Mr. Reece, but for some of my colleagues to imagine me as their leader would be like imagining, I don’t know, being led into battle by their chambermaid. It’s my background, and my sex. No matter how I’ve tried, and I have tried, to fit in, I will never be truly one of them”(00:42:03). Therefore, Mr. Reece and Airey tried to persuade Margaret to use her background (as woman) to win the election of Prime Minister. However, after hearing what Mr. Reece and Airey said, Margaret answered that it was impossible for a woman to be a Prime Minister in Britain, not in her lifetime.
Margaret added that she already told Airey that she just wanted to shock people in the party and that she did not really want to be elected as a Prime Minister. She assumed that as long as she stills a woman, there would be no possibility for her to win the election or being selected as a Prime Minister in Britain.
2. Phrases with Implied Meaning
Phrases with implied meaning are different from the ready-made phrases. It is because in the ready-made phrases the listener does not need any special knowledge to understand what the speaker is trying to say. However, in the phrases with implied meaning, a special knowledge is required in order to help the listener to understand what the speaker means.
In order to understand about what the speaker means, we need a special knowledge, for example, the situational context and presupposition (and inference). In The Iron Lady, there are some data which contain phrases with implied meanings. They are
a. Datum number 1
Beatrice: “Margaret! Cups!” (00:08:56).
At that time, Margaret’s father, Alfred was giving his speech in the front of people in the city. However, people who watch the speech were men, but Margaret (holding an empty tray) was the only woman who was watching for the speech, while the other women were busy at the kitchen; washing the dirty cups and making tea. Therefore, Margaret’s mother asked her to do her duty at the kitchen. The non-verbal reaction that came out after the utterance was the scene where Margaret was holding a tray loaded with dirty cups, Margaret watched her father and turned back to the kitchen where all the women and young girls were making tea and washing up cups (00:09:01).
the place because what Margaret supposed to do was not watching her father's speech but got the dirty cups and back to the kitchen. It could be seen that Margaret was the only woman who was watching the speech while the other women were busy in the kitchen. In the other word, all people who were watching the speech were men except Margaret. It showed us that this kind of gathering was not supposed to be joined by women (it was for men).
In the situational context, Beatrice used the word ‘cups’ to get Margaret out from the gathering. The word ‘cups’ was used because ‘cups’ was used as the container of kind of drinks like tea and coffee while ‘kitchen’ was the place for making coffee/tea and washing the cups. Therefore, when the cup which was filled with the drink was already empty, it must be washed in the kitchen.
As the conclusion of the analysis, the implied meaning of this datum is, “Margaret! Hurry up get the dirty cups and bring it to the kitchen! You are not supposed to be here. It is not a place for woman. The place that you are supposed to be is in the kitchen.”
b. Datum number 2
Pretty young woman 2: “She’s not coming out, she’s got to study. Miss Hoity Toity! (00:09:11).
In this scene, the pretty young women passed in front of her house when Margaret was sweeping outside the shop. One of the pretty young women asked Margaret to take the pictures with them. She said, “Margaret, do you want to come to the pictures?” (00:09:09). However, before Margaret answered it, one of them answered with the utterance in datum number 2.
After they said the utterance above to Margaret, they laughed at her and it reminded Margaret about what her father said to her “never run with the crowd, Margaret. Go your own way”, which meant do not follow other people, just be yourself (00:09:15).
The situational context showed that the pretty young woman did not really mean to invite Margaret to join them. They did it in order to tease Margaret because they knew that Margaret would never accept their invitation and she would give the reason that 'she got to study'.
In their assumption, usually woman always preferred to hang out with her friends rather than studies at home. It was because studying was not something that supposed to be a woman's activity. This was why the young woman said that Margaret is freak because she preferred to study.
Therefore, as the conclusion, what was implied in datum 2 was, “She will not go with us, she prefers to study because she is freak”.
young woman 2 said that Margaret is ‘Miss Hoity Toity!’ which means ‘she is freak’ because Margaret prefers to study rather than hanging out with them. This phrase shows how a woman is being treated as a freak when she prefers to study rather than hang out with the other. However, the meaning of the utterance might be different if the object is a man because women are expected to prefer to hang out with the others rather than study at home.
c. Datum number 3
Beatrice: “My hands are still damp” (00:09:46).
The utterance in datum number 3 came out as the reaction of Margaret’s call. The scene began when Margaret received a telegram of the report from the University where she would go to. After showing the report to her father, Margaret called her mother in order to show it to her,
“Mother?’ (00:09:42).
