EXTRACTS FROM MAN MADE

LANGUAGE
(Dale spender)
 The central contention of the essay is the question of who
decided on the division, organization and classification of our
language and the understanding of how this creation was
accomplished.

 Spender argues that language is a limitation to our world and

constructs our reality, giving those in powers, in this case men,
the ability to manipulate our world in the favor of themselves.

 Also that our language is ‘only ever serving as an

approximation’ suggesting he does not trust the system of order
that has been constructed as it has no hard evidence.
 Spender uses the example of the brain. The brain too can only
deal in symbols and never known the ‘real’ thing. And the
programme for encoding and decoding those symbols, for
translating and calculating, is set up by the language which
we possess. What we see in the world around us depends in a
large part on the principles we have encoded in our language. 

 This particular example is evidence that when one principle

that has been encoded in our language, such as sexism, the
implication for ‘reality’ can readily be seen. When there are a
sexist language and sexist theories culturally available, the
observation of reality is also likely to be sexist. This makes
language a paradox for human beings as it is both a creative
and an inhibiting vehicle. 
 On the one hand it offers immense freedom as it allows us to
‘create’ the world we live in but also we are restricted by that
creation, limited to its confines and fearing any modifications
to the structures we have initially created. This
constitutes language as a trap.

 Other theorists the author refers to is Alan Chalmers (1978).

Chalmers tackles some of the misapprehensions that are held
about science and scientific method, whereby the naming of
something as ‘science’ has implied ‘some kind of merit, or
special kind of reliability’. 
 Spender agrees with Chalmers to an extent as he too takes up
some of the issues of language, thought and reality when he
readily demonstrates that not all of human beings – scientists
included – are led to the same view of the world by the same
physical evidence, for what observers see when they view an
object or event ‘is not determined solely by the images on
their retinas but depends also on the experience, knowledge,
expectations and general inner state of the observer’ which, as
Chalmers illustrates, may very often be culturally specific
which is largely determined by language.
 The growth of every human being is a slow process of
learning ‘the rules of seeing’, without which we could not
in any ordinary sense see the world around us.” The point
Spender is trying to make here is that the information that
we receive through our senses from the material world
around us has to be interpreted according to certain
human rules, before what we ordinarily call ‘reality’
forms. 

 The author is trying to convince the reader that human

beings cannot envisage a world constructed in any other
way than what we have already created by our language.
Another important quote is “it could be said that out of
nowhere we invented sexism, we created the arbitrary
and approximate categories as male-as-norm and female
deviant”. 
• Spender is trying to convince the reader that the supposed
‘language trap’ that the male dominant created in theory, was all
in their own interest. The author makes the point that given that
language is such an influential force in shaping our world, it is
obvious that those who have the power to make the symbols and
their meanings are in a privileged and highly advantageous
position.

•An example the author uses of the way language has constructed
our reality is sexism, they argue that we invented sexism by
constructing categories and thought patterns which we have now
been trapped in through language. They believe this has formed
due to males being the dominant group produced language,
thought and reality in a way that shaped the world to consolidate
their male supremacy.
Furthermore the author discusses the way language impacts the
way we think, shaping our world. An example used is that when
observers view an object or event it is not determined solely by
the images on their retinas but depends on experiences,
knowledge, expectations and general inner state of the observer.

The author refers to James Britton who argues that ‘the objects
and events of the world do not present themselves to us ready
classified’ therefore he argues that we divide them, specifically
men divide them and have created a world in which women must
inhibit.
Susanne Langer is discussed due to her view that humans are
symbolizing creatures and we are constantly engaged in the
process of producing symbols as a means of categorizing and
organizing our world. Like the author, she believes it is foolish to
have complete faith in the system of order we have constructed
because it is imperfect and only ever serves as an approximation
and it is our capacity to symbolize and the use we make of the
symbols we construct that constitutes the area of language,
thought and reality.
Richard and Gilman looked into the nature of languages telling
us about the hierarchical structure of male-female relationships,
and example is the use of ‘he’ and ‘man’ as terms to denote a
male, but on occasion to encompass a female. The author sees
this as a convenient means for creating difficulty for women by
representing them as a male term and making women invisible
and ‘blanketing’ them under a male term.
o‘’It is language which determines the limits of our world,
which constructs reality’
o‘On the other hand it offers immense freedom for it allows us
to create the world we live in; that so many different cultures
have created so many different worlds is testimony to this
enormous and varied capacity.’

o‘Given that language is such an influential force in shaping our

world it is obvious that those who have the power to make the
symbols and their meanings are in a privileged and highly
advantageous position’.

o“It is Men who have made the world which women must
inhabit.”
o“Language is a shaper of ideas; it is the programme for mental
activity.”
o“Language is a paradox for human beings: it is both a creative and
an inhibiting vehicle.

o “We as humans have created sexism; we created the

arbitrary and approximate categories of male-as-norm and
female as deviant.”

o“’He’/’man’ makes women outsiders, and not just

metaphorically.”