Metaphor and gender: are words associated with source domains perceived in a gendered way?

Abstract

Abstract Conceptual metaphors are one of many linguistic devices that can potentially encode and reinforce gender stereotypes. However, little is known about how metaphors encode gender stereotypes, and in previous literature the concept of “gendered metaphor” has been mostly assumed rather than attested. We take the first step to tackle this issue by examining the gender typicality of specific metaphorical source domains. In the present paper, we conducted three rating experiments (N total  = 1,060 English-speaking participants) to determine the genderedness of 50 keywords associated with five frequently used source domains (building, competition, journey, plant, and war). We found that keywords associated with three source domains (building, competition, and war) were viewed as more masculine, while keywords associated with the source domains of journey and plant were viewed as more feminine. These data offer empirical verification for gendered perceptions of keywords associated with some frequently used source domains. The result also provides the first evidence that metaphors could encode gender stereotypes by selection of source domains.