BREAKING GENDER AND GAY STEREOTYPES IN GEORGIAN SOCIETY
On the example of the Georgian gay discourse
Keywords:
sociolinguistics, gay community, stereotypesAbstract
Gender has always been a popular field of investigation in the 21st century. It has been studied from different perspectives and points of view. A number of works in language and sexuality have revealed diverse linguistic features, deviating from traditional linguistic expectations both at lexical(e.g. Rodgers 1972) and discourse levels (e.g. Leap 1996). This paper discusses several characteristics of speech discourse of Georgian gay males based on the experiment designed by the author. While answering the questions of an open-ended questionnaire, focus-groups of Georgian gay men discussed neutral topics as well as issues connected with the stereotypical perception of gender roles in society. Georgia is a traditional, conservative, Orthodox country. These factors play a great role in the formation of stereotypes in society and heteronormative stereotypes associated with gender roles are highly popular. Sexual minorities represent vulnerable groups in Georgia, [ჯალაღანია; 2016]. Accordingly, there is little space left for them to reveal their speech characteristics and show their attitudes towards certain issues. This research has revealed speech patterns and linguistic strategies utilized by Georgian gay males which confront heteronormative stereotypes widely spread throughout the country. During the research, members of the gay community expressed themselves through the strategies employed in their community but considered uncommon in the wider society, e.g. using relative pronouns indicated the opposite gender as well as metaphors creating a certain discrepancy in the discourse from the stereotypical heteronormative perceptions.
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