Abstract

Queer linguistics is a relatively recent academic formation, but one that has quickly become firmly embedded in the current conversations about language, gender, and sexuality. As is also the case in language and gender studies (see Coates, this volume), queer linguistics refuses to frame discussions of linguistic practices in terms of an assumed male/female binary (or on a limited set of identities based solely on erotic practices and preferences). Instead, queer linguistics exposes the assumptions that lead researchers to view gender in terms of a predetermined, static framework.