The pay gap between genders

The pay gap between genders

The text is written by Jennifer Lawrence, in response to the data released in a hacking of Sony, which showed that she was being paid significantly less than her male colleagues.  The fact that Jennifer Lawrence is writing the article about her own experience means that it could be biased.  The frustration Ms Lawrence claims she experienced is reflected in the text, as she uses a blunt, yet self-deprecating tone, along with a number of expletives.

The language used by Jennifer Lawrence is more typical of a stereotypical male than a female. She is usually direct and blunt; for example she says “I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion… f**k that”.  The use of expletives and short blunt sentences is generally speaking a perceived male trait, which seems to be the effect that Ms Lawrence is trying to create.  Furthermore, she does not use the same level of hyper-correct grammar that is expected of women, but instead seems to opt for using basic grammar and vocabulary. 

However, Ms Lawrence seems to maintain her wish to be liked, adopting an apologetic tone.  “I want to be honest and open and, fingers crossed, not piss anyone off.  According to traditional language theories, men would not even take offending people into consideration, and even less so use hedges, such as “fingers crossed”, or “ever-so-slightly”.  Another example of Ms Lawrence’s apologetic tone is found in the utterance “I told it wasn’t relatable, don’t hate me”.  Again, if we were to assume that language stereotypes were true, this would indicate that Ms Lawrence is trying to fulfil the female need to be liked.

Further evidence of Ms Lawrence’s femininity comes from the unnecessary details she includes.  She says “my phone is on the counter and I’m on the coach”, which appears to be fairly irrelevant to the rest of the text.  Traditionally, men speak to achieve an aim, there is usually an objective when men engage in conversation, which is in contrast to Ms Lawrence’s language.

Although there seem to be more features of female language in the text, the general tone appears to be an attempt to mimic masculine language.  Much of what Ms Lawrence’s lexis is masculine, but this is contrasted by the regular use of female language conventions.

I agree that women seem to be underpaid in many occupational fields, as there is, in my opinion, far too much evidence to suggest otherwise.  However, I also believe that Ms Lawrence’s theory that women are paid less because their need to be liked overpowers their will to negotiate a better deal.  I think that Deborah Tannen’s Difference Model best illustrates the reasons behind the gender gap.  Evidence suggests that men are not afraid to cause offense conflict in order to pursue a goal, while on the other hand, women are more reserved and prefer to remain passive, as evidenced by Ms Lawrence’s statements.