Dominant and muted group theory.

Shirley and Edwin Ardener made this theory and it has since been adopted by others e.g. Dale Spender and Cheris Kramarae. This theory allows us to see in more detail the way in which language is connected to social values.

They believe that in any culture there are more and less powerful groups. The more powerful social groups control the means of communication e.g. language,  TV, the press etc and therefore reflect the views of this dominant group.

Other groups are in various ways from using or are ignored by these means of communication. They thus become muted groups as they are denied means of expressing themselves.

Dale Spender applies this theory in her book 'Man Made Language':
"Males, as the dominant group, have produced language, thought and reality. Historically, it has been structures, the categories and the meanings which have been invented by males - though not of course by all males - and they have been validated by reference to other males. In this process woman have played little or no part. It has been male subjectivity that has been the source of those meanings, including the meaning that their own subjectivity is objectivity.

Research; Political correctness & language change.

Political correctness (PC) is a term used to describe language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seen as seeking to minimize offence to gender, racial, cultural, disabled, aged or other identity groups. Conversely, the term “politically incorrect” is used to refer to language or ideas that may cause offence.
It was a movement which was introduced in the 1970’s campaigning for the removal of offensive language in every day vocabulary.
There are 3 types of politically incorrect language categories:

1. Subtle:  Words like policeman, mailman, fireman; referring to all people as man; referring to an androgynous individual as he.  These exclusionary words subtly influence our way of thinking.  The first three imply that these are roles for men only.  This kind of language can keep women from being comfortable aspiring to these positions.  The other general references of man and he are simply inaccurate and unnecessarily exclusionary.  They imply that masculinity is the default and superior gender trait.
   
   
2.  Offensive:  Words like gay or retarded to refer to something undesirable; words like fag or retard to refer to people.  The first set shows how these descriptions inherently link certain types of individuals to anything bad by using terms that refer to them as insults for other undesirable concepts.  The second set is offensive because of the pejorative connotations implied by these slurs.  There are appropriate ways of referring to individuals that does not unnecessarily demean them.
   
   
3.  Blatant: The n-word to refer to black people or the c-word or b-word to refer to women.  This type needs little explanation.  These words are highly offensive and indicate a great deal of disdain.  They objectify and belittle entire groups of people based on one trait.

The terms ‘politically correct’ and ‘political correctness’, in the sense defined above, entered the language via the U.S. feminist and other left-wing movements of the 1970s. The use of ‘PC’ language quickly spread to other parts of the industrialized world. The terms had been used previously though. The previous meaning was ‘in line with prevailing political thought or policy’. i.e. the terms previously used ‘correctness’ in its literal sense and without any particular reference to language that some might consider illiberal or discriminatory.

In the early 1990’s, it was being used as a general tool for rendering language ‘neutral’ involving not only gender but any issues of representation in many social groupings.

Here are many examples of gender biased language – e.g. chairman used when the person chairing a meeting is female – that are linguistically incorrect (although some would dispute that too). This topic of gender neutrality is possibly the area that is most contentious. Some would argue that any use of the word ‘man’, e.g. manhole, is biased and should be avoided. Others are quite happy with female chairmen.

• Avoid language that addresses only one demographic group unless it is intended for that group only, such as using “men” when you mean “all people.” Accurate descriptions are the essence of ‘political correctness.’
  
  
• Avoid titles that are exclusionary, such as “Chairman” (use “Chairperson”); “Fireman” (use Fire Fighter); and “Stewardess” (use “Flight Attendant”).
  
• Use mentally challenged instead of words like ‘retarded’.

PC was heavily satirized and by the late 1990s the term had lost much of its credibility.

PC Term	Original Term	Comments
Chairperson	Chairman	Connotes masculinity – excludes the female gender.
Ms	Miss / Mrs	Alternative title for women  - indicates marital status of a women but not of a man ‘mr’.
Herstory	History	Discrimination of his/her.
Hearing impaired	Deaf	There was suggestion that there are negative connotations with the word ‘deaf’.

Avoiding sexism in the workplace:

Iloveindia.com:

·         Avoid derogatory expressions: e.g. handicapped / retarded.

·         Avoid jokes which conform to stereotypes: Whether these are racial / ethnic or gender stereotypes – e.g. the blonde girl walks into a bar…

·         Avoid gendered or sexist comments – e.g disregard for women ‘you can’t do it because you’re a woman…’

·         Avoid use of religious terms: These alienate other members of a group who aren’t part of that specified religion.

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/sexist-language.html:

·         Use humanity or the human race instead of man or man kind when referring to people.

·         If you’re talking about a hypothetical person, use person instead of man.

·         Use genderless titles – as referred to above.

·         Rework sentences in the plural to avoid gendered pronouns and possessive adjectives.

http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/langskil/grammar.htm

·         Avoid gender specific words:

Politically incorrect	Politically correct:
Business man	Business person
Camera man	Camera operator / photographer
Fireman	Fire fighter
Policeman	Police officer
Workmen	Workers

Conclusion:

To conclude, in contemporary society it is necessary to adapt your language in order to avoid offence. You have to be continuously conscious of the language you use and ensure that you avoid terms that could be possibly perceived as ‘politically incorrect’.