{"product_id":"2940173583529","title":"Wordslut : A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us, written with humor and playfulness that challenges words and phrases and how we use them.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe word bitch conjures many images for many people, but it is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean a female canine, bitch didn¿t refer to gender at all amp;mdash; it originated as a gender-neutral word meaning genitalia. A perfectly innocuous word devolving into a female insult is the case for tons more terms, including hussy amp;mdash; which simply meant housewife amp;mdash; or slut, which meant an untidy person and was also used to describe men. These words are just a few among history¿s many English slurs hurled at women.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmanda Montell, reporter and feminist linguist, deconstructs language amp;mdash; from insults and cursing, gossip, and catcalling to grammar and pronunciation patterns amp;mdash; to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women and other marginalized genders from power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEver wonder why so many people are annoyed when women talk with vocal fry or use the word \u003ci\u003elike\u003c\/i\u003e as a filler? Or why certain gender-neutral terms stick and others don¿t? Or where stereotypes of how women and men speak come from in the first place?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMontell effortlessly moves between history, science, and popular culture to explore these questions and more amp;mdash; and how we can use the answers to effect real social change. Montell¿s irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable, but both downright hilarious and profound, demonstrated in chapters such as:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Slutty Skanks and Nasty Dykes: A Comprehensive List of Gendered Insults\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"How to Embarrass the Shit out of People Who Try to Correct Your Grammar\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"F--k it: An Ode to Cursing While Female\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Cyclops, Panty Puppet, Bald Headed Bastard and 100+ Other Things to Call Your Genitalia\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eMontell effortlessly moves between history and popular culture to explore these questions and more. \u003ci\u003eWordslut\u003c\/i\u003e gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light into the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47099216625904,"sku":"2940173583529","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940173583529_p0.jpg?v=1763854354","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940173583529","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}