Slang and gender

Abstract

Unlike sex, gender contains thought and behaviours which are imposed by culture. But, generally, people are aware of sex; they interpret the characteristics which are regarded as part of man and woman as a feature of sex. The usage of slang and swearword is also generally identified with sex. The common belief in today's urban areas is that the usage of slang and swearword by women is not appropriate, because, slang and swearwords belong to men's world. But, recently, especially in big cities like İstanbul, Ankara, where there is much cultural interaction, it is observed that "educated" young women use slang as a common part of their speeches. In this paper, the change in speech of youth of today's urban areas will be discussed. While in the past, the usage of slang and swearword by women has not been accepted, today, despite the rapid rise in education level, the usage of slang and swearword is increasing among some young women. This paper is questioning the reasons under this change.