Lakoff and Women’s Language - A Critical Overview of the Empirical Evidence for Lakoff’s Thesis

Oct 22, 2026

A critical overview examines empirical studies inspired by Robin T. Lakoff’s 1973 thesis in Language and Woman’s Place about linguistic gender differences and gender inequality. The discussion treats “women’s language” as “tentative language” and focuses especially on tag questions. The text explains Lakoff’s view that tags mitigate assertions and may signal insecurity, then reviews Holmes’ corpus-based findings that tags mainly express modal or affective meanings, challenging Lakoff’s narrow interpretation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Lakoff and women’s language

Tag questions and tentative language

Holmes and the meanings of tag questions

Lakoff and Women’s Language: A Critical Overview of the Empirical Evidence for Lakoff’s Thesis Amalie Due Svendsen Introduction In 1973, Robin T. Lakoff published Language and Woman’s Place, a study which has become widely recognized for its assertions about linguistic gender differences and their significance to gender inequality. Lakoff claimed that women employ a distinct style of speech,‘women’s language’, which comprises linguistic features that demonstrate and reinforce women’s inferior position in society. This article creates a critical overview of four studies motivated by Lakoff’s work, and investigates whether there is empirical evidence for the claim that women employ tentative language to a larger extent than men. In particular, I will concentrate on tag questions to highlight one tentative feature. I will discuss the methods and findings of each study in relation to Lakoff’s claims, and finally I will discuss general gaps and problems identified in the studies. In agreement with contemporary scholars, ‘women’s language’will be referred to as ‘tentative language’ in the discussion of the four studies. Lakoff and women’s language Lakoff’s study of gendered language, as presented in Language and Woman’s Place, focuses particularly on the ‘linguistic discrimination’ experienced by women in society (1975, 4) . Lakoff divides this discrimination into two overall types: ‘the way they [women] are taught to use language’ and ‘the way general language use treats them’, both of which function to degrade the woman to a submissive position in society: ‘that of sex object, or servant’(4). Thus, Lakoff perceives gendered language as an expression of the unequal roles of men and women in society (4) . Through introspection of her own and her acquaintances’ speech, Lakoff identifies nine linguistic features that comprise a style of language which she labels ‘women’s language’, as this style dominates the language of most women (53-56). Examples of these features are hedges, empty adjectives, intensifiers, and tag questions, all of which are problematized as they contribute to the oppression of the ‘woman’s personal identity, by denying her the means of expressing herself strongly’(53-57, 7). Furthermore, Lakoff claims that these inequities have great consequences for women’s influence in society, as ‘women are systematically denied access to power, on the grounds that they are not capable of holding it as demonstrated by their linguistic behavior along with other aspects of their behavior’(7) . An example of a feature of women’s language is the use of tag questions, which, according to Lakoff, are employed more by women than by men (57). Lakoff defines tag questions as being ‘midway between an outright statement and a yes-no question: it is less assertive than the former, but more confident than the latter’ (15) . Thus, the function of tags lies somewhere in between declaratives and questions and can be used ‘when the speaker is stating a claim, but lacks full confidence in the truth of that claim’ (15) . Lakoff identifies tag-use as ‘legitimate’ in situations where the speaker is uncertain about something which the addressee is likely to know better (16) . She also identifies tag-use in small talk as legitimate, because asking something you already know can be legitimized ifit functions to keep the conversation going, as in ‘Sure is hot in here, isn’t it?’ (16) . However, there are also cases where the use of tags cannot be legitimized; these are the cases ‘in which it is the speaker’s opinions, rather than perceptions, for which corroboration is sought’, as exemplified by ‘The way prices are rising is horrendous, isn’t it?’ (16). According to Lakoff, the function of such an utterance is to provide an out for the speaker by not speaking too assertively, and ‘thereby avoid coming into conflict with the addressee’ (16-17). This is problematic, however, because it causes a certain perception of the speaker as ‘not be

FAQs

What is Lakoff’s main claim about women’s language?

Lakoff argues that women use a distinct speech style (“women’s language”) characterized by linguistic features that demonstrate and reinforce women’s inferior social position.

How does Lakoff define tag questions and what function do they serve?

Lakoff defines tag questions as midway between statements and yes-no questions, used when the speaker lacks full confidence or seeks corroboration, sometimes to avoid conflict with the addressee.

How do Holmes’ findings modify Lakoff’s interpretation of tag questions?

Holmes argues that tag questions are not solely insecurity markers; they primarily convey modal or affective meanings, including functions oriented toward either the speaker or the addressee.

Oct 22, 2026

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