About this item
An enlightening linguistic journey through a thousand years of feminist language - and what we can learn from the vivid vocabulary that English once had for women's bodies, experiences, and sexualitySo many of the words that we use to chronicle women's lives feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are scrupulously accurate but antiseptic. Slang and obscenities have shock value, yet they perpetuate taboos. Where are the plain, honest words for women's daily lives?Mother Tongue is a historical investigation of feminist language and thought, from the dawn of Old English to the present day. Dr. Jenni Nuttall guides readers through the evolution of words that we have used to describe female bodies, menstruation, women's sexuality, the consequences of male violence, childbirth, women's paid and unpaid work, and gender.
About the Author
Dr Jenni Nuttall is an academic who has been teaching and research medieval literature at the University of Oxford for the last twenty years. She's thus had a lot of practice at making old words seem interesting. She has a DPhil from Oxford and completed the University of East Anglia's MA in Creative Writing. Mother Tongue is her first book for the general reader.
