Heiko Motschenbacher's new volume is an indispensible guide through the theory and practice of queer linguistics. The book is divided into two larger parts in which Motschenbacher establishes a theoretical framework in the first for data analysis in the second. After a lengthy introduction, Motschenbacher discusses in Ch. 2 the foundations of queer linguistics, its guiding questions, and the intrinsic politics of engaging in its study. In Ch. 3, Motschenbacher delineates the role of queer linguistics, specifically discussing the queer approach to sociolinguistics, corpus, historical and contrastive linguistics, semantics, pragmatics, and foreign language teaching. Here, the author emphasizes the role of heteronormativity, thereby contextualizing the claim that issues surrounding heteronormativity are most important for those interested in queer linguistics. In Ch. 4, Motschenbacher traces the history and evolution of the term “genderlect” through a discussion of formative literature on language and gender. Motschenbacher then launches into a discussion of the performative and stylistic uses of gendered language before radically redefining genderlect to suit a poststructuralist position on issues in queer linguistics. Ch. 5 explores the categories of gender construction, lexical, social, grammatical, and referential gender, concluding that no category is successfully binary when representing gender constructions. These findings challenge prevailing discourses outside of linguistics and are therefore potentially illuminating for readers approaching this book from other perspectives.

Ch. 6 is an exploration of the use of linguistic generics. Motschenbacher discusses how (specifically) gendered nouns and pronouns can shed light on fundamental aspects of gender bias in language. The author concludes that, though languages do have forms that highlight female/feminine generics, their use is generally relegated to specific activities, which, in turn, further perpetuates the theory of male as prototype and female as a marked “other” category. Though certain communities take pride in the appropriation of female/feminine generics, the fact remains, Motschenbacher argues, that women are constructed domain-specifically and in opposition to the male prototype. Chs. 7 and 8 focus primarily on the construction of gender in the media. The focus of the analysis in Ch. 7 is the use of body-part terminology in print advertisement text. Motschenbacher concludes that “linguistic representation of the body is clearly structured in accordance with dominant gender discourses that are strategically deployed to normatively construct female and male bodies” (138). These constructions, Motschenbacher argues, are made possible through the application of lexical, social, and referential gender. Ch. 8 approaches the topic of identity construction in queer cinema. Through careful analysis of the use of person referential terminology in But I'm a Cheerleader and Boy's Don't Cry, Motschenbacher supports interesting assertions about how these terms of reference act to help create or break down character identity. The final chapter of the book functions as a conclusion of the larger narrative being presented thoughout. As a whole, the book works towards achieving Motschenbacher's goal of “critically scrutinizing manifestations of gender binarism and heteronormativity in language [and] destabli[zing] naturalised notions of gender and sexual identity and … relativi[zing] their absoluteness” (180).