Seminar of dictionaries in modelling gender roles |11 May 2023
Dr Klymenko leading the seminar (Photos: Joena Meme)
The University of Seychelles hosted a seminar yesterday on ‘Dictionaries in modelling gender roles: The case study from the Seychelles’ presented by Dr Olga Klymenko.
Dr Klymenko explained that there were two reasons for choosing Seychelles as a case study. The first being that sexism in dictionaries is a cross country phenomenon. However it is explored better in well-established languages such as English and French.
“There has not been much research into how dictionaries participate in gender roles modelling for young languages such as Seychelles Creole,” said Dr Klymenko. It is especially important for Seychelles due to the fact that the language does not mix with well-established ones as they are still developing and taking shape. The role of the dictionaries is even more crucial as it is an important point of reference. Linguistically, it is also the language that is grammatically changing.
The method used for the case study was sampling based on gender specific words. The doctor then picked up sentences which had those words and the analysis was done on the verbs of these sentences.
“Verbs denote actions, and actions can indicate the activities that individuals, encoded with stereotypes is observed, on how they engage with these activities.”
The sample sentences were divided into topical groups and then it was shown which topical group the male specific subject prevailed and for the female as well. Observations about tendencies can be made based on the findings.
She explained that she did not face any difficulties during her research and that the Creole institute and the University of Seychelles were very welcoming in providing materials for the research to be done proficiently.
“I am grateful to my colleagues and I have never experienced any resistance and there was a lot of support even from the Creole academy.”
Dr Klymenko explained that gender roles are historically and socially constructed and usually compared to gender stereotypes. There are typified expected behaviour for both men and women and such behaviour are usually coded in some features.
“For men, it is typical to be seen as active or to be powerful and for women, it is vice versa, passive or dependent. These stereotypes can be sustained or reverted.”
The dictionary plays a heavy role in what the eventual outcome is. Seeing certain approaches to either men or women are encapsulated.
The current research has proven that there is a lot of gender bias transmitted through the dictionary at the expense of illustrated material.
The seminar also showed how it happens elsewhere in the world and how it can be avoided in the context of Seychelles.
“The process of reverting these biases, stereotypes and approaches, is not a finite process. It is dynamic and a work in progress. A lot has been done to bring the material in the dictionary to a certain gender balanced standard,” Dr Klymenko concluded.
Sunny Esparon
