Caught between sexism, anti-sexism and 'political correctness':feminist women's negotiations with naming practices

“In thinking of the way that discursive change occurs,

perhaps this type of negotiating change through

the interaction of individuals with their perceptions of

conflicting communities of practice,

strategically choosing particular options or particular contexts,

and inflecting those choices positively

is a more productive model than the Utopian notion

that sexism can be reformed out of existence”

Conclusions

Naming practices are negotiable in a way they were not 20 years ago.

Feminists seem to negotiate with the demands of what they

perceive as sexism or anti-sexism, using different strategies

depending on the context.

Reform is not the only possible response overt sexism.

Caught between sexism, anti-sexism and ‘political correctness’: feminist women’s negotiations with naming practices

by Sara Mills

Ana Olivo

Felipe Leandro

Sexism, anti-sexism and 'political correctness'

Language is man-made (Kramarae and Treichler, 1985; Miller and Swift, 1976; Spender 1980). But individual men do not ‘control’ language.

Language affirms and contests the status quo.

Political correctness has been ridiculed by the media:

Ex. Vertically challenged instead of short

Sexism, anti-sexism and

'political correctness'

Sexism is broadly characterized as the use of statements which create, constitute, promote or exploit an unfair or irrelevant distinction between sexes.

In interactions, the choice of words will show political stance in relation to women -> “Politically correct”

Anti-sexism campaigns have to define themselves in contradiction to what the media calls politically correct.

Defining sexism, anti-sexism and political correctness.

Linguistic practices can only be seen as sexist in a particular context

Bourdieu’s model of discourse and

the analysis of sexism, anti-sexism and ‘PC’

The discourses are seen as functionally different, possibly discriminatory, metadiscursive practices aimed at combating discrimination.

Analyses the discourses as evaluation positions in relation to other’s behaviours.

Bourdieu’s work doesn’t see discourses as set of words and practices. It sees them in their context.

Bucholtz proposes a modification where the role of individuals as agents in constructing their sense of identity in relation to particular communities is stressed.

Feminist analysis of surnames and titles

Surnames

In Britain, adopting the husbands’ names has been considered by feminists as a display of possession.

Since the 70’s, with the law of divorce, there has been change.

Recently, high profile women are taking their husbands’ names to, among other things, symbolize change.

Feminist analysis of surnames and titles

Titles

Mrs vs Miss -> representation in relation to men

Ms -> Divorced and feminist women

Academic titles: Doctor and Professor

The relationship between the discourses of sexism, anti-sexism and political correctness.

Bourdieu’s model of discourse and distribution of questionnaire to feminist professional women.

Spender (1980) points that naming is essential for the construction of reality.

In this article, Mills is trying to examine the negotiation which feminist women undertake when choosing a surname and/or title.

Methodology and data analysis

Feminists see themselves as belonging to and negotiating in conflicting communities of practice

(i) anti-sexism/feminism

‘PC’

(ii)sexism/conservatism

Methodology and data analysis

Participants reflect about their surnames and choices.

Different positions and interpretations for naming practices and on concepts of what constitutes sexism and feminism.

Focus on the moments of tension/awareness of the ‘norms’ and ‘pressures’

Methodology and data analysis

Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of 'habitus'

Allows for more agency and meta-linguistic knowledge on

the part of participants

Caught between sexism, anti-sexism and 'political correctness'

feminist women's negotiations with

naming practices

Method

Through a questionnaire

Emailed 60 British feminist academics to ‘spread the word’

Received 36 responses from married women

Data Analysis

Married feminists’ choice of surname

Married feminists’ surname choice for children

Over half of the women surveyed took their husband’s

surname on marriage or largely used it for their children.

Belonged to older generations

Taking her husband’s surname

Taking her husband’s name

Variation of reasons: previous marriages, family affiliation,

sense of kinship/geographical belonging, positioning, aesthetics, cultural reasons, and so on.

More regret from those whose change of name was due to the

time they married

Compromising the feminist career

The use of titles is more problematic than the choice of surname.

Taking into account the context they are inserted in.

There is always judgement related to the use of titles by women.

Titles

Those who kept their original names did so in order

to signal their independence and sometimes to show their

feminist commitment.

Difficulties in proving their marriage

Taking her husband’s name