Linguistic Objectification of Stereotypical Perception of Interpersonal Roles of Men and Women (Psychological Basis) in the Text of the English-Language Anecdote

Abstract

Linguistic objectification of stereotypical perception of interpersonal roles of men and women (psychological basis) in the text of the English-language anecdote. The article is devoted to the issue of studying the linguistic objectification of stereotypical perception about the interpersonal roles of men and women (psychological basis) in the text of the English-language anecdote. The results of the analysis suggest that the anecdotes, carnivalizing family relationships in English-speaking culture, are generally based on the presuppositions of traditional patriarchal stereotypes. The interpersonal roles of husband and wife have an economic and psychological grounds. The economic ground is determined by the sexual distribution of human activities, taking into account the physiological ability of women to bear children and thus reproducing the workforce. This distribution of roles gives a man economic power over a woman, assigning the social and psychological role of the head of the family to him, whose duties include financial support of the family, and imposes the role of a wife/ housewife/mother on a woman, who has to take care of household issues. The psychological ground of interpersonal roles of husband and wife is directly related to the economic one. The real interpersonal roles of a husband and wife in the patriarchal English-speaking culture are symbolized as the breadwinner-protector and keeper of the hearth respectively. Anecdotes objectifying the interpersonal roles of husband and wife predominantly demonstrate traditional patriarchal values of a family life, presenting the relationship of a man and woman in marriage as antagonistic. Both men and women view marriage from the negative side: a husband’s perception of a matrimony is defined by responsibility, which implies the role of the head of the family, and difficulties in establishing control over the wife due to such stereotypical qualities as dominance, stubbornness, quarrelsomeness, unpredictability, whereas a wife’s perception reflects the loss of love romanticism and her husband’s attention.