California Institute of Integral Studies
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Book Review: Decoding Jung\u27s Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics of an Experiential Universe
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Dear Prudence, ‘This motheri may not have accepted that theiri child is queer...’: The expanding scope of singular they in two contexts
No full textThe use of singular they for generic referents has an extensive history in English, as feminist linguists have long known (Bodine 1975). More recently, linguists have turned their attention to singular they among non-binary people (e.g. Zimman 2015). This talk adds to the emerging literature on singular they that suggests a connection between an increase in the types of contexts in which speakers use singular they and the rise of they/them/their(s) as pronouns for non-binary people (e.g. Conrod 2019). The analysis takes two parts. The first draws on a variety of interactional and mediatized data sources to present a typology of five types of singular they that are distinguished on the basis of 1) whether they refer to a generic or specific person, 2) whether the gender is known or specified by the speaker, and 3) whether gender is directly relevant to the content of the discourse. The progression through these types suggests a shift in the direction of using they for specific individuals whose binary gender is known and relevant to the discourse – clearing the way for the same form to be used for someone whose non-binary gender is known. The second part of the analysis is focused on transcripts from the podcast associated with Slate.com’s advice column, Dear Prudence, hosted by Daniel Mallory Ortberg. On this show, Ortberg and a co-host discuss letters requesting advice from writers who often fail to specify their own genders. The co-hosts employ several discursive strategies in these cases, including the use of singular they. Importantly, the show has a history of giving advice to trans and/or non-binary letter-writers, and Ortberg himself is trans. The ambiguity that exists in they, therefore, is both discursive and epistemological. Put differently, it is not only that a person’s “actual” gender may be unknown to the speaker, but that the speakers gender itself may be indeterminate, uncertain, or non-binary. This dataset thus underscores the flexibility afforded by singular they to harness language change to question dominant frameworks for understanding gender and identity
There’s no pride in anti-Semitism : How Facebook commenters frame the 2019 DC Dyke March as problematic and construct queer (and) Jewish identities
No full textI explore intersections of queerness and Jewishness in the context of the 2019 DC Dyke March. Ahead of the march, organizers banned the Jewish pride flag, claiming that the flag, with the Star of David in the center of a rainbow flag, is reminiscent of the Israeli flag, and is thus a symbol of “violent nationalism” against their queer values of anti-Zionism. This caused a large outcry from DC queer (and) Jewish communities, as well as queer (and) Jewish communities nation-wide, as many claimed the ban was anti-Semitic. In this paper, I demonstrate that queerness encapsulates moral and political values that do not immediately involve gender or sexuality, taking an analytical viewpoint that departs from most linguistic studies which examine queer communities with research questions involving sexuality and gender, and filling the ensuing research gap. I show that when queer leaders are not considered to uphold queer moral values (such as supporting other minority communities), their identities are contested by other community members.
Many of the discourses surrounding the DC Dyke March’s flag ban took place through Facebook posts published by the DC Dyke March and subsequent comments posted by community members. I perform a multimodal discourse analysis of 301 Facebook comments posted in response to two Facebook posts published by the DC Dyke March in June 2019 in which the Dyke March discusses their ban of the Jewish pride flag. Drawing on Entman’s (1993) and Bing and Lombardo’s (1997) concepts of framing, I show how Facebook commenters construct three frames to problematize the DC Dyke March, including: (1) the March is anti-Semitic, (2) the March is spreading untruths and inaccuracies, and (3) the March is morally inconsistent. My analysis primarily focuses on the framing of the Dyke March as morally inconsistent, as I demonstrate that commenters use multimodal communicative strategies to construct this frame and represent Dyke March organizers as bad dykes/queers, and also bad Jews. I highlight the uses of rhetorical questions, constructed dialogue, references to Middle Eastern countries, symbols, images, and memes as multimodal communicative strategies through which participants construct queer and Jewish identities and overarching political and moral ideologies
Inclusive Language and the Contested Space Between the Proper and the Improper: Re-envisioning Pronouns and the Articulation of Queer Experience
No full textFamiliarity with gender-neutral pronouns continues to increase as speakers of English identify as “they,” “xe,” and other non-binary options with greater frequency. Concurrently, many educators and activists are mindful to avoid gender-coded language altogether. As of 2019, the Merriam-Webster dictionary now includes the non-binary “they,” and yet persistent resistance to gender-neutral pronouns undeniably remains on many levels. In the everyday, this resistance manifests in statements like “I’m willing to call people what they want to be called, but I won’t be ungrammatical” and “it’s just hard to remember which pronouns to use.” In the case of formal writing, style guides favor restructuring the sentence to avoid non-binary pronouns—which is to say, to render the non-binary invisible.
