| This thesis is a tentative endeavor to synthesize the merits and to make up for the deficiencies of the achievements in feminism and language studies thus far made in China and the English-speaking countries, with a focus on sexism in Chinese and English and its reform. To address that topic, a comparative approach is employed as general framework for the research work.To start with, the thesis draws an elaborate comparison of sexism in the English and Chinese languages. In terms of the generic masculine, such masculine pronouns as he in English and ftfe in Chinese are used generically which make women invisible in language. Sexism is also found in the ways of addressing men and women, which can be linked to the social inequalities that exist between the sexes in patriarchal societies. Men are named according to their social status in society whereas women are named according to their relationship with the man or men in their lives. Another asymmetry in the representation of women and men in both English and Chinese is reflected in the word order when men and women are presented together. Usually men are given precedence while women follow behind. Semantically, the terms and expressions related to man usually have neutral or appreciative implications while the woman counterparts are depreciative; this constitutes another aspect of sexism in language. In fact, sexism is not only encoded at lexical and syntactic levels as stated above, but also encoded at discourse level- 'discourse' in its broad sense, viz. the language domains. In educationalmaterials, language reference materials, and mass media, and idioms, men and women are defined in their respective sex-biased stereotype.After a documentation of sexism, the thesis traces the reasons for the occurrence of sexism in English and Chinese. Historically, the Christian tradition in the West and the Confucian tradition in China, both of which are man-centered and sex-biased, have predominantly contributed to the linguistic sexism in the two languages, respectively. Throughout the Bible male imagery is used to portray all spiritual matters, whereas female imagery is used predominantly in reference to earthly matters such as sexuality. Women are either largely invisible or are portrayed as the property of men. The construction of gender in Chinese culture is generally attributed to the Confucian ideology that differentiates men and women through an elevated/base opposition. This officially set a keynote for the lopsided gender culture modes in the Chinese feudal society.Linguistic sexism is after all rooted in social reality. Both the Western and Eastern societies use sex, to one degree or another, in allocating tasks, activities, rights, and responsibilities. As for the job done by men and women, there is a long-stereotyped notion of what they can do梬omen's place is restrained at home for housework and child-care while men work outside being the breadwinner. As language reflects society, the previously mentioned sexist practices are actually a mirror of the social conditions. Much of people's behavior is the result of socialization. Children absorb the prejudice against girls and women in the sex-biased first readers, textbooks, dictionaries, mass media and idioms, and develop according to gender stereotyping presented in these materials.The author of this thesis has a determined faith in the reform of sexism inlanguage, which resonates with the ideas of a host of linguists/feminists who have addressed the desire and necessity in one way or another to change the sexist language. American editors Casey Miller, Kate Swift and Bobby Sorrels argue that the current portrayal of women (and men) is outdated and does not reflect the changes in the position and roles of women in society, and therefore needs some push to catch up with changed times. Influenced by Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, Helen Cixous and Luce Irigary also see linguistic action as an important step to freeing women from the oppressive masculine, phallogocentric language, wh...
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