Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language
- ISBN-10
- 006286887X
- ISBN-13
- 9780062868879
- Category
- Social Science
- Pages
- 288
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2019-06-04
- Publisher
- Harper Wave
- Author
- Amanda Montell
Description
A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us, written with humor and playfulness that challenges words and phrases and how we use them. “I get so jazzed about the future of feminism knowing that Amanda Montell’s brilliance is rising up and about to explode worldwide.”—Jill Soloway The word bitch conjures many images for many people, but is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean a female canine, bitch didn’t refer to gender at all—it originated as a gender-neutral word meaning genitalia. A perfectly innocuous word devolving into a female insult is the case for tons more terms, including hussy—which simply meant “housewife”—or slut, which meant “untidy” and was also used to describe men. These words are just a few among history’s many English slurs hurled at women. Amanda Montell, feminist linguist and staff features editor at online beauty and health magazine Byrdie.com, deconstructs language—from insults and cursing to grammar and pronunciation patterns—to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women form gaining equality. Ever wonder why so many people are annoyed when women use the word “like” as a filler? Or why certain gender neutral terms stick and others don’t? Or even how linguists have historically discussed women’s speech patterns? Wordslut is no stuffy academic study; Montell’s irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable but both downright hilarious and profound, demonstrated in chapters such as: Slutty Skanks and Nasty Dykes: A Comprehensive List of Gendered Insults How to Embarrass the Shit Out of People Who Try to Correct Your Grammar Fuck it: An Ode to Cursing While Female Cyclops, Panty Puppet, Bald Headed Bastard and 100+ Other Things to Call Your Genitalia Montell effortlessly moves between history and popular culture to explore these questions and more. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light into the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2020-06-09
- 304 pages
- Paperback
- Harper Wave
-
- 2019-05-28
- 304 pages
- Ebook
- HarperCollins
Similar books
-
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
By Amanda MontellIn Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language.
-
All Our Worst Ideas
By Vicky SkinnerTwo teens who have nothing in common work together at a record store in All Our Worst Ideas, a powerful and voice-driven YA novel from Vicky Skinner.
-
The Favorite Sister
By Jessica KnollBut no one expects that the fourth season of Goal Diggers will end in murder… “Engrossing…Deliciously savage and wildly entertaining” (People, Book of the Week), The Favorite Sister is “a twisty, sexy thriller, jam-packed with wit ...
-
Girlhood
By Melissa FebosOver time, Febos increasingly questioned the stories she'd been told about herself and the habits and defenses she'd developed over years of trying to meet others' expectations.
-
The War that Saved My Life
By Kimberly Brubaker BradleyThis book is remarkable."—Karen Cushman, author The Midwife's Apprentice "Beautifully told."—Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall "I read this novel in two big gulps."—Gary D. Schmidt, author of Okay for Now "I love ...
-
The Anthologist: A Novel
By Nicholson BakerWhile writing an introduction to a new poetry anthology, Paul Chowder struggles with the end of a relationship, his own stunted career, and the suffering of poets as varied as Tennyson and Roethke.
-
Brandsplaining: Why Marketing is (Still) Sexist and How to Fix It
By Jane Cunningham, Philippa RobertsErudite, funny, and deeply engaging -- with no condescension or bullshit' Dr Aarathi Prasad, author of Like A Virgin 'This book has the power to change the way we see the world' Sophie Devonshire, CEO, The Marketing Society and author of ...
-
Being Lolita: A Memoir
By Alisson WoodThis is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten—and then takes back the pen to rewrite it.
-
The Assistants
By Camille PerriRule #1: All important men have assistants. Rule #2: Men rule the world. Still. Rule #3: There is enough money. There is so much money.
-
Slut!: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation
By Leora TanenbaumGirls may be called "sluts" for any number of reasons, including being outsiders, early developers, victims of rape, targets of others' revenge. Often the labels has nothing to do with...