Subject: Languages and literature
Subject: Philosophy, ethics and religion
Year: 2023
Type: Book Section
Type: PeerReviewed
Title: Gender in Sociolinguistics
Author: Jovanovska, Sashka
Abstract: Before discussing how language, gender, and sexuality are dealt with in sociolinguistics, we need to define the terms gender, sex category, and sexuality to discuss how these concepts are involved in the study of sociolinguistics. Sex categories are based on the biological distinction – not always completely clear – between ‘male’ and ‘female.’ There may also be additional culturally specific categories that define people who do not fall easily into these first two categories. Native American cultures have a tradition of what has been called ‘two spirit’ people (Jacobs et al. 1997), and in India there are hijras and kotis, which are different groups of people who exhibit physical and/or behavioral characteristics of both sex categories; in Indian society, they have a societal role and the linguistic means of constructing such a role in society (Hall 1997, 2005). The term transgender is often used in the United States to talk about people who are transitioning or have transitioned from one sex category to another, or have biological attributes of a sex category which does not match their gender (see below) or of both sexes; the term cisgender is used to talk about people whose sex category matches their gender. The term transgender may also be used for individuals with biological attributes of both sexes. Thus, while sex categories make references to biological characteristics, and are often perceived as binary and mutually exclusive, they are not entirely in synch with the reality of human diversity and some societies have more than two categories and may accept more fluid membership in sex categories.
Publisher: Manglam Publications
Relation: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/33232/
Identifier: oai:eprints.ugd.edu.mk:33232
Identifier: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/33232/1/Gender%20Discrimination%20_Book%20Chapter%20Sashka%20Jovanovska.pdfIdentifier: Jovanovska, Sashka (2023) Gender in Sociolinguistics. In: Gender Discrimination in India Themes and Perspectives. Manglam Publications, pp. 179-187. ISBN 978-81-963658-5-1
