Challenging hegemonic femininities? The discourse of trailing spouses in Hong Kong

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2909528
AutoresStephanie Schnurr (0000-0001-5601-7491, Center for Applied Linguistics), Olga Zayts (0000-0003-2946-0994, University of Hong Kong), Catherine Hopkins
Año2016
Volumen45
Número4
Páginas533-555
Fecha de publicación2016-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404516000415
OpenAlexW2462533097
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas28

While the notion of hegemonic masculinity has received a lot of attention in recent scholarship, hegemonic femininity remains largely underdeveloped. We aim to address this gap by illustrating the benefits of using the concept of hegemonic femininities in sociolinguistic scholarship. Conducting a case study on the discourse of trailing spouses in Hong Kong, we analyse hegemonic femininities at the local, regional, and global level and explore how they are interlinked with each other. Findings show how these trailing spouses often challenge and reject hegemonic femininities on the local level, but largely accept and reinforce them on the regional and global level. The specific femininities that are considered to be hegemonic are highly context-dependent, and, unlike masculinities, the hegemony of femininities is a matter of internal degree-that is, certain femininities take hegemonic status compared to other femininities but do not take a dominant position in the gender order. (Hegemonic femininities, hegemonic masculinities, trailing spouses, Hong Kong, gender order

Femininity · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Masculinity · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender Studies in Language · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy