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A review by moonyreadsbystarlight
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was a really interesting look into sexism and language that is very accessible to most readers. It includes the etymology of quite a number of gendered terms and slurs, why the meaning has changed, and how sexist ideas have been worked into our language (thus, perpetuating itself). Montell also mentions how parts of queer history and queer culture impact (and are impacted by) language. There is also quite a lot of discussion about reclamation and changing language, as well as appropriation.
The writing style is quite informal, which did rub me the wrong way at first, but after getting into (and being reminded of how obnoxious prescriptivism is), it grew on me and ultimately works well. I would have liked to see more about language and the queer community. She does mention this and has a chapter on queer language, but does focus mostly on gay male culture. She does talk about how there has been less research on lesbian linguistics, so it is understandable -- but still an area I would have liked to see more of (the same goes with trans linguistics -- which I know from first-hand research is even harder to come by).
She also mentions several times that she did informal polls to gather some of the information. While she absolutely made a distinction between these polls and academic research, I do think that it would have been nice to see some that expanded more. (Though I do understand that it would be quite a bit more work -- and money -- to do this. However, it would have made parts stronger.). But, to be clear, she does also site quite a bit of research and even talks about the dangers of postulating without the numbers to back you up (as some linguists have done before).
The writing style is quite informal, which did rub me the wrong way at first, but after getting into (and being reminded of how obnoxious prescriptivism is), it grew on me and ultimately works well. I would have liked to see more about language and the queer community. She does mention this and has a chapter on queer language, but does focus mostly on gay male culture. She does talk about how there has been less research on lesbian linguistics, so it is understandable -- but still an area I would have liked to see more of (the same goes with trans linguistics -- which I know from first-hand research is even harder to come by).
She also mentions several times that she did informal polls to gather some of the information. While she absolutely made a distinction between these polls and academic research, I do think that it would have been nice to see some that expanded more. (Though I do understand that it would be quite a bit more work -- and money -- to do this. However, it would have made parts stronger.). But, to be clear, she does also site quite a bit of research and even talks about the dangers of postulating without the numbers to back you up (as some linguists have done before).