Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

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Montell effortlessly moves between history, science, and popular culture to explore these questions—and how we can use the answers to affect real social change. Montell’s irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable but downright hilarious and profound. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light on the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness. Critical Praise Shakespeare, William. As You Like It (III, iii, 1531–1537). "[Audrey:] Well, I am not fair; and therefore I pray the gods make me / honest. / [Touchstone:] Truly, and to cast away honesty upon a foul slut were / to put good meat into an unclean dish. / [Audrey:] I am not a slut, though I thank the gods I am foul. / [Touchstone:] Well, praised be the gods for thy foulness; / sluttishness may come hereafter...."

a b c Paludi, Michele A.; Martin, Jennifer L.; Gruber, James E.; Fineran, Susan (2015). Sexual Harassment in Education and Work Settings: Current Research and Best Practices for Prevention. ABC-CLIO. p.15. ISBN 978-1-4408-3294-9 . Retrieved 4 December 2015. Collocations are words that are often used together and are brilliant at providing natural sounding language for your speech and writing.

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It's generally pretty well known that if you identify a sound change in progress, then young people will be leading old people, and women tend to be maybe half a generation ahead of males," Liberman says.

For spending a good amount of time on the un/gendering of language and even dedicating a full chapter to queer linguistics, the author reduces people to men and women only far too many times to be excusable. And, sorry for the token "queer friend named Molly" (inexplicably one of the only informal sources named?) used as a sole source of knowledge about the lesbian experience. a b c d Julia Wood (2014). Gendered Lives. Cengage Learning. p.108. ISBN 978-1-285-07593-8 . Retrieved 4 December 2015.

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How do gendered languages affect personal identification growing up? This is fascinating to read and think about. Some words literally do not exist in some languages and can't be made up using the existing language. The meaning "woman of low or loose character, bold hussy," if not intended in the earliest use, is attested by mid-15c., but the primary sense through 18c. was "woman who is uncleanly as regards her person or house." Johnson has it (second definition) as "A word of slight contempt to a woman" but sexual activity does not seem to figure into his examples. Playful use of the word, "young woman, wench," without implication of messiness or loose morals, is attested by 1660s:

There are lots of good things in here, especially the analysis of 'like'. There's an interesting section on how women talk amongst themselves (much more collaborative than men, 'horizontal' rather than 'vertical' structured conversations) which would have been a lot more interesting with a bit more depth. How do trans women, nonbinary people, people who belong to a third or fourth or fifth gender in societies that have them, speak among themselves? We don't know because despite a section on how there aren't just Men and Women, and a chapter on queer speech, we hear very little about anyone except Men (dudes, bros) and Women throughout the book. The double standard associated with slut-labeling is part of the modern day rape culture. Rape culture is "the casual debasement [of women] ... that has become such a part of our lives that it is often invisible." [26] Though people in society are vocally anti-rape, there is an insinuation that certain types of rape are acceptable or that women are voluntarily taking actions that justify sexual advances. "For example, women continue to be blamed if they are raped because of how they are dressed, the assumption that women purportedly lie about being raped remains popular, and certain women, such as married women or women of colour, are still considered 'unrapeable'”. [27] The word slut and the double standard it contains reflects the gender norms and gender biases [26] that are prevalent in a culture in which rape is constantly justified. People from all sects of society contribute to this justification. [28] I get so jazzed about the future of feminism knowing that Amanda Montell’s brilliance is rising up and about to explode worldwide.” — Jill Soloway Samuel Pepys Diary February 1664 complete". Pepys.info. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013 . Retrieved 27 August 2012. disclaimer: I am an anthropology major who did a focus in linguistics. This book is so up my alley that it isn't really an alley anymore, it's a highway. Or a field? I don't know, you get my metaphor.That said, I found most of the book to be uninspiring and not introducing very new ideas. Ideas were not developed in-depth, and instead felt like a spattering of study-findings and simple assertions that won't stir any new conversations. Our new online dictionaries for schools provide a safe and appropriate environment for children. And best of all it's ad free, so sign up now and start using at home or in the classroom.

Nathanson, Rebecca (2 October 2011). "SlutWalk Rally Against Sexual Violence Draws Huge Crowd of Feminists". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. So yeah, lots of good stuff in here. I admit, it was probably especially delightful for my personal consumption as it feeds into and reinforces a lot of my own opinions about the patriarchy and society. I'm totally the target audience and I ate it up as such. All in all, this book is fun with lots of novel and interesting tidbits into linguistics. Her analysis on linguistics as it reflects society adds to the flare and fun.Model and actress Amber Rose was one of the first people to conduct and take a lead for a SlutWalk for people of color. "The Amber Rose SlutWalk Festival is a completely inclusive space. This event is a zero tolerance event and we do not condone hateful language, racism, sexism, ableism, fat-shaming, transphobia or any other kind of bigotry. Further, we recognize that shaming, oppression, assault and violence have disproportionately impacted marginalized groups, including women of color, transgender people and sex workers, and thus we are actively working to center these groups at our events." [32] See also This here is one of the best examples of feminist books even though it does not really try to be one. Linguistics is a passion of mine and Amanda Montell creates a well-researched, elegantly-constructed and balanced nonfiction on the patriarchal and misogynistic effects on the everyday language. Each chapter provides insightful information as to how language evolved over time and the author approaches the issue from sociolinguistic point of view, which fascinated me throughout the book. I loved the insights on gender-biased insults, grammar corrections, language of marginalized groups, the naturally patriarchal evolution of language, the challenges women face without even noticing when they open their mouths to speak (including mansplaining). Carroll, Caitlin (31 October 2005). "What's the deal with slutty Halloween costumes?". The GW Hatchet (student newspaper). George Washington University . Retrieved 27 October 2015. Connection also has been suggested with Old English (West Saxon) *sliet, *slyt, "sleet, slush," and comparison made to Norwegian dialectal slutr"snow mixed with rain" (see sleet).