Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language (2019) is a nonfiction work on feminist sociolinguistics by Amanda Montell. In her work Montell, a linguist, analyzes gendered language in English and perceptions of women speakers in American culture. Using linguistic studies and the English lexicon as evidence, Montell argues that English speakers—often unknowingly—use sexist language that is demeaning to women. The author explains why English is laden with sexist terms and offers advice on how to improve one’s own self-expression and, in doing so, support women’s empowerment. 

This guide uses the Kindle edition.

Content Warning: This book includes cursing and discussions of sexism, sexual violence and harassment, racism, anti-gay bias, gender/transgender discrimination, and sexual content.

Summary

In Chapter 0, Montell provides an overview of the evolution of English, arguing that the English language reflects the power structures and social norms that privileged men over women. In Chapter 1, she reveals that English has many more insults specific to women than to men. She explains how, through a process called pejoration, English speakers have turned many neutral terms into gendered insults for women. Montell explores how some people choose to reclaim these insults and change their usage into something empowering or comedic. In Chapter 2, Montell analyzes the way English speakers discuss sex and gender, including the terms “female” and “woman,” revealing the inconsistencies and disagreements people have about the exact meanings of these words.

In Chapter 3, Montell discusses the linguistic differences between all-men and all-women groups of speakers. She explains the linguistic theory of “genderlects,” or dialects men and women use when speaking to each other. Some linguists theorize that men communicate more competitively when speaking to each other, while women are more cooperative, with speech patterns that overlap more often. In Chapter 4, Montell argues that the controversies over supposedly “feminine” verbal traits, such as hedging, uptalk, and vocal fry reflect the sexist bias of the judges, and not the intrinsic value of those habits. She explores each in detail, explaining their origins and why some speakers might find them useful. In Chapter 5, she explores perceptions of grammar and how grammar usage can entrench gendered terms and pronouns in a language. She argues that languages with gendered grammar, such as the romance languages, perpetuate sexist notions by requiring certain nouns to be masculine and others feminine.

In Chapter 6, Montell argues that verbal sexual harassment, mansplaining, and interruptions are all ways in which some men try to use language to control women. She explains how this is harmful at the individual and societal level by perpetuating women’s inequality with men. In Chapter 7, Montell defends the practice of cursing as a means of self-expression, emphasis, and creative use of language. She laments how women are judged more harshly for cursing than men, and encourages people to consider how men might benefit from the “power of vulgarity” (206) more than women do.

In Chapter 8, Montell discusses how women’s speaking voices are perceived. She argues that even today, women tend to be categorized as either sexy, like the hoarse voice of Scarlett Johansson, or too loud and shrill, like the confident orations of Hillary Clinton. Montell explores how this dichotomy puts women at a disadvantage as they try to gain others’ respect at work and in leadership roles. In Chapter 9, Montell explains how gay men have used linguistic innovation to connect with each other as well as to strengthen bonds in their community. For instance, gay men in Britain invented a dialect called Polari in order to safely communicate about sex and dating when sexual acts between men were still illegal in Britain.

Chapter 10 explores English’s long and rich history of slang words for genitalia. Montell claims that this huge lexicon reveals that English speakers tend to discuss sex from the male perspective and in a way that casts women as passive and asexual. She suggests how modern speakers could remedy this issue by inventing some new sexual terms centered around women’s experiences. In her final chapter, Montell argues that English is not inherently sexist, and that only positive cultural change in our society will prompt the organic development of better word choices, as well as fairer perceptions of women speakers.