To what extent does gender affect language usage?

To understand the way in which language varies between genders, you first need to look into the historical context of gender roles studies within society. Pamela Fishman (1983) found that women did more than men in order to upkeep a conversation (such as using tag questions and spending longer talking to induce a conversation. Whereas men were likely to be more blunt and short in their answers and responses to female conversational ques which Fishman concluded was the higher power position within the conversation as they were at ease to answer as and when they pleased whereas women were almost forced into an administrative role over the conversation. However, if we look to a more modern theorist on the subject, Deborah Cameron we can see the proposal of the dynamic approach to gender studies in relation to language. Cameron believes that for one, gender is not a binary issue providing a more flexible outlook on the traditional dominance model of male and female interactions. Cameron also suggested that while gender could be a part in why men and women use language in different ways, it could be down to a variety of factors such as age, social class, ethnicity, sexuality and educational level to name a few factors. Additionally in modern gender analysis we see a move away from the stereotypes of sexual orientation being something that affects your language use in a negative way and are starting to see waves of cultural language change which include the reclamation of derogatory terms used against the LGBTQ+ community now being held in higher regard within that community (with an understanding of the derogatory history that comes with it).