Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

Danish professor Otto Jesperson published his book Language in 1922. In it he provides an overview of human speech, including a chapter dedicated to women and language. Relying on anecdotal evidence and literature, Jesperson argued that women expressed themselves differently from men; he believed that women’s speech was weaker, less rich in vocabulary and less articulate. Montell observes that Jesperson seemed to be biased against women and did not support his claims with any hard evidence.

Montell believes that women express themselves differently when in all-women groups. Linguist Jennifer Coates has coined the term “genderlects” to describe the specific ways that men and women speak when in same-sex groups. Coates argues that men’s conversations with other men tend to produce a dominant speaker and clear hierarchy, while women’s interactions are more cooperative. The stereotype is that women gossip about others more than men do, but Montell challenges this assumption by asserting that “locker-room banter” among men is simply a “manlier-sounding synonym for gossip” (88).

Coates identifies “hedging” as a verbal technique which women use to “negotiate sensitive topics” and soften their message (91). Hedging words include “well,” “you know,” “I mean,” and “sort of.