English language and sexuality

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  • Language and sexuality:
    • Sweden has recently introduced a gender neutral pronoun 'hen'.
    • English has introduced the pronouns 'ze' and 'thon' which the LGBT community encourage.
      • 'Ze' is to be used when a persons gender is unknown.
    • POLARI
      • A form of language associated with gay men.
      • Used in 1st 2 3rds of 20th century.
      • In British cities that had large and mainly underground gay subcultures.
      • Arose from overlapping forms of slang associated with stigmatised groups.
      • Spread from word of mouth.
        • Multiple versions created at the same time.
        • Most speakers had a small core vocabulary.
          • There was a 'fringe' vocabulary only known by a few.
        • Spelling, pronounciation and meaning were not always stuck to.
      • Was a necessity when homosexuality was stigmatised through law, medicine and religion.
        • Allowed this group to diverge from other social groups.
          • Allowed gay men to communicate with others in a way that lessened the risk of stigmatisation.
            • Also a form of convergence as it allowed previously isolated members of society to build a community.
        • Men lived fearing blackmail, exposure and the humiliation of electric shock and hormone treatments.
      • Examples:
        • Bevvy = to drink
        • ***** = to complain
        • camp = effeminate
      • PAUL BAKER:
        • says polariis a coded form of language that allowed gay men to communicate in public without others knowing their sexuality.
      • Almost nothing had been written down or recorded making it difficult to look into.
      • Offered a way of mocking the regressive society.
    • Michael Halliday (1978)
      • Used the term 'anti language' to describe how stigmatised subcultures develop language to reconstruct reality according to their own values.
        • This became a fundamental part of someones identity.
        • A mode of resistance.
        • Continuity between language and anti-language.
          • Both are an example of the prevailing sociolinguistic order.
          • Both are reality generators.
          • Both have the potential to create and maintain social hierarchies.
      • FEATURES:
        • Anti-society -
          • A society within another society as a conscious alternative.
        • Relexicalisation
          • The substitution of new words for old.
            • Leads to creation of new vocabulary.
              • Allows individuals to converge from other social groups.
        • A different lexicon but with similar grammatical structure.
    • Bill Leap:
      • LGBT communities talk to eachother in different ways.
        • LAVENDER LINGUISTICS
          • A modern version of polari.
          • focuses on acronyms, play on words, and double meanings.
            • Only aimed to be understood by the gay community.
          • The coulour lavender is ofen used to show 'gay friendly' places.
  • English has introduced the pronouns 'ze' and 'thon' which the LGBT community encourage.
    • 'Ze' is to be used when a persons gender is unknown.
  • In Brighton (2012) the gender neutral mx was encouraged to be used instead of Mr or Mrs.
    • This received mixed responses from newspapers as some believed it was a PC overload.
    • Language and sexuality:
      • Sweden has recently introduced a gender neutral pronoun 'hen'.
      • POLARI
        • A form of language associated with gay men.
        • Used in 1st 2 3rds of 20th century.
        • In British cities that had large and mainly underground gay subcultures.
        • Arose from overlapping forms of slang associated with stigmatised groups.
        • Spread from word of mouth.
          • Multiple versions created at the same time.
          • Most speakers had a small core vocabulary.
            • There was a 'fringe' vocabulary only known by a few.
          • Spelling, pronounciation and meaning were not always stuck to.
        • Was a necessity when homosexuality was stigmatised through law, medicine and religion.
          • Allowed this group to diverge from other social groups.
            • Allowed gay men to communicate with others in a way that lessened the risk of stigmatisation.
              • Also a form of convergence as it allowed previously isolated members of society to build a community.
          • Men lived fearing blackmail, exposure and the humiliation of electric shock and hormone treatments.
        • Examples:
          • Bevvy = to drink
          • ***** = to complain
          • camp = effeminate
        • PAUL BAKER:
          • says polariis a coded form of language that allowed gay men to communicate in public without others knowing their sexuality.
        • Almost nothing had been written down or recorded making it difficult to look into.
        • Offered a way of mocking the regressive society.
      • Michael Halliday (1978)
        • Used the term 'anti language' to describe how stigmatised subcultures develop language to reconstruct reality according to their own values.
          • This became a fundamental part of someones identity.
          • A mode of resistance.
          • Continuity between language and anti-language.
            • Both are an example of the prevailing sociolinguistic order.
            • Both are reality generators.
            • Both have the potential to create and maintain social hierarchies.
        • FEATURES:
          • Anti-society -
            • A society within another society as a conscious alternative.
          • Relexicalisation
            • The substitution of new words for old.
              • Leads to creation of new vocabulary.
                • Allows individuals to converge from other social groups.
          • A different lexicon but with similar grammatical structure.
      • Bill Leap:
        • LGBT communities talk to eachother in different ways.
          • LAVENDER LINGUISTICS
            • A modern version of polari.
            • focuses on acronyms, play on words, and double meanings.
              • Only aimed to be understood by the gay community.
            • The coulour lavender is ofen used to show 'gay friendly' places.
  • Robin Lakoff:
    • Compares gay male speech traits womens.
      • Hedges and intensifiers etc.
    • Argues that gay men consciously immitate female speech traits.
    • Reinforces stereotypes.
      • Suggests all gay men speak the same.
        • Suggesting gay men dont have individual identites

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