Our provocation intervenes in these ongoing debates by providing an alternate framework that leverages sensibilities already embedded in English grammar (e.g., proper nouns and proper adjectives) while making room for the articulation of queer experience untethered from gender altogether. Whereas third-person singular pronouns have always been improper because they govern access to linguistic agency by relegating subjects to the negotiation of a binary construct, we propose an eighth class of pronouns: proper pronouns. Unlike personal pronouns, which remain inflected by gender even when they resist the binary, proper pronouns circumvent gender as a linguistic category. Proper pronouns refer only to an individual’s preferred name. This presentation defines and details the usage of proper pronouns in both common language and formal writing
Code-switching on Mobile Instant Messaging among Hong Kong gay men — a sociopragmatic perspective
No full textAgainst the backdrop of postcolonialism and a divisive political landscape in Hong Kong, this study examines identity construction from a sociopragmatic perspective via discourse analysis of digital chat logs from local gay men who are users of Grindr and Tinder, and their metapragmatic reflexivity in discussion. One of many salient manifestations of lingering colonial legacy that permeates the society in Hong Kong is through language. Language policy institutionalizes and reinforces a language ideology that bestows prestige and social cachet to English. Code-switching, employing two or more languages or language varieties in discourse, is commonplace in multi-cultural/lingual communities; it is no exception in Hong Kong where code-switching exists as a reflexive norm. With ubiquitous application of smart phones and hence mobile instant messaging, communicating online has gained an indispensable foothold in our daily lives. Much of modern socialization is now reliant on mobile applications that bring people together and facilitate communication – in the case for this study, geo-social/-locational applications for dating have become increasingly vital in the gay community. Code-switching is known to be a discursive strategy employed by bilinguals in constructing identity, which can also transpire in digital discourse. In what ways is code-switching being utilized to index language ideologies and cultural values, and in turn construct identities? Code-switching has been extensively researched in sociolinguistics, while discourse analytic studies have scrutinized the interaction and relationship between code-switching and identity via macro-social and micro lens. However, there is a paucity of analyses with dimensions of identity overlapping or intersecting. While the review of literature suggests there are precedents of identity related code-switching, few of such investigations weave sexuality into the fabric of the research, and none has been conducted in Hong Kong. Using sociopragmatics as a general framework, the current study investigates the pragmatic and identity-related factors in code-switching on mobile instant messaging among Hong Kong gay men, which consequently evince ideological implications. Beyond timely contextualization, this study also aims to contribute to the lacuna that calls for more nuanced analyses that foreground complex intersectionality
Situational variation in bigender Finnish speakers’ idiolects
No full textThis presentation focuses on a doctoral thesis in the field of Finnish language. The ongoing study examines situational variation in four bigender Finnish speakers’ idiolects, especially in relation to ‘switching’ or fluid movement between two genders. The aim of the study is to map the relationship between gender performance and speech, both in the speakers’ language consciousness and in their actual everyday conversations. How do they perform their two genders with language and voice? How do they perform ‘the closet’ when they are talking to people who are not aware of their gender identity? How conscious are these acts? The study utilizes a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological approach. It consists of folk linguistic content analysis, sociophonetic analysis, and queer theories. The data contains interviews, self-recordings, and recording diaries written by the participants. At the time of the presentation, a pilot study with one participant will be underway. The presentation will discuss how the pilot data will inform the study design, as well as introduce some preliminary observations on the data
Teaching Danish sexuality: Investigating teaching materials targeting asylum seekers
No full textIn times of the so-called ‘European migration crisis’ access to the ‘right’ knowledge about sexuality has become a crucial component in governing national borders. In European media discourse the migrant man is repeatedly presented as a potential assailant who violates proper sexual conduct. This stereotypical image was intensified when German police on New Year’s Eve 2015 received numerous reports on sexual assaults against women perpetrated by what the media described as men of foreign background. The incident generated a flurry of reactions from European politicians. In Denmark, the debate focused on the need to educate asylum seekers in sober (legal) romantic and sexual behavior. As a result, compulsory education in “Danish sexual morals” was decided with a broad politically majority and introduced as part of the general Danish culture course by the summer of 2016. Through a critical multimodal discourse analysis this paper analyzes a range of teaching materials developed by different practitioners for teaching asylum seekers and young refugees about sexuality. The analysis demonstrates how some materials deploy linguistic and semiotic signs in paradoxical ways to draw clear boundaries between insider and outsider while maintaining an overall image of ‘free spiritness’. Other materials, in contrast, highlight similarities and community and minimize notions of difference. Based on interviews with teachers and authors of teaching materials the paper discusses practitioners’ challenges in practicing sexual education in a context of migration and intensified nationalist politics. The interview data reveal a complex mix of good intentions, necessity, prejudices and fear of involvement that all impact on the interweaving of sexuality education with notions of nationality
The Experience of Gay Men Being Socialized Into Gay Communities
No full textHow do people learn “camp”? Why does it seem like drag shows all have the same structure? In a society where violence is still enacted against gay people, why “talk gay”? These questions, and others, led me to research how gay men in the United States experience becoming socialized into gay communities, and the role of language in that experience. Using a phenomenological methodology (specifically Heuristic Inquiry) and rooted in educational, language socialization, and linguistic theory, I engaged with participants from three local gay sports groups through semi-structured in-depth interviews, supplemented by participatory and non-participatory observations. I learned how participants engaged in legitimate peripheral participation practices in their community socialization processes, and highlighted shared experiences, humor, and what I describe as “gender play” as their primary language practices within those communities. There also appeared to be a connection to the acceptance (if not the personal practice) of these linguistic practices, the person’s perceived “outness”, and their own self-reported connection (or lack thereof) to the “gay community”
Now you’re speaking my language: Linguistic trends of Black queer youth
No full textCurrent studies on non-binary labels or nonexclusive sexual attractions such as sexual fluidity, bisexuality, pansexuality, mostly straight, and other non-binary sexual identities are misleading as they leave the reader to assume that all youth use these terms for themselves. Research pertaining to the language of Black sexuality has historically amplified racist and homophobic stereotypes. The aim of this research is to incorporate how Black queer and non-queer identifying youth use language to identify their sexuality through media analysis and capturing sexual histories. Researching Black sexualities requires researchers to include methodologies that are intersectional and culturally sensitive in order to provide a better understanding of race, gender and sexuality rather than ignoring or misrepresenting Black sexual experiences. Methodological approaches will include Quare theory, Black queer studies, Black Lesbian Feminism, Intersectionality, and Feminist Ethnography