2023-04

SOCIAL SCIENCES STUDIES Journal (Issue : 110) (Volume : 9)

The present article examines the linguistic characteristics of men and women based on the two theories of “difference”, and “deficit”, and tries to point out the linguistic differences and similarities between men and women according to real examples in this field. If one looks at society from the perspective of gender, one will find two societies, i.e., male and female societies, each of which has its own rules. This means that women and men use language differently. For instance, if only men are present in a conversation, they tend to speak one by one. As long as one of them is speaking, others do not use affirmative words and statements such as it is true, correct, I agree, etc. and they just tend to listen. This style of speech is specific to the male linguistic community. In the female linguistic community, however, the situation is the opposite. When women speak, they expect others to use affirmative words and statements such as it is true, right, I agree, etc. and consider the silence of others speaking as a sign of inattention. Men and women are aware of the linguistic characteristics of their peers. The problem arises when mixed groups (male and female) speak together. Due to the different rules and characteristics of men’s and women’s language behavior, men consider women to be talkative and garrulous, tending to interrupt the conversation. By contrast, women consider men to be indifferent to their conversations. The linguistic differences between men and women are so wide that it has been the subject of many scientific studies since the 17th century. Many theories have been proposed in this field. Among these theories. The two theories of “difference” and “deficit” have produced interesting results. The findings have been obtained according to the social role of women and men in society. To this end, the main purpose of this article is, therefore, to investigate the relationship between language and gender based on the abovementioned two theories.