When Margaret called her, Beatrice (Margaret’s mother) was approaching Margaret but she refused to get the telegram by saying the utterance in datum number 3. Then, she went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes without hesitation.
As the conclusion of the analysis, the implied meaning of the utterance in datum number 3 was; “I can’t hold the paper, I have not finished with washing the dishes”.
Datum number 3 was considered sexist because in the utterance it could be seen that Beatrice refused to see her daughter’s report by saying ‘my hands are still damps’ which shows Beatrice as a woman preferred to wash the dishes rather than to see her daughter’s report. By seeing Beatrice’s action, it could be seen that for a women, taking care of the domestic job was more important than studying. As mentioned in chapter 2 that women’s primary responsibility is as the one who should do the housework and take care of the household.
d. Datum number 5
Carol: “I think he's bringing his new lady friend just to mix it up a bit. We're rather short on women - but I'm sure we'll manage –“(00:15:34). Carol was describing about the guests of the dinner to Margaret in this scene. By using datum number 5, Carol explained to Margaret that they got a problem with the lack number of women guests but she told Margaret to not worry about it because, fortunately, one of the male guests would bring his lady friend to join the dinner.
Carol assumed that usually women preferred to be accompanied by the other women rather than men. It was the reason why Carol worried about the lack number of the women guests that joined the dinner.
his new lady friend in order to mix it up a bit. We just have a few women guest, but I'm sure we can handle it –“ (00:15:34).
Datum number 5 was considered sexist because it was shown that there was an unfair judgment where woman was judged as the one who prefers to talk with people from the same sexes, while the fact was that there was a possibilities that women prefers to talk with men. It was proven by the way Carol, who was worried about the number of the female guest, explained about the guest that joined the dinner by using the phrase, ‘We’re rather short on women’, shows her assumption that women are likely to talk with people from the same sex. It was proven by what Davies and Elder mentioned in chapter 2 that women and men involved in same-sex dyadic conversations with friends.
e. Datum number 6
Margaret: “I’ve always preferred the company of men” (00:15:40). The utterance in datum number 6 came out as the reaction of Carol’s information. Carol told Margaret,
“I think he's bringing his new lady friend just to mix it up a bit. We're rather short on women - but I'm sure we'll manage –“(00:15:34).
Carol worried about the number of the female guests because she thought that as a woman, Margaret would prefer to be accompanied by women rather than by men. However, Carol was wrong. It was proven by the utterance in datum number 6.
she was still young, she went to a dinner with the parliament’s members and had a conversation about politics. However, in that scene the other women did not give their argument when the topic came to political issue.
As someone who loved to talk about political issues, Margaret assumed that women usually did not talk too much or even give their opinion when it came to political issues. Therefore, she preferred to be accompanied by the men. This could also be seen in Margaret's flashback memory where she was having a dinner with the parliament members. After heard Margaret’s statement that she always preferred the company of men, we could know that political issues were not the topic that was talked by women.
Based on the analysis, the writer concluded that the implied meaning of the utterance in datum number 6 was, “I don’t mind about how many woman that join the dinner. I prefer to be accompanied by men because when the topic comes to politics women do not speak too much.”
f. Datum number 8
Male Guest: “I’m not sure a home economics lesson is quite what the Dartford constituent’s need. They see industry being nationalized, the slide . . . whoever can sort that lot out – he’s my man” (00:17:58). The utterance in datum number 8 came out as the reaction of Margaret’s opinion about economic problem in Dartford. She said, "A man might call it fiscal responsibility, a woman might call it good housekeeping" (00:17:52).
The male guest disagreed with Margaret opinion. Therefore, in datum number 8 the male guest stated that he thought an economic problem of a city cannot be represented by a home economic lesson. The male guest also stated that if there was someone who could solve the problem that man would be the one he chose. It meant that the one that he chose must be a male.
After the male guest produced the utterance above, Margaret without hesitation answered it by saying that it could be a woman by saying “or woman?” (00:18:18). Margaret said this utterance in order to show that there was a possibility for a woman to solve the problem.
By seeing the situational context, the writer found that the male guest assumed that the economic problem of a city could not be compared with the home economic problem because it was much larger than the domestic economic problem. Economic problem was not something handled by women.
home economic problem. However, whoever can solve this problem out, that man will be the one that I choose.”
