Free response essay on marked women by deborah tannen

The article was written by Deborah Tannen and published in the early 90s, just to lend you some perspective. The author writes about her experience at a work conference where she spent most of her time observing the three other women and making mental notes about their wardrobe, appearance, and composure.

While the marked derives its meaning from this added linguistic particle, the unmarked carries an obvious meaning “that goes without saying”. Most words of the English language are unmarked or “male”. Endings like -ess or -ette are used to alter the word and change the meaning of the word toward “female”.

Tannen maintains that “every style available to us is marked”. The marked-ness extends beyond fashion and appearance to women’s names and titles. A lot can be inferred about a woman, correctly or incorrectly, by the name or title she chooses – Mrs. vs. Ms., taking another name after marriage, hyphenating the last name.

The author writes about her experience at a work conference where she spent most of her time observing the three other women and making mental notes about their wardrobe, appearance, and composure. Her rather innocent observations led to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an “unmarked” woman.