G&L (print) issn 1747–6321

Gender G&L (online) issn 1747–633X

and
Language Review

Words, worlds, and material girls –

language, gender, globalization.
Bonnie S. McElhinny (ed.)

New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 2007. pp. 454.

Reviewed by Najat Benchiba-Savenius

Approaches to language and gender are fast gaining momentum in the dis-
ciplines of sociolinguistics and anthropology and so it is timely that Words,
Worlds, and Material Girls – Language, Gender and Globalization recently
appeared in press. The collection of thirteen essays encompasses research on a
wide-ranging array of subject matters central to gender and language research
and covers an impressive ten countries worldwide from Tonga to Japan. The
discussions presented not only emphasize contemporary global events but also
delve into current theoretical and social configurations through innovative
ethnographic research, among other methodologies.
The field of language, gender, and globalization is currently being pushed
to the forefront of most academic and social spheres due to world events. An
important contribution to academia for researchers and students alike, this
volume offers engaging and well-documented approaches to contemporary lan-
guage and gender issues including analyses that emphasize discourse analysis,
bilingualism, nationalism, multilingualism, and language in interaction. In an
ever-changing globalized world, this volume provides a refreshingly articulate
voice in what is currently a minefield of misinterpreted and under-represented
terrain, laden with misconstrued concepts (cf. Yang 2006).
This volume is organized into four sections: Scattered Hegemonies; Emerging
into History; Multilingualism, Globalization and Nationalism; and Commodities
and Cosmopolitanism. In the first section, the opening essay by Philips uses
Affiliation
SOAS, University of London, UK.
email: nbenchiba@hotmail.com

G&L vol 3.1 2009 135–138 doi : 10.1558/genl.v3i1.135

©2009, equinox publishing LONDON
136 Gender and Language

a contemporary economics framework to analyze the intricate relationship

between current gender ideology in natural discourse and song in Tonga. This is
one of many essays in this volume that enmeshes well-researched ethnographic
methodologies with socio-political and socio-economic considerations. Such
an approach is mirrored by Yang in the study of neoliberal restructuring in
modern day China, analysed together with gender ideologies across social strata
and in voiced female opinions regarding Communist concepts. Miskimmin’s
paper on the Aboriginal Head Start program in Canada gives an in-depth
analysis of the misconstrued notion of ‘risk’ and its oft-linked association with
ethnic minorities and socially disadvantaged groups.
The first chapter in the second section by Weidman discusses the use of the
female voice as a platform for modernity and progress in the entertainment
arena and social discourse in twentieth century South India more generally (cf.
Mrinhalini 1996). An analysis of women’s language in late nineteenth century
Japan by Inoue follows. This chapter highlights the inaudibility of Japanese
women’s discourse in recent history and its emergence in contemporary society
as a well-constructed and open dialogue between modernity, change, and
progress. Outmoded concepts and ideologies regarding Japanese girls are
socio-linguistically analyzed and compared to a positive image of emerging
Japanese women Next, McElhinny’s essay discusses the recontextualization
of the American occupation of the Philippines in colonial and post-colonial
discourse, emphasizing how such discourse is documented (cf. Woolard
1998). Specifically, this important paper addresses Filipino public health by
analyzing the re-writing of certain colonial and imperial histories through
the ventriloquizing of homespun ‘native’ accounts. Gender, language, and
public spheres in Islamic Nigeria constitute the topic of the final essay in this
section by Gaudio. Gaudio provides a broad-based account of the Nigerian
public platform that straddles both European imperialism and traditional
Islamic practices. Political participation and democratic citizenship are ana-
lyzed together from Islamic and non-Islamic perspectives in order to show
how gender, sexuality, language, and political identity are all shaped by the
male-dominated Nigerian media.
The third section in this volume focuses on the ever-increasing interest in
multilingualism, globalization, and nationalism and commences with Heller’s
essay on language and identity in francophone Canada within the context
of an emerging global economy. Heller discusses how language skills in the
workplace are given more prominence in today’s economic platform than the
traditional ties of language group membership and ethno-linguistic communi-
ties in francophone Canada. Heller argues that this change is due to increasing
international migratory patterns and an increase in language studies the world
 N. Benchiba-Savenius 137

over. Next, Pujolar’s account of access to Catalan language courses by African

women challenges the dominance of the majority groups’ teaching ‘what should
be taught’ over minority students’ need for ‘entry level’ language skills for social
interaction and survival. The thread of multilingualism continues with a discus-
sion on gender and language during the American war in Vietnam as detailed
by Nguyen. This interesting essay serves to highlight certain social prejudices
associated with the practices of Vietnamese women marrying ethnic minority
men and in essence preserving an ethnic mother tongue in lieu of the socially
and politically dominant Vietnamese.
The final section on commodities and cosmopolitanism opens with a discus-
sion of American middle-class youth interaction. Bucholtz’s analysis draws on
the manner that linguistic practices mediate consumption amongst middle-
class Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area. This chapter details the way
that youths emblematically brand themselves as social and economic agents,
and thereby express their placement in the present day American economy.
The penultimate essay in this volume by Zhang investigates the notion of
cosmopolitanism and linguistic capital in the emerging Chinese economy.
It is an in-depth analysis of the relationship between language and gender
during the transitional period from state-controlled, Communist China to
that of a progressive global player on the economic platform. A comparison
is made between the historical practices of male and female roles in corporate
environments and the imbalances inherent therein. The final chapter by Besnier­
examines male and female gender assignment and the misrepresentation of
‘male language’ and ‘female language’ (e.g. Lakoff). Besnier’s account uses
ethnographic data compiled from Tonga in the South Pacific to show that there
is little clear demarcation between the two gendered codes as well as between
gender categories as they emerge in certain everyday Tongan practices.
In sum, the volume Words, Worlds, and Material Girls – Language, Gender
and Globalization uses in-depth accounts paired with linguistic, social, and
economic theories to bridge a gap in today’s field of research. The one per-
spective missing from the volume is an ethnographic account of girls and
women in Arab societies; however, such an inclusion would have provided
but one more example in a largely well-balanced and comprehensive overview.
Indeed, the volume provides many interesting and invaluable contributions
to the field, spanning multiple territories, traditions, and social practices.
Words, Worlds, and Material Girls – Language, Gender and Globalization
demonstrates that the once inaudible voice of language and gender is now
being heard in current theories and recent research and that globalization
is now being brought to the fore in gender and language studies. The well-
documented analyses in this book offer new perspectives and insights for
students and researchers alike.
138 Gender and Language

References
Sinha, M. (1996) Gender in the critiques of colonialism and nationalism: Locating the
‘Indian Woman’. In Joan Scott (ed.) Feminism and History 477–504. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Woolard, K. (1998) Introduction: Language ideology as a field of inquiry. In Bambi
Schieffelin, Kathryn Woolard and Paul Kroskrity (eds) Language Ideologies: Practice and
Theory 1–50. Oxford University Press.
Yang, J. (2006) Ritualized transition: Language, gender and neoliberal restructuring in
China. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Toronto.