Sexism is prejudice against genders, especially against women. This has existed for a long time, women there were not treated the same as men. This discrimination harms women in many aspects, including workforce, attitude, and even society at large; this is demonstrated through language that showcases the male-dominated society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Vocabulary is heavily influenced by gender differences, which have classified women differently than men. This can be illustrated by lexical asymmetry, which are words that do not have equivalent connotation when converted from masculine to feminine; an example of this is "mister", whose female equivalent is "mistress" which has a negative connotation of having an affair with a married man, while the masculine version has a more formal connotation. Marked terms also illustrate this point of discrimination, which suggests that a suffix added to the masculine end of a word creates the feminine form. Regularly used words such as "actor" have the addition of a suffix to become "actress"; or expressions like “doctor” that emphasize the gender held by the normally male-dominated occupation. The offensive use of words also shows that men are usually more positive about sexual behaviors when related to women; while 'slut' usually refers to a female who sleeps with many men, 'Casanova' is given to the male who sleeps with many women. This can also show the superiority of men over women through nicknames and the use of male pronouns for inanimate objects such as cars. Words that refer to the general term, rather than to the specific male population, such as the word “humanity” which refers to the human species, could also imply the domination of men. Grammar can also be a factor in sexist language; this is illustrated when using the masculine pronoun for general instances, such as "anyone can choose whatever they want". Another case that shows male superiority over females is the order of "adaptation" in which genders are perceived, the formulation of male being before female shows priority: "he or she", "male or female" and so on. Alternatively, the language can be used without this gender bias with the help of increased awareness not to use discriminatory language. The use of vocabulary has become more inclusive and gender-specific terms have been replaced with gender-neutral terms such as "policeman" to "police officer". The use of women's titles specifying their martial status is also replaced with a common title, i.e. "Ms", rather than "Mrs" or "Miss"; as well as the adaptation of the husband's surname into marriage is decreasing as some choose to keep their maiden name. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay While anti-sexism awareness is helping to narrow the gap in language use between men and women, discrimination against both sexes still exists.