Language, Identity, and Non-Binary Gender in Hawai'i (PDF)
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LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, AND NON-BINARY GENDER IN HAWAI‘I A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LINGUISTICS OCTOBER 2015 By M. Joelle Kirtley Dissertation Committee: Katie Drager, Chairperson Victoria Anderson Christina Higgins Rebecca Stotzer Lal Zimman Keywords: Gender, Hawai‘i, Sociocultural Linguistics, Phonetic Variation, Masculinity Copyright © 2015 by M. Joelle Kirtley ii To Teej, who taught me to challenge normativities. The world would be so much better if you were still in it. iii Acknowledgements First, and most importantly, thank you to the three people who let me into their lives and provided the data for this research. You are beautiful and strong individuals, and I, and the readers of this dissertation as well, are better people for knowing you. Thank you to the five people serving on my committee, Victoria Anderson, Katie Drager, Christina Higgins, Rebecca Stotzer, and Lal Zimman. Through your diligent commenting and criticism, this dissertation is strengthened and I am made a better researcher and writer. Thank you for your hard work and intelligent insights. Thank you to my peers who have contributed so much not only to this project by way of support and conversation, but also to my career in linguistics. Thank you Mónica Vidal for your shared love of stylistics and for your advice and helpful listening. Thank you Katie Gao for talking through this project with me at every stage and also sharing your research triumphs and fears with me. Your companionship is invaluable. Thank you James Grama for your expert insight and for your comments on the draft. You have been integral not only for this dissertation, but throughout my career as a sociolinguist. Thank you to my advisor, who always goes beyond her duty to support and guide her advisees. Katie Drager, you have shaped me as a thinker and as a writer, and I know that going forward, my greatest aspiration will be to be like you. Thank you to my friends and family who have gotten me this far in life and supported my efforts as a student and researcher. Thank you to Juliet Azan, Claire Stabile, Rachyl Smith, Hyunah Ahn, Raina Heaton, Stephanie Locke, Melody Ross, and Caroline Gonya for your friendship and care. Thank you mom and dad for your love and patience as I have continued to choose to live all over the world and so far away. Thank you to my sister, Nikki, who I grow to love more and more as we get older together. Thank you to my lifelong friend, Jenny Lynn, who taught me how to be different and defy expectations. Thank you to my biggest supporter and the person who has always believed in me the iv most, Marissa. You always expected more of me than I dared expect of myself, and your love has driven me forward. Thank you to my husband Todd. Your compassion, intelligence, and non-conformity make you a perfect partner in every aspect of my life. You have been a huge influence on this dissertation, as the one I talked through ideas with, the one I took along to visit with participants, the one who helped me to solve all technical problems, and the one who read through and provided edits for the first draft. You certainly went beyond the role that a spouse usually takes in the writing of a dissertation, and beyond that, you have been a stupendous companion throughout this process. Thank you, finally, to the funding sources that made this dissertation possible. This project was funded by the Bilinski Fellowship in Linguistics, the University of Hawaiʻi Department of Linguistics Graduate Assistantship, Merit Scholarship, and Achievement Scholarship. v