Implicatures of Masculinity

Speranza

Johnson's and Meinhoft's is the first extensive account of males' language - of male ways of speaking and of language in the construction of masculinity.

Feminist linguistics has come of age.

 

Yet, in more than two decades of research, male speaking patterns have largely been taken for granted.

 

So, what have we learned specifically about men's language and masculinity?

 

Is it right to assume that men's use of language is the mirror image of what have been considered typically female patterns of interaction?

 

In what ways does the study of language and masculinity throw new light on traditional assumptions about language and gender?

Language and Masculinity puts the study of male speech and communication on the linguist's - and feminist linguist's - agenda. It will be widely read by students of language, discourse and gender.

Sally Johnson is Lecturer in German Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University. Ulrike Hanna Meinhof is Professor of Cultrual Studies in the Department of Modern Languages at Bradford University.