Character Definition of Terms

10 gracefully and courteously. If they do not do so, they will be criticized to be a not- feminine-woman. Although, when they talk gracefully and courteously, they will also be judged as a weak person and cannot think clearly about serious problems. Lakoff as cited in Holmes Mayerhoff, 2003 states that “Quite is a character that is need by society from a woman. On the other side, it is normal for man to angry and act aggressively.” On the contrary, men have never been criticized when they talk rudely. People in society think that it is a common thing and it is men‟s nature to be like that. Adaptation is a hard process for women, because in some fields, they need to talk like a man that has a lot of benefits than when they talk like a woman. They will also encounter some risks such as they will be said as an aggressive woman. “Tracing women‟s political communication from 1920, some have adopted the masculine speech traditionally appropriate to politics, but have been considered abrasive and asexual as a result ” Larner, 2009, p. 5. Politics is one of the fields that acceptable for women, but it is very hard for them to use the women‟s speech style because it holds no power. Lakoff as cited in Holmes Mayerhoff, 2003 states that women‟s language is a language of powerlessness because there are some expressions, such as fillers or hedge, super polite forms, and question tag, that are considered irresolute and reflect women‟s position as the subordinate in society. In current situation, men and women have the same status in society. Women can do the job that is only done by men before and men also can be a good father and a gentleman at the same time without being afraid will be called a 11 feminine man. As cited in Holmes and Meyerhoff 2003, Cameron 1998 states that “Men and women are now in competition of the same kind of power, status as opposed to taking up complementary roles. Although, when they can adapt the language successfully, they will be seen as arrogant women and unfeminine.” Cameron‟s statement shows that although women can successfully use men‟s language and adapt successfully, they will have some risks of being judged as abrasive and asexual. “Women who successfully adapt to characteristically male linguistic norms run the risk of being perceive as aggressive and confrontational, as unfeminine – in other words, there is a class between what is expected of a person in a high status in the public spheres ” Coates, 1998. The study that is conducted by McElhinny as cited in Larner, 2009 reveals that the female police officer defeminize their language and behavior in order to reconcile others and themselves to their presence in the police department. Women need to change the way they speak because they want to reconcile and they want to be recognized not as a weak woman, but as a partner that can be relied on. “Even in the politics, the difference in the way men and women talking not bring any benefit for women in the politics life. Different from man‟s language, women‟s language or feminine language are considered too passive in politics” Larner, 2009, p. 5. From Larner‟s statement, it can be seen that although women work in politics field they are still considered to be unimportant just because of the way they use language.