The intricate relationship between gender, language, dominance, and identity: Mixed vs. same-sex talk in the private and public domains, sexuality, and beyond

Abstract

Both empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that there is an intricate relationship between gender and language. This can be analyzed from a number of different―yet complementary―perspectives. As early as the 1980s, research articles can be found that explore the way in which gender, power, and dominance interact in mixed-sex talk (West & Zimmerman, 1983; DeFrancisco, 1991; Herring et al., 1992). Complementarily, the complex relationship between gender and language has been approached from a same-sex talk perspective, both in female-only (Coates, 1989) and male-only settings (DeCapua & Boxer, 1999; Cameron, 1997). Beyond the private domain, women’s talk has been studied within the specific―and of utmost interest―framework provided by the public sphere (Reynolds, 1991; Holmes & Schnurr, 2006). In more recent times, sexuality has been added to the combination in an attempt to obtain a bigger―and clearer―picture (Abe, 2004; Hall, 2009; Leap, 2008). Some scholars have even traveled the extra mile by providing insightful approaches to the relationship between gender, language, and identity by establishing explicit connections between these concepts and related cultural practices (relevantly to this topic, Boxer & Gritsenko (2005) compare how women in the US and Russia tackle the surname issue when faced with marriage or partnership).