Flirting and ‘normative’ sexualities

Kiesling, Scott F.

doi:10.1075/jls.2.1.04kie

Article published In: Journal of Language and Sexuality
Vol. 2:1 (2013) ► pp.101–121

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Flirting and ‘normative’ sexualities

Scott F. Kiesling | University of Pittsburgh, USA

Published online: 18 February 2013

https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.2.1.04kie

In this article I explore the effects of heteronormative assumptions on the interpretation of interaction. I consider two pieces of data that, based on the kinds of alignments shown, might be seen as flirting. However, through both perception experiments and discourse analysis, I show that these are rarely considered to be flirting if they take place for ‘same-gender’ interactions. These results demonstrate the power and effect of ‘background knowledge’ about sexualities on the interpretation of talk.

Keywords: heteronormativity, flirting, masculinities

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