“I’m sorry,” “would you mind,” and
“this might sound stupid but..” are all common phrases that people hear on a daily
basis. Think about it, how many times have you uttered any of those phrases
this week? How many times this week did you hear a woman start her sentence off
with one of those phrases? Most likely, you had a solid number as an answer to
either of those questions. These phrases can be heard in various environments, but
are more specifically identified in the work place with a female speaker.
The Washington Post identifies this type of linguistics as
the “Woman in a Meeting” speech, which “is a language of its own”. This
specified speech defines how women could be judged on what they say in a work
environment, even if it is exactly how a man would say it. The Washington Post
also reports that Jennifer Lawrence initiated the spotlight on this topic when
she wrote an essay and her male teammate seemed offended by her opinion. As a
result, the article concludes that women in the work place need to follow a
process when speaking, where they start with a thought and then tweak it to apologize
for any errors. To further prove this point, the author incorporates several
famous quotes (spoken by men of course) and how they would be changed if a
woman had spoken them. The picture below shares just two of the various quotes:
An article posted in The Guardian supports the language of “women in a
meeting” by adding in evidence from linguistics expert, Dr. Judith Baxter. Through this research, it was found that women are
more likely to use "double voice
discourse" (DvD) to approach difficult subjects in the workplace that
could lead to confrontation.” The article concludes by stating it is difficult
to overcome this language therefore it is more difficult for women to advance
to a higher position. In other words, women are having a harder time moving up
in a business because they are not communicating in a more forward way like
most men do.
In contrast,
however, there are ways in which women can improve their language to better fit
the workplace. Time magazine, for example, shares an article on the word “sorry” and why women should stop
the use of it throughout employment. The article put out by Jessica Bennett
provides insight that women do not use the word “sorry” because they actually
want to apologize, but rather because it is “another way of downplaying our power, of
softening what we do, to seem nice.” This is where Bennett steps in to empower
women to stop saying sorry when they do not actually mean it. Bennett includes
a YouTube video by Pantene, which encourages all women
to “shine strong” whether in the workplace or at home.
Overall, the
articles share realistic situations to prove women have their own language in a
meeting. Women need to stop apologizing for things that they aren’t truly sorry
about, such as asking a question for clarification. Women and men have the same
right to speak directly about their thoughts so there should be no need for
“women in a meeting” language. By overcoming this idea, women can speak in the
same way men do without feeling judged.
