Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

“Over the decades linguists have learned that pretty much every corner of language is touched by gender, from the most microscopic units of sound to the broadest categories of conversation. And because gender is directly linked to power in so many cultures, necessarily, so is language. It’s just that most of us can’t see it.”

The author introduces her theme on The Politics of Language as she explains the main premise of her work. In this quotation Montell promises the reader that she will explore how language reflects society’s biases about gender and power by deliberately analyzing the gendered terms of English. By claiming that many people “can’t see” the role of gender in language, she creates a sense of mystery around her topic and suggests that bias plays a role in how people speak.

“The link between language and culture is inextricable: language has always been, and continues to be, used to reflect and reinforce power structures and social norms. Because old white dudes have ruled our culture for so long, and language is the medium through which that culture was created and communicated, the time has come to challenge how and why we use language the way we do, and how we think about it in the first place.”

Montell argues that language is politically and culturally significant. This passage suggests that the privileged “old white dudes” had a greater influence on the English lexicon than other people, a claim which contributes to Montell’s theme on The Relationship Between Language and Misogyny. The author’s plea for reflection and social change shifts the tone of her book from one of pure academic analysis to a more activistic approach.

“In English, our negative terms for women, which usually carry sexual connotations, necessarily mirror the status of women in Western society at large—that being the status of treats and filets, at best, and hobags and hellpigs, at worst. It’s a classic case of the virgin/whore dichotomy—according to our inventory of English slang, women are always either one of two types of sexual objects: an innocent hard-to-get peach or a grotesque, too-easy skank.”

In this passage the author analyzes how English language insults for women tend to be sexual in nature, adding depth to her theme on The Relationship Between Language and Misogyny. This quotation adds to Montell’s argument that gendered terms specific to women tend to dehumanize women as sexual objects of desire or revulsion, which reflects and informs sexist behaviors.