terms of the activity of males. Gender bias is not confined to the English language. In general, "what is male in a language is generally basic; what is female is usually subsidiary and/or deprecated" (Stockard and Johnson, 1980, p. 5).
Children internalize the gender messages set forth by society at a surprisingly early age. Lloyd and Duveen (1992) cite studies by Huston which indicate that children as young as 2-3 years old are able to identify household items and familiar activities in terms of gender marking (p. 7). Toddlers at this age think of themselves in terms of being either boys or girls (p. 7). By the time these children reach school-age they already envision themselves in gender-specific occupations (p. 7).
Lloyd and Duveen (1992) performed studies comparing the reactions of school-age children and adults to gender marked language stereotypes (p. 143). The children tested were 6, 9, and 12 years of age. Test sentences were given in story form and related the fictional school activities of a boy (Simon) and a girl (Jenny). The test sentences contained phrases such as "blast it" or "oh dear." The test sentence were read by adults in flat, monotone voices and respondents were asked to identify the speaker of each test sentence. Children were tested throughout the school year and, in general "made very few consistent associations between gender" at the beginning of the school year (p. 147). However, the tendency for gender marking changed as the school year progressed, becoming weaker for girls and stronger for boys (p. 148).
Lloyd and Duveen (1992) also explored the gender differences in speech among boys and girls by analyzing tag question constructions, politeness terms, swear words and expletives in the transcribed speech of children (p. 151). The authors cite Lakoff's assertion that tag question constructions are add-ons to speech often used by females and indicators of "women's insecurity when...