Datum number 8 was considered sexist because it showed an unfair distinction between the sexes, where the man judged that women were not able to handle the problem of a city and the one who was able to handle it must be a man. It was proven by the phrase in the utterance where the male guest said, ‘that man will be the one that I choose’ the word ‘man’ in this phrase showed that there was a specification of the sex of the one that might be chose by the male guest.
g. Datum number 9
Hostess: “Ladies shall we?” (00:18:23).
The utterance in datum number 9 came out as the reaction of a sign from the portly host who told his wife to ask the ladies to get out from the room (00:18:21). After the hostess said the utterance in datum number 9, the ladies stood up and got out from the room. However, the one who stayed still was Margaret. Then, the portly host told her to join the other ladies to get out from the room by saying,
“Miss Roberts, do join the ladies”, (00:18:28).
Based on the situational context, the sign from the host lead the hostess to assume that women were not supposed to be included in the conversation about politic issue. Therefore she asked the ladies to get out from the room with her.
According to Mill’s theory about sexist language which was written in chapter 2, datum number 9 was considered sexist because it showed the oppression of women by an unfair treatment between men and women. It was proven by the implied meaning of the utterance which showed that women were forced to get out from a conversation because they were being judge that they were not supposed to be included in a particular topic.
h. Datum number 10
Margaret: “I love you so much but... I’ll never be one of those women Denis – who stays silent and pretty on the arm of her husband. Or remote and alone in the kitchen doing the washing up for that matter” (00:26:08).
Margaret was different from other women at that time, she spent her time by studying and climbing the parliament’s seat rather than doing what the other women did. One of the women who could become an example of the usual woman at that time was Margaret’s mother. Margaret did not want to be an ordinary woman like the other women, she wanted something more and different from the other. When Denis answered her by saying that they would get a help for it, Margaret without hesitation said,
“No – one’s life must matter, Denis. Beyond the cooking and the cleaning and the children, one’s life must mean more than that – I cannot die washing up a tea cup”, (00:26:26).
It meant ‘No, My life must be better than Denis. Except taking care of the house and the children, my life must be more than that. I don’t want to take care of the house for the rest of my life’.
wants. It was the women's job or responsibility to take care of the kitchen and the house.
According to the situational context and the presupposition of the utterance, the implied meaning of the utterance in datum number 10 was, “I love you so much but I won’t be like the other women who are weak and lay on her husband’s protection. They should follow their husband’s commands and their job is to take care of the house for the whole of their life”.
Based on the implied meaning, it could be concluded that this datum was considered sexist because it showed the unfair judgment about woman. The phrase, ‘who stays silent and pretty on the arm of her husband’, in datum number 10 showed that women were treated differently from men where they should be asking for a protection from men because they were considered as weak creatures. Next, the last sentence of datum number 10, ‘or remote and alone in the kitchen doing the washing up for that matter’, showed that women should obey men’s order because men were considered as the head of the family, and served men by doing the domestic job in their daily life.
i. Datum number 11
Shadow Minister: “Me thinks the Right Honorable lady doth screech too much. If she wants us to take her seriously she must learn to calm down!” (00:33:42).
opposition party’s members who joined the chamber laugh at her and the conservative party’s members who were in the same side with Margaret were also sniggering in agreement, and Margaret answered him by saying,
“If the right honorable gentleman could perhaps attend more closely to WHAT I am saying, rather than HOW I am saying it, he may receive a valuable education in spite of himself” (00:33:59).
By analyzing the situational context, the writer concluded that the shadow minister assumed that high voice was used to scream, not to give an argument and the inference of the conversation was that women were not important.
As the result of analyzed the situational context, presupposition and the inference, what the shadow minister tried to say in data number 11 was, “I think this woman’s voice is too high. If she wants us to hear what she says, she must calm herself down first”.
The implied meaning of the datum number 11 led the writer to conclude that data was considered sexist. It was because the utterance of datum number 11 showed the irrelevant distinction between men and women. In datum number 11, woman was said as the one whose voice was too high and should calm down if she wanted the other people to hear what she said while in fact, women’s high voice is a biological condition. As mentioned before in chapter 2, women are born with a higher voice rather than men. Therefore, it is very irrelevant if a man said that a woman’s voice is too high and if her voice is too high, the woman will not be able to be considered by the other.
j. Datum number 12
Just to nip at their heels and make them reaffirm the principles on which the Conservative Party must stand. There’s so much to do” (00:39:24).
