Sex Bias in Japan-Published Monolingual English Dictionaries

It is acknowledged that English is not a "neuter" language, and the
study of sexism within the English language is now in its fourth
decade. Some attempts to abolish sex bias are being made, such as
the publication of a non-sexist dictionary in the United States. The
study of sexism in the English language has also been started in
Japan (e.g., Abe, 1988).
When we learn a foreign language, a dictionary is necessary.
For non-native English learners, an English dictionary is
essential for understanding the meaning of words in writings.
A valid question is whether dictionaries, in their definitions of
ordinary words or in their example sentences, give particular
imagery of females or males which may form unconscious
stereotypes even before readers are exposed to the works of
writers. Our research shows substantial stereotyping according
to sex in four monolingual English dictionaries published
in Japan.