We analyze the semantic ambiguity of the grammatically masculine form in languages where this form has more than one meaning (e.g., French, German, English to some extent) when used to refer to human beings. We discuss this ambiguity in terms of inference processing, meaning activation, and the link between language and the way we perceive reality. Importantly, we attempt to identify and explain the cognitive mechanisms at the very heart of gender biases when readers (and speakers) construct mental representations of gender through language. We ground our argument in memory-based approaches to reading, the meaning activation selection model and the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis. This paper provides a cognitive perspective to understanding why, in grammatical gender languages, gender representations are male biased.

我们分析了在用于人类时，这种语言具有多种含义（例如法语，德语，英语）的多种语言中的语法男性形式的语义歧义。我们从推理处理，含义激活以及语言与我们感知现实的方式之间的联系方面讨论这种歧义。重要的是，当读者（和说话者）通过语言构建性别的心理表征时，我们试图识别和解释性别偏见的核心认知机制。我们的论点基于基于记忆的阅读方法，意义激活选择模型和口头思考假设。本文提供了一种认知角度来理解为什么在语法性别语言中性别表现形式是男性偏见的。