Gender in the language of proverbs: image of a typical Russian man vs. an image of a typical Russian woman

Abstract

Gender traditionally refers to the biological sex, and also to the set of social and cultural norms demanded of people, depending on their biological sex. Gender relations in any community are built through its public institutions which support sexual differences. There is a significant amount of studies within the linguistic and cultural framework, with the gender stereotypes´ specific character, and a special emphasis on the cultural concepts of “masculinity” and “femininity”. We believe that every culture has proverbs, based on national gender stereotypes and attitudes to “femininity” and “masculinity”. We are especially interested in the ones, which reflect general peculiarities of the Russian culture and language, and the features that help to shape “stereotyped” portraits of typical male and female representatives of the Russian culture.