Gender and Politeness

Challenging the notion that women are necessarily always more polite than men (as language and gender literature claim), Sara Mills discusses the complex relationship between gender and politeness. Mills argues that, although women speakers, drawing on stereotypes of femininity, can appear to be acting more politely than men, there are many circumstances where women will act as "impolitely" as men.

Gender and Politeness challenges the notion that women are necessarily always more polite than men.

Sara Mills is Research Professor in the School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University. Her previous books include Feminist Stylistics and the edited volumes Gendering the Reader and Language and Gender.