Gender-based power language and American political debates

Abstract

The last 40 years have produced an abundance of research about gender-based power language, the relationship between language and power and how language expresses power. Particular attention has been paid to asymmetrical discourse between the sexes (Lakoff, 1975, 2004; Fishman, 1978; Lipman-Blumen, 1984). The purpose of this study was to examine the power language currently being used 30+ years after the main research to see if there have been any changes on the part of the female to broker power relationships through linguistic behaviors. This study examined three male vs. female political debates in three U.S. national election campaigns. An analytical scale based on a combination of woman/man discourse and power discourse was used. This study concluded that women have made significant progress in asserting and maintaining power in controlled debate situations; also male/female asymmetry seems to be reduced, and that culture has also become determinant of power relations. Â