Marginalization of Alternative Gender and Sexual Identities:
The Role of Normative Discursive Practices in Chilean SocietySara Balder
full paper (PDF)
ABSTRACT. In Chile, a variety of conventionalized metonymic comments and address terms are used in everyday discursive practices as a means of ridiculing gender and sexual minorities. Language provides a tool for associating gender or sexually non-normative males with women, either by alluding to their effeminacy, their sexual passivity, or a combination of the two. By presupposing an intrinsic relationship between gender and sexual orientation, these heterosexist comments play a vital role in maintaining the standard social expectations surrounding gender and sexuality, consequently subordinating individuals who do not adhere to these norms. Although seen as harmless jokes by those who regularly employ them, I argue that by derogating gender and sexual minorities, heterosexist commentary is a powerful force that engenders the reproduction of heteronormative beliefs in society.
Sara Balder recently graduated from the Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado. She can be reached at Sara.Balder@Colorado.EDU.
Colorado Research in Linguistics - Volume 18, Issue 1 - June 2005
