Language, gender and sexuality in 2022

Abstract

This article focuses on research from 2022 that critically analyses the ways in which oppressive discourses continue to circulate, and which examines the role of language in protesting and resisting these discourses. It considers studies that remind us of the feminist and queer principles underpinning the field: to question and critique how hegemonic ideologies of gender and sexuality are reproduced and maintained. The review explores two key areas: research that reveals the continuing problem of mainstream transphobia and studies that consider how feminist discourses of resistance operate linguistically. It concludes with a call for more of this research to be applied to real-world contexts in order to create tangible change. In bringing this work together, the review aims to reaffirm the vital and emancipatory role that language, gender and sexuality scholarship has in both documenting and resisting regressive ideology.