Reflection of patriarchal thoughts in Persian Language:A sociolinguistics study

One of the most important issues in relation with language & gender is the propagation of sexist ideologies through spoken & written discourse. Central to critical linguistic analysis is the notion of ideology. They believe that to the extent that the concepts in a discourse are related as a system, they are part of a theory or ideology, that is, a system of concepts and images which are a way of seeing and grasping things, and of interpreting what is seen or heard or read. All perception involves theory or ideology, and there are no “raw” uninterpreted, theory-free facts. It is the prime focus of critical linguistics to unmask those ideologies which seem to be hidden within language-use which poses itself as natural. The purpose of the present research was to provide some information about what constitutes a sexist language. In fact the effect of providing this information can help us to eliminate or reduce sexism in our language and our society. In the present research sexism in Persian language is discussed. At first sexist language is defined and the importance of its study is explained. Then a variety of instructional methods is applied to address the use of sexist language. After that by virtue of some criteria for language sexism and by examining different kinds of data from different parts of language (lexicon, grammar, proverb and so on), Persian language is examined.In sum, the results of the present study illustrated that:1- Persian language is an example of one sexist language. 2- This sexist language not only reflects the discrimination in society but also it is a powerful tool that creates it.