Representations of Gender and Swearing in the Sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother'. An Analysis of Lily and Robin

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, , language: English, abstract: This paper will explore the thesis that the female characters of the sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother' challenge the dominant ideologies of gender which imply women's natural subordination to men by means of swearing and conversational humour. To begin with, swearing is going to be defined and different types of swearing will be characterized. Afterwards, the interpersonal functions of swearing will be explained which are closely related to the domain of humour. Thus, the relation of swearing and conversational humour will be investegated as well as the interpersonal functions of humour. Next, the focus is going to shift to gender differences of swearing and conversational humour. In the chapters that follow, an in-depth analysis of gender and swearing in 'How I Met Your Mother' will be provided. First, this paper is going to give a short outline of the sitcom and explains the choice of data and methods. Next, the focus is on the character Lily Aldrin in terms of her social role as a caring wife and kindergarten teacher by examining her use of swear words. Finally, the paper analyzes the character Robin Scherbatsky who struggles to find her identity by trying to combine her work life as a journalist with her love life. Accordingly, her dissatisfaction becomes particularly evident in her usage of swear words which challenges dominant ideologies of gender. Inequality between the sexes has been deeply embedded in most cultures and societies, where women firmly belonged to the domestic sphere and had to perform their duties as housewives and mothers. This social division based on gender still emerges in today's societies and is both reflected and created in patterns of language use. Feminists argue that women are expected to avoid expressions of strong feelings, directness, unmitigated statements and swearing in order to be accepted in society. Furthermore, the asymmetrical application of terms of address for women and men even creates and sustains societal inequality. However, in the past century a major shift in perspective and a change of women's role in society took place. Feminist movements arose which fought for women's independence and paved the way towards gender equality. Permeable gender identities have been created which challenged dominant ideologies of women's speech. Especially humour in sitcoms repeatedly refers to the same stereotypes which serves to disrupt the idea of gender-appropriate behaviour through, for example, swearing.