Sexism In Othello From The Perspective Of Social Psychology

Since 1960 s,with the Second Wave of the Feminist Movement rising and developing,sociolinguistic,sociology and women studies were developed fully at the same time,which enhanced the consciousness of social equality.Therefore,linguistic sexism also attracted a wide attention in western academia.Address term is an important part of vocabulary in the language system,which also reflects sexism.A tentative research has been made on sexism reflected in address terms in Othello through the methods of description and comparison from the aspects of sociolinguistics and a discussion has been made as well to analyze its reasons from social-psychological perspective.The findings are as follows:(1)There exists sexism in kinship terms which is mainly embodied in affinal kinship terms: inequality between husbands and wives;wives use honorific terms to address their husbands,and daughters address their fathers using the same way;besides,they use modifier to raise their husbands' or fathers' dignity and status.(2)The personal names in Othello also reflect sexism which is mainly in the relationship between husbands and wives: husbands use names or nicknames to address their wives while wives never and they use honorific terms to address their husbands.(3)Sexism exists obviously in status terms in the following aspects: almost all the professional titles involved in Othello are for males while very few for females with low social status;there is no official title for females.(4)Other address terms in Othello do not have apparent sexism.Language is a mirror of society,and sexism is rooted in society and culture.Interpretations to sexism in address terms are to help people get a better understanding of it thus not separating it from social and cultural factors.The traditional concept that males are superior to females leads to linguistic sexism.To eliminate sexism,cultural and ideological progress must be made in all the aspects of the society first.