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Sara Mills

Gender and impoliteness

Keywords: gender, Impoliteness, politeness, assertiveness, co-operativeness, nice

This article analyzes the complex relationship between gender and impoliteness. Rather than assuming that gender and impoliteness are concrete entities which can be traced in conversation, I argue that gender and impoliteness are elements which are worked out within the course of interaction. They are elements which are closely inter-related as stereotypically feminine gender identity is largely constructed around notions of “nice”, supportive, co-operative behaviour, either affirming or resisting those stereotypes of femininity. Challenging the notion that women as a whole are “nicer” than men in interaction, since much current research seems to highlight women’s interactional competitiveness, I argue that nevertheless supportiveness may play a role in other interactants’ judgments of women’s linguistic behaviour and may result in assertiveness being categorized as impoliteness.

Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 1612-5681
Volume: 1, 07/2005
Pages: 263 - 280

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