Gender Matters - Sara Mills
9. Gender and politeness
Gender Matters - Sara Mills
Sara Mills [+]
Sheffield Hallam University
Sara Mills is a Research Professor in Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University. Her most recent publications include Gender and Colonial Space (2005, Manchester University Press), Michel Foucault (Critical Thinkers Series, 2003, Routledge), Feminist Post-Colonial Theory: An Anthology (edited with Reina Lewis, 2003, Edinburgh University Press) and Gender and Politeness (2003, Cambridge University Press).
Description
In this essay I propose a way of analysing gender which does not focus overly on individuals as the determinants of meaning or language choices, but rather examines the way that gender impinges on individuals in the range of choices which are available to them. Politeness is already gendered institutionally, and therefore this gendering has an impact on individuals when they choose the level of politeness or impoliteness they consider to be appropriate.