The utterance in datum number 12 came out because Margaret thought that the current Prime Minister was weak and he weakened the party but there was no one in the party dared to say so. Therefore, in order to make a shock, Margaret planned to run the election to make someone came out and replaced the current Prime Minister. However, Margaret believed that she would never be elected because she was a woman and at that time, there was no female who had ever been elected or nominated to be a Prime Minister in Great Britain. As the reaction of what Margaret said in datum number 12, Denis answered Margaret with a sotto voice “You’re insufferable, Margaret, do you know that?” (00:39:47). It was because Denis thought Margaret was already obsessed to be a leader.
According to the situational context, it could be seen that Margaret assumed that it was impossible for woman to be elected as a leader. It was because at that time, there was no female Prime Minister in the history of Britain.
Based on the situational context and the presupposition, the writer concluded that the implied meaning of the utterance was; “we both know that I would never be elected as a leader because I’m a woman but I will nominate to be a leader in order to scare them and make them reaffirm the principles on which the Conservative Party must stand. There is so much to do”.
But I will run. I will run. Just to nip at their heels and make them reaffirm the principles on which the Conservative Party must stand’, shows that at that time, it is unlikely for a woman to be chosen as a leader. It was proven by Alan Dudes statement in chapter 2 that women’s path is not at the careers like an Indian chief. In the other word, the only one who had the opportunity to be a leader was man. The utterance of this datum showed that there was an unfair treatment between men and women based on their opportunity to be a leader.
k. Datum number 13
Reece: “Well err . . . For a start, that hat has got to go. And the pearls. In fact I think all hats may have to go. You look and sound like a privileged Conservative wife and we’ve already got her vote. You’ve got lovely hair but we need to do something with it – to make it more – “ (00:41:10).
In order to join the election, Margaret consulted with an expert named Mr. Reece. After watched one of Margaret’s speeches on TV, Reece started to evaluate Margaret’s performance and her appearance. From the start, he complained about Margaret hair style, while Reece was giving his opinion about Margaret’s hair by using the utterance in datum number 13, Airey Neave added the description about Margaret’s hair by saying “Important” (00:41:39). This utterance was used to show what was exactly meant by Mr. Reece. The word ‘important’ was used to describe Margaret’s hair, in order to show that her hair could also be used as something that helped her to bring more authority to her appearance.
conservative. A leader should not dress like women. It was because usually women were only the companion of a leader.
After doing the analysis of the situational context and the presupposition, the writer concluded that the implied meaning of the utterance was; “Well er... First, you should put off the hat and the pearls. In fact I think you should not wear hat. Your outfit and your voice don’t seem like you are a parliament’s member. You’ve got lovely hair but we need to do something to make it more attractive”.
Datum number 13 was considered sexist because it could be seen in the implied meaning of the utterance, ‘your outfit and your voice don’t seem like you are a parliament’s member’, that someone who dressed or sounded like a woman did not seems like a leader. This statement is considered as an unfair judgment about woman because it shows that the way women dress and the way women talk which the voice was considered too high were judged as the wrong examples of what a leader should be.
l. Datum number 18
Margaret: “Now, shall I be mother?” (01:12:11).
After having a debate with the U.S. Secretary of State about the war in order to get back their island, which was located far away from Britain, Margaret offered a cup of tea in order to cool down the situation by using the utterance in datum number 18. After hearing what Margaret said in datum number 18, the U.S. Secretary of State was confused. Therefore, in order to make it clearer, Margaret added,
After analyzing the situational context of the datum, the writer found that Margaret’s assumption which was shown by the situational context was that a mother's role was to serve people. It was proven by the utterance which was said as the reaction of the U.S. Secretary of State’s confused expression.
Based on the analysis of the situational context and the presupposition of the utterance in datum number 18, the writer concluded that the implied meaning was; “Do you like a cup of tea? Which one do you like? Black tea or white tea?”
The utterance in datum number 18 showed that a domestic job which was represented by the word ‘tea’ was shown as the responsibility of a woman which represented by the word ‘mother’. It is considered sexist because it shows that the word ‘mother’ can represent a domestic job like serving a cup of tea, while the word ‘father’ might not lead to the same meaning.
3. Metaphoric Phrases
Besides ready-made phrases and phrases with implied meaning, metaphoric phrases also can express sexist language. As we know, metaphor is the part of figurative language which compares something to another. There are some data that can be categorized as metaphoric phrases. They are
a. Datum number 14
Reece: “Yes. Give it more impact. But the main thing is your voice. It’s too high. It has no authority” (00:41:40).
After giving a comment about Margaret’s hair style by saying,
hair but we need to do something with it – to make it more –“ (00:41:10).
