`I love the warmth and wit in this book, but I say this in no way to detract from the seriousness of its subject matter and its incisive treatment by Mary Crawford… this is a great book and an important book which articulates current critical thinking about research around gender and language. Mary Crawford writes brilliantly, powerfully and lucidly… I thoroughly recommend it′
– British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Newsletter
This refreshing re-evaluation of current wisdom – both academic and popular – about men′s and women′s language critically assesses the abundant social science research of recent years and its representation in the mass media. Exploring a wide range of topics, from talk shows to self-help books, Mary Crawford offers a new understanding of the role of language practices in both maintaining – and disrupting – gender inequality.
The book addresses such provocative questions as: Why has the study of gender and language so often focused on the limitations of women′s talk? How do academic practices constrain our understanding of how gender relations are re-created and maintained in language use? Why do assertiveness texts usually ignore indirect modes of speech such as humour and storytelling?
Tabella dei contenuti
Talk across the Gender Gap
The Search for a Women′s Language
The Assertiveness Bandwagon
Two Sexes, Two Cultures
On Conversational Humor
Toward a Feminist Theory of Gender and Communication
Circa l’autore
Mary Crawford is Professor of Psychology and Graduate Director of Women′s Studies, University of South Carolina. She is co-author (with Rhoda Unger) of Women and Gender: A Feminist Psychology (Second Edition, 1995).