The interrelation of gender and language is a perennial favourite in the pop science genre, but all too often it is presented as a series of vague, hand-waving generalisations, based on little to no evidence. In welcome contrast is Jennifer Coates’ recent book, Women, men and everyday talk. This collection of the author's previous research is deeply rooted in data, and consistently presents grounded analysis of talk-in-interaction.
The first section of the book addresses language in all-female groups. Chapter 1 looks at the role of storytelling in creating a shared world. Chapter 2 explores the use of hedges in constructing a collaborative floor and managing sensitive topics of conversation. Chapter 3 examines the tensions between normative femininities and more resistant discourses, and how both are enacted through conversation. Chapter 4 takes a look at the negotiation of friendship and femininity in the developing speech styles of teenage girls. Chapter 5 turns its eye on women's ‘backstage’ (Goffman 1971; quoted in Coates, p. 102) talk, where conventions of nice-girl-ness can be subverted and explored. These chapters portray women as skilful linguistic agents manoeuvering between hegemonic expectations and their own individual identities.
The second section looks at language in all-male groups. Chapter 6 contrasts the one-at-a-time organisation of all-male talk with the collaborative structures preferred by women. Chapter 7 explores how storytelling among men is a site for social competition, and portraying the self as ‘expert’. Chapter 8 looks at narrative in closer detail, making the case for story sequences as a means of creating group solidarity. Chapter 9 examines the construction and performance of hegemonic masculinity through practices of homophobia, misogyny, and the exclusion of women. What emerges from these chapters is a picture of masculinity that is dominated by heteronormative discourses, but that manages to find ways of building solidarity in spite of these rigid expectations.
The third section considers gendered talk in other contexts. Chapter 10 explores the ineffective-or-unfeminine catch-22 that many women face in the workplace. Chapter 11 looks at the various roles that humour plays in gendered contexts, from emphasising power differences, to self-protection and solidarity. Chapter 12 shows that the organisation of conversation in the Deaf community mirrors the gendered patterns observed in the hearing world. The final section of the book, chapter 13, provides an overview of language and gender research, and a snapshot of where we are now. Perhaps most crucially, it explores the theoretical underpinnings of the move away from (biological) sex in favour of (socially constructed) gender, and the subsequent retreat from the use of crude binaries at all. With this research trajectory in mind, however, Coates argues convincingly for an academic re-investment in the gender binary, albeit within a feminist framework: ‘It is important that we feel able to appeal to the notion of ‘woman’ or ‘man’ without being accused of generalising or ‘essentialising’; otherwise, how can patriarchy be challenged?’ (p. 294).
Engaging and thorough, this book is accessible to anyone interested in language and gender or, more broadly, in talk-in-interaction.
