Female Sociolinguists

[Kathryn Remlinger]

I agree with you about the lack of representation of women in sociolingusitics references (textbooks, videos, etc as well). Better representation could also help encourage female students to study linguistics. 

A possible list of women to include: Victoria Fromkin, Penny Eckert, Geneva Smitherman, Mary Bucholz, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Deborah Cameron, Robin Lakoff, Jennifer Coates, Deborah Tannen, Natalie Schilling-Estes, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Carmen Fought, Jenny Cheshire, Ruth King, Lesley Milroy, Gillian Sankoff... 


--Kate

--
Kathryn Remlinger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English: Linguistics
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401 USA
remlingk at gvsu.edu
tel: 616-331-3122
fax: 616-331-3430
>>> e.moore at SHEF.AC.UK 05/24/05 7:39 AM >>>
Dear All,

I'm currently reviewing a new sociolinguistic dictionary. The dictionary
includes named entries of key academics (these include Labov, Hymes,
Bourdieu, for instance). The authors quite sensibly note that there is a
preponderance of white, Anglophone, male academics in their entries and
explain this as a consequence of the way in which academic disciplines
have developed. They go on to state that this situation is likely to
change over time.

Whilst I commend the fact that the authors note this at all, my feeling is
that the situation is unlikely to change unless dictionaries such as the
one I'm reviewing take a stand and introduce female, non-white academics
into their representation of the canon. It's not like there aren't
excellent female and/or non-white researchers out there.

How do others feel about this? If you support my view, who would you like
to see included?

Many thanks,
Emma.

*********************************************************************

Dr Emma Moore
Lecturer in Sociolinguistics; Admissions Tutor
Department of English Language and Linguistics
University of Sheffield
5 Shearwood Road
Sheffield
S10 2TN
UK

Phone: +44 (0)114 222 0232
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 0240
E-mail: e.moore at sheffield.ac.uk
Webpage: http://www.shef.ac.uk/english/language/staff/emmam.html
********************************************************************