Language and Sexism

This seminar provides an advanced exploration of the relationship between language and sexism. Considering evidence from a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts, we discuss the various ways - both implicit and explicit - that language transmits sexist beliefs and contributes to the continued prevalence of sexism in society. We also discuss some of the various non-sexist language strategies that have been proposed, and whether these strategies have achieved their objectives. Topics to be covered include the sexual politics of labels and naming practices, debates surrounding the use of generic masculine gender morphology, gender stereotypes in conversation, gendered representations in literature and media, and the evaluation of women and women's voices in the public sphere, among others. We adopt an expansive view of sexism to also include heterosexism, cis-sexism and the interplay between sexism, racism and classism. Throughout, we draw on elements of feminist and queer political theories to inform our discussion and to help develop a working model of the relationship between language and social inequality.