Reece continued with complaining about Margaret’s high voice. According to Reece, Margaret’s voice had no authority because it was too high. Therefore, in order to improve the authority, the voice might be lower. As the reaction of what Reece said in datum number 14, Airey Naive (Margaret’s best friend) reminded Margaret about the sentence said by the shadow minister during the debate in the house of chamber in datum number 11, “Me thinks the Lady doth screech too much” (00:41:47). Airey Naive reminded Margaret with the utterance in datum number 11 in order to proof that her high voice was used by the other to look down on her.
The analysis of the situational context showed that there was a comparison between high voice and authority in this data. The utterance in datum number 14 told us that low voice had more authority rather than high voice. Therefore, when it was said that the voice of a leader should have more authority, it meant that the voice should be lower.
Therefore, the writer concluded that the utterance in datum number 14 showed how the differences between men and women through their voice lead it to an unfair judgment that considered high voice which was usually owned by women had no authority.
as a voice with no authority. It shows that the authority of man’s voice was higher the woman’s voice. This was the reason why phrases like ‘the main thing is your voice. It’s too high’ and ‘It has no authority’ showed that the conclusion of the utterance in datum number 14 was Margaret voice was too high and this kind of voice had no authority which meant that high voice like woman’s voice had no authority.
b. Datum number 15
Reece: “People don’t want to be harangued by a woman or hectored. Persuaded yes. That ‘oh yes’ at the end of the interview, that’s authoritative, that’s the voice of a leader” (00:41:50).
After complaining about Margaret’s voice and outfit (in data number 13 and number 14), Reece started to argue about the way Margaret talked. According to Reece, the way Margaret closed her interview by saying ‘Oh yes’ was the right example of the way a leader speaks and it was authoritative. However, when he explained about it, in datum number 15, Reece argued that people did not want to be harangued by ‘a woman’ or ‘hectored’. This argument led Margaret to say,
“It’s all very well to talk about changing my voice, Mr. Reece, but for some of my colleagues to imagine me as their leader would be like imagining, I don’t know, being led into battle by their chambermaid. It’s my background, and my sex. No matter how I’ve tried, and I have tried, to fit in, I will never be truly one of them” (00:42:03).
Margaret’s reaction came out because Margaret is a woman and it was impossible for her to change her biological sex.
was compared to hector because women had higher voice that sounds like they were screaming to other people.
As the conclusion of the analysis, the writer concluded that the utterance in datum number 15 was considered sexist because it exploited an unfair or irrelevant distinction between the sexes, because the meaning of the utterance in the data would not be the same if the word 'woman' being changed into 'man'.
This datum is considered sexist because the utterance of the datum shows how a women and men are being treated differently based on their biological condition. As what had been mentioned before in the explanation of datum number 11, biologically women’s vocal pitch ranged is higher than men’s. Therefore, because of women’s vocal pitch is higher, when they are talking to the other their sounds seem like someone is screaming for the man. This is the reason why women are compared to a hectored, which means someone who is angry or treating the other people.
c. Datum number 16
Margaret: “It’s all very well to talk about changing my voice, Mr. Reece, but for some of my colleagues to imagine me as their leader would be like imagining, I don’t know, being led into battle by their chambermaid. It’s my background, and my sex. No matter how I’ve tried, and I have tried, to fit in, I will never be truly one of them” (00:42:03).
This utterance came out as the reaction of Mr. Reece argumentation of the way Margaret closed the interview in datum number 15. Mr. Reece argued,
After hearing Mr. Reece argument, by using the utterance in datum number 16, Margaret stated that it was impossible for her to be a leader because of her sex and her background. It was because no matter how hard Margaret tried to fit in the men, she never can.
In the utterance of datum number 16, the writer found that there was a comparison between leader and chambermaid. The word 'chambermaid' which meant a female servant was related to woman as a caretaker. It was because, at that time, woman's roles were to take care of house and children including washing dishes, cleaning the house, etc. Therefore, the reason why the word 'chambermaid' was related to woman was because what was done by a 'chambermaid' was also done by woman (similar).
This data is considered sexist because it shows the unfair distinction of men and women in their possibility of being a leader. It showed by the phrase ‘being lead into the battle by their chambermaid’ that instead of being the one who led the men, women were seen as the one who should serve the men. As Pilcher and Whelehan mentioned in chapter 2 that women have primary responsibility for the management and performance of housework and caring work.
B. Stereotype
