LANGUAGE OBSTACLES IN THE NARRATIVES OF ABUSED WOMEN

Abstract

Language is a gendered system that reflects male experience and expressions and the categories used in traditional sociological inquiry are often incongruent with the experiences of women's lives (Devault 1990;. Long /987; Keller 1985; Smith /979). An examination of 32 abused women's narratives of violence from their intimate partners demonstrates that words for the content oftheir experiences were readily accessible. Women's articulations ofthe interactional meanings of the Violence, however, indicated vocabularies insufficient to describe the effects. I examine how abused women's reports of naming and use of language shape meaning and consequent actions. Jargue that a gendered language system poses obstacles to the constructions and expressions of these meanings.