Gender and Sexuality: What’s Language Got to Do With It?

In this panel, four scholars of language consider how language has been used to construct and perform gender and sexuality. They will examine a history of approaches to language, gender and sexuality; the connection between language, sexuality and masculinities; the erasure of lesbians from queer linguistics; the encoding of gender and sexuality in the grammar and lexicon and efforts to change the language.

Anne Curzan
University of Michigan, English, Linguistics and Education

Scott Kiesling
University of Pittsburgh, Linguistics

Robin Queen
University of Michigan, Linguistics

Shelley Swearingen
University of Michigan, Linguistics