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Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 31:3 (2021) ► pp.406–429

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The emergent construction of feminist identity in interaction

ORCiD logo with link | University of Colorado at Boulder
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 8 January 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.19004.mar
Abstract
This case study is an analysis of college-aged womens’ conversations about feminist identity and tracks a shifting attitude among college women with respect to feminist identification. Using conversation analysis, I argue that the interlocutors’ feminist identity is an interactional achievement produced by collaboratively setting aside topics related to feminism. This practice (re)problematizes feminism and maintains hegemonic standards of ‘feminist’ as an identity that needs to be accounted for in conversation. Building on Eckert, Penelope, and Sally McConnell-Ginet. 2013. Language and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar work on the phrase “I’m not a feminist, but…” I argue that feminist identification may be shifting, as the discourse in the present study fall more in line with “I am a feminist, but…,” producing a ‘sort of’ feminist identity. In the discursive process of relevantly setting aside qualities and practices associated with feminism, the interlocutors (re)establish normativity surrounding feminist identity and its enaction in everyday conversation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Feminist identification in practice
  • 3.Methods
  • 4.The other F word
  • 5.A Sort of feminist identity
    • 5.1A Sort of feminist: Relevant qualities
    • 5.2A sort of feminist: Relevant activities
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (57)
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