Abstract
The present article reviews theoretical concepts that can contribute to the analysis of the construction of gender identity in interaction, moving on from heteronormativity, understood as the normalization of heterosexuality as the only, or more, legitimate form of sexuality. Identity is discussed together with the concepts of face, rapport and (im)politeness from a discursive approach (van der Bom & Mills, 2015). It is argued that gender identity face builds on attributes of both respectability and identity faces with differing strengths and saliency depending on the individuals and the context. Analysis is limited to the construction of hetero and gay male gender identities in interaction with women in academic contexts and draws on data from a corpus of naturally occurring interactions compiled by the author. Gay males seem to differ from hetero males in in their choice of resources for doing face-enhancing positive politeness and rapport with their female colleagues. Despite the limited size of the sample, the study hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the construction of gender identity from a discursive approach.
Highlights
Feminist linguistics is moving away from the study of gender as if it were contained in discrete linguistic items
It is argued that gender identity face builds on attributes of both respectability and identity faces with differing strengths and saliency depending on the individuals and the context
The working hypothesis, based on the author’s participant observation in academic life and the theoretical framework compiled, is that gender identity face is performative and builds on attributes of both respectability and identity faces for the construction of gender identities, with differing strengths or saliency depending on the individuals and the context
Summary
Feminist linguistics is moving away from the study of gender as if it were contained in discrete linguistic items. Variation is examined as part of the wider performative system of language and its meaning, as part of the wider meaning system (Eckert, 2012, 2019) Within this approach, gender is examined as constructed in interaction and its study has progressed from «the search for correlations between linguistic units and social categories of speakers to analysis of the gendered significance of ongoing discourse» Gender is examined as constructed in interaction and its study has progressed from «the search for correlations between linguistic units and social categories of speakers to analysis of the gendered significance of ongoing discourse» The article ends with some concluding remarks on the usefulness of the theoretical framework presented and its potential contribution to a better understanding of gender identity construction in language
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