The issue of sexist language has been hotly debated within feminist circles since the 1960s. Previous books have tended to regard sexism in language as easy to identify and have suggested solutions to overcome and counter sexism. Sara Mills takes a fresh and more critical look at sexism in language, and argues that even in feminist circles it has become a problematic concept. Drawing on conversational and textual data collected over the last ten years, and with reference to recent research carried out in a range of different academic disciplines, Mills suggests that there are two forms of...

Gender and colonial space is a trenchant analysis of the complex relation between social relations - including notions of class, nationality and gender - and spatial relations, landscape, architecture and topography - in post-colonial contexts. Arguing against much of the psychoanalytic focus of much current post-colonial theory, Mills aims to set out in a new direction, drawing on a wide range of literary and non-literary texts to develop a more materialist approach. She foregrounds gender in this field where it has often been marginalised by the critical orthodoxies, demonstrating its...

Gender Matters presents a feminist linguistic analysis of texts - literature, media and lyrics - and conversation. It explores how gender relates to and shapes our understanding of sexism, reading and writing, politeness and public speaking. The essays in the book examine a range of questions: why is it necessary for feminists to analyse or comment on sexism when sexism is widely regarded as an anachronistic concern? How can feminists describe the effect of gender on the experience of literature? Why are women considered more capable of private rather than public speech? What is the relation...

Gender Matters presents a feminist linguistic analysis of texts - literature, media and lyrics - and conversation. It explores how gender relates to and shapes our understanding of sexism, reading and writing, politeness and public speaking. The essays in the book examine a range of questions: why is it necessary for feminists to analyse or comment on sexism when sexism is widely regarded as an anachronistic concern? How can feminists describe the effect of gender on the experience of literature? Why are women considered more capable of private rather than public speech? What is the relation...

This is an interdisciplinary volume, examining the important themes in the current theoretical debates on language and gender. Comprising chapters from leading linguists, it aims to bring together debate between the areas of linguistics/language studies and literature/literary studies.