Tannen Summary

Deborah Tannen is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and is the author of many books relating to the communications between people.  Her essay, There is No Unmarked Woman,  was originally published in 50 Essays.  In Tannen's essay, she emphasizes the idea that women are always marked, unable to reach through the scrutiny of both men and women in their everyday lives. She explains this by studying the styles of women's clothing and how one would be judged when a certain style is worn. When studying the men, she realizes that the men are unmarked because they had no distinctive features brought out through their hairstyles, clothing, and even shoes.   

Tannen uses the term, "marked" in linguistic terms by stating that women are marked in the english language by the words we use to associate them with. In Tannen's argument, when thinking of the word female, occasionally the word must end with certain endings to produce a female marked word, such as actress instead of actor, for example.  Tannen also describes women as being marked through the way they dress, and even the way their hair is cut. There is no standard woman to base everyone on. Also, Tannen expresses the idea of going by Mrs. or Miss, as well as changing a woman's maiden name to taking her husband's last name as her own.  When a woman creates her own style, she is often immediately judged for what she is wearing, how she wears her makeup, and every movement that she makes.  

When Tannen includes biologist Ralph Fasold in her essay, he brings up many conclusions about how men are seen as the "marked" gender in the natural world.  He states that when a baby is born, a female is born with a full female body. However, for a male, they are born with modified female bodies because of the one Y chromosome that makes them a male.  He also talks about how there are certain species in the world that produce only females and that some species hardly even need males, only for little reproduction. Fasold then points out that if grammar was based on the natural world, "she" would be seen as a gender neutral word, while "he" would be specifically for males.  

Tannen is "marked" in her essay by stating that people believe she is a feminist because of her response to the way she believes women are marked and men aren't.  Finally, she concludes her essay by restating the thesis of no woman can remain unmarked because of the way any person may view them.