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Finally, a book that puts the F word (feminism, that is) back into Gender
and Language. A must read for scholars and students working in the intersection of linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, communication
studies, Womens Studies, and gender.
Diana Boxer, University of Florida, USA
An excellent book at just the right time! The authors remind us of the
feminist roots of language and gender studies and argue for the importance of
investigating the role that language plays in creating and sustaining unequal
gender relations. This book should be on every linguists bookshelf.
Jennifer Coates, Emeritus Professor, Roehampton University, UK
Language, Gender and Feminism presents students and researchers with key
contemporary theoretical perspectives, methodologies and analytical frameworks
in the field of feminist linguistic analysis.
Mills and Mullany cover a wide range of contemporary feminist theories and
emphasise the importance of an interdisciplinary approach. Topics covered
include: power, language and sexuality, sexism and an exploration of the difference between Second and Third Wave feminist analysis.
Each chapter presents examples from research conducted in different cultural and
linguistic contexts, which allows students to observe practical applications of all
current theories and approaches. Oral and written language data, from a wealth of
different contexts, settings and sources, is thoroughly analysed throughout. The book
concludes with a discussion of how the field could advance and an overview of the
various research methods, pertinent for future work in language and gender study.
Language, Gender and Feminism is an invaluable text for students new to the
discipline of Language and Gender studies within English Language, Linguistics,
Communication Studies and Womens Studies, as well as being an up-to-date
resource for more established researchers and scholars.
Sara Mills is Research Professor in Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
Louise Mullany is Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of
Nottingham, UK.
To baby Abigail
Contents
viii
Acknowledgements
23
Theorising gender
40
65
Methodological approaches
92
Sexuality
121
Sexism
144
Future directions
161
Notes
Websites of organisations and other resources
Bibliography
Index
172
176
179
200
Acknowledgements
However, it is important to point out right at the beginning of this volume that
language and gender studies do not have to be feminist in orientation. Jespersen
(1922) provides a good example of this. Leading language and gender researcher
Deborah Cameron (2006) has pointed out that non-feminist studies will present
descriptive linguistic accounts of gender and language, often detailing processes of
language shift or change (for example, Labov 1972; Trudgill 1974; Milroy 1987),
or present descriptions of how women and men use language in specific locations
at particular points in time (Trudgill 1974; Bradley 1998; Cheshire 1998). The
key difference between this knowledge-gathering research and feminist research
is that the latter has a specific political purpose by focusing on gender as a social,
political and ideological category.
It should be noted that the term feminism is one which has tended to be
somewhat downplayed in some areas of academic research over the last 1015
years. Whilst there was a period during the 1980s and 1990s in many parts of the
Western academic world when feminism was thriving and was positively evaluated by many (Whelehan 1995), there has been a backlash against feminism
within these cultures and it is now often difficult to use the term feminism easily.
McRobbie (2009), for example, believes that feminism has been undermined,
partly because of a backlash against feminism but also, paradoxically, precisely
because it has been partly integrated into mainstream agendas: she argues pessimistically that for feminism to be taken into account it has to be understood as
having already passed away (McRobbie 2009: 12). We would argue that this is
not necessarily the case; the fact that feminist demands are still voiced, even if
they are not explicitly termed feminist, can be viewed as an indication of the way
that feminism has become part of common-sense assumptions and thus part of the
mainstream in many Western societies.
In other cultures, for example Japan, feminism has not had a positive evaluation at any stage and has often been opposed (Nishimura pers. com. 2009).
In some Arab cultures, feminism has been seen as a Western import and has
been resisted by many (see Sadiqi 2010; Sadiqi and Ennaji 2010). In developing
Sexual politics
The inclusion of feminism in our books title does not mean that all of the
work contained within this volume will necessarily be feminist in nature. On
the contrary, it is important to look across the wider field of sexual politics,
Feminist models
Historically, a range of different models of feminism have emerged from across
various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Some of the most significant of these feminisms include: liberal feminism, French feminism, materialist feminism, Marxist feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism,
postcolonial feminism and so on (see Whelehan 1995; McElhinny 2007a).
On rare occasions, feminist linguists may explicitly state their particular political stance in their work we have already referred to the example of Cameron
(2006a) identifying herself as a radical feminist. Jule (2008: 9) observes that
language and gender studies often seem to connect most often with liberal feminism, which she defines as producing commentary on societys view of women as
indicative of societys patriarchal attitudes and values, particularly regarding laws
and human rights.
The liberal feminist stance seems to be the one which is assumed within
Western feminist thinking and thus many feminist linguists work takes the view
that feminism is concerned with equality of opportunity and reform. In other
contexts, the aim of feminist campaigns is not to be seen as the equals of men,
but for womens emancipation in terms of difference of identity and treatment in
law to be significantly improved. An excellent example of this is Sadiqis (2010)
report on womens rights in North Africa.