LANGUAGE OBSTACLES IN THE NARRATIVES OF ABUSED WOMEN

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Issue Date
1996-04-01Author
Lempert, Lora Bex
Publisher
Department of Sociology, University of Kansas
Type
Article
Rights
Copyright (c) Social Thought and Research. For rights questions please contact Editor, Department of Sociology, Social Thought and Research, Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.
Citation
Mid-American Review of Sociology, Volume 19, Number 1&2 (WINTER, SPRING 1996), pp. 15-32 http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/STR.1808.5113
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