The field of Language, Gender and Sexuality has seen dynamic changes since the publication of Robin Lakoff’s seminal work, Language and Woman’s Place, in 1975. In this course, we will focus on various discourse-based approaches to the study of language, gender, and sexuality, reviewing both qualitative and quantitative studies in the field. Discussions and course assessments will challenge students to apply concepts to their own experiences within their own sociocultural contexts. We will also consider gender as one of many social categories that interact with other categories such as age, race, class, ethnicity, profession, sexuality, and others.
In addition, we will explore how language and the way we talk about social categories shape the values we share as a society. What roles do language and discourse play in the empowerment or marginalization of certain groups in society? Our focus on how gender and sexuality both shape and reflect the ideologies of a society will encourage students to question the role of language in creating gender and sexual identities. We also examine the role of discourse in constructing gender and sexuality as relevant social categories and how we can move away from essentialist views of these categories. Readings from a wide range of research contexts and student reflections on their own societies will serve as integral aspects of the course.
A variety of texts will be used in this course. Our primary source of knowledge will be academic texts, but we will also consider other multimodal materials, including excerpts of films, transcripts, and selected media.
The textbook used for this course is Scott Kiesling’s (2024) Language, Gender & Sexuality: An Introduction (Second Edition). It is a beginner-friendly textbook that contains an accessible introduction to the field. This will be supplemented with one optional* journal article every week; reading it (or at least skimming through) will help with following along during the lecture and discussions.
*Part of your assessment includes a group presentation on the reading of the week, so you will have to read the article that you will be assigned for that week.
Some of the topics covered in the course may include:
- Foundations of Language and Gender Research
- Performativity and Identity
- The Discursive Turn and Gender Research Methods
- Variation and Gender
- Gender and Language Ideologies
- Global and Cross-Cultural Perspectives
- Gender in domains and institutions
- Gender in Media and New Media
- Gender and Sexuality
- Gender and Politics
This course has several objectives. First, it will introduce students to the dynamic field of language, gender and sexuality studies through readings and discussions of discourse-based research in a variety of sociocultural contexts. It also aims to identify key debates in the field and how sociolinguistic research has engaged in these debates. The course surveys several approaches to the study of gender and sexuality using discourse analysis as a methodological tool. We will explore the theoretical issues addressed by current research in the field, including research on Hong Kong and China, where available. Different approaches to data analysis (e.g. conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and critical discourse analysis, among others) will be introduced, and students will be expected to conduct original research, applying the concepts discussed to their own sociolinguistic context. The course also aims to increase awareness of gender- and sexuality-related issues, how these can be investigated through discourse analysis, and encourage students to develop a specialized vocabulary in discussing these issues.
The course will meet once weekly for two hours, for lectures, discussions, group presentations and other classroom activities.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Describe and compare different discourse-based approaches to the study of language, gender, and sexuality
- Identify key debates in the field and how sociolinguistic research has engaged in these debates
- Increase awareness of gender- and sexuality-related issues, how these can be investigated through discourse analysis, and encourage students to develop a specialized vocabulary in discussing these issues
- Apply theoretical concepts to the study of gender and sexuality in their own societies
| Short Writing Assignments - Reader Responses | 20% |
| Midterm Exam - Exam covering content from readings and lectures | 30% |
| Discussion - Leading class discussions in groups | 20% |
| Course paper - 1500-1800 word term paper | 30% |
Readings for the course may include:
Bucholtz, Mary. 2014. The Feminist Foundations of Language, Gender, and Sexuality Research. Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality, The21-47.
Bucholtz, Mary. 2011. ‘It’s different for guys’: Gendered narratives of racial conflict among white California youth. Discourse & Society 22, no. 4:385-402.
Cameron, Deborah. Verbal Hygiene: The Politics of Language (Chapter 5). London/New York: Routledge, 1995.
Cameron, Deborah. “Performing Gender Identity: Young Men’s Talk and the
Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity.” In Language and Masculinity, edited by Sally Johnson and Ulrike Meinhof, 47-64. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
Cheshire, Jenny. “The Relationship Between Language and Sex in English.” In Applied Sociolinguistics, edited by Peter Trudgill, 33-49. New York: Academic Press, 1989.
Erlich, S., Meyerhoff, M., and J. Holmes (Eds). 2014. The Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality (Second Edition). Wiley Blackwell.
Fung, AYH, & YAO, M. (2012). Gender and media. In SYP Choi, & FM Cheung (Eds.), Women and girls in Hong Kong: current situations and future challenges (pp. 223-244). (Research methodology in strategy and management; Vol. 7). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Kendall, Shari. “Framing Authority: Gender, Face, and Mitigation at a Radio Network.” Discourse & Society 15/1 (2004): 55-79.
Kiesling, Scott. (2024) Language, Gender & Sexuality: An Introduction (Second Edition).
Lakoff, Robin. “An Extract from Language and Woman’s Place.” In The Feminist Critique of Language: A Reader, edited by Deborah Cameron, 221-233. London: Routledge, 1998.
Lee, Francis L. F. 2004. Constructing perfect women: The portrayal of female officials in Hong Kong newspapers. Media, Culture and Society 26: 207–225.
Louie, K. and Edwards, L. 1994. Chinese Masculinity: Theorizing Wen and Wu. East Asian History 8: 135-148.
O’Barr, William and Bowman K. Atkins. “‘Women’s’ Language or ‘Powerless’ Language?” In Women and Language in Literature and Society, edited by Sally
McConnell-Ginet, Ruth Borker, and Nelly Furman, 93-110. New York: Praeger,1980.
Ochs, Elinor and Carolyn Taylor. “The ‘Father Knows Best’ Dynamic in Dinnertime Narratives.” In Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self, edited by Kira Hall and Mary Bucholtz, 97-120. New York and London: Routledge, 1995.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/
Recommended Readings
Abe, Hideko. “Lesbian Bar Talk in Shinjuku, Tokyo.” In Language & Gender: A Reader (2nd Edition), edited by Jennifer Coates and Pia Pichler, 375-383. Oxford [UK]/Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Cameron, Deborah. 2005. Language, Gender and Sexuality: Current Issues and New Directions. Applied Linguistics 26 (4): 482-502.
Cameron, D. 2006. Theorising the Female Voice in Public Contexts. In: Speaking Out: The Female Voice in Public Contexts, edited by Judith Baxter. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3-20. Cameron and Kulick. 2003. Language and Sexuality (Chapter 4: Sexuality as Identity: Gay and Lesbian Language). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Coates, Jennifer. “Gossip Revisited: Language in All-Female Groups.” In Women inTheir Speech Communities, edited by Jennifer Coates and Deborah Cameron, 94-122. London: Longman, 1989.
Eckert, Penelope and Sally McConnell-Ginet. “Communities of Practice: Where Language, Gender, and Power all Live.” In Locating Power: Proceedings of the 2nd Berkeley Women and Language Conference, edited by Kira Hall, Mary Bucholtz, and Birch Moonwoman, 89-99. Berkeley: BWLG, 1992.
Ehrlich 2006. Trial Discourse and Judicial Decision-Making: Constraining the Boundaries of Gendered Identities. In: Speaking Out: The Female Voice in Public Contexts, edited by Judith Baxter. Palgrave Macmillan
Goodwin, Marjorie Harness. “Building Power Asymmetries in Girls’ Interaction.” Discourse & Society 13/6 (2002): 715-30.
Kira Hall. 1995. Lip Service on the Fantasy Lines. In: Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self, edited by Kira Hall and Mary Bucholtz. New York/London: Routledge, pp. 183-216.
Kitzinger, Celia. 2005. Speaking as a Heterosexual: (How) does sexuality matter for talk-in-interaction? ROLSI 38 (3).
Holmes, Janet. Gendered Talk at Work: Constructing Gender Identity Through Workplace Discourse (Chapter 1). Malden, Mass./Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.
Holmes, Janet. “Leadership Talk: How Do Leaders ‘Do Mentoring’ and Is Gender Relevant?” Journal of Pragmatics 37 (2005): 1779-1800.
Lazar, M. 2006. ‘Discover the Power of Femininity!’ Analyzing global ‘power femininity’ in local advertising. Feminist Media Studies 6 (4): 505-517.
Nichols, Patricia C. “Linguistic Options and Choices for Black Women in the Rural South.” In Language, Gender and Society, edited by B. Thorne et al., 54-68. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1983.
Reynolds, Katsue Akiba. “Female Speakers of Japanese in Transition.” In Language & Gender: A Reader (2nd Edition), edited by Jennifer Coates and Pia Pichler, 291-299. Oxford [UK]/Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Shaw 2006. Governed by the Rules? The Female Voice in Parliamentary Debates. In: Speaking Out: The Female Voice in Public Contexts, edited by Judith Baxter. Palgrave Macmillan
Trudgill, Peter. “Sex, Covert Prestige, and Linguistic Change in the Urban British English of Norwich.” Language in Society 1 (1972): 179-195.
Zhang W and Kramarae C (2012) Are Chinese women turning sharp-tongued? Discourse & Society 23 (6): 749-770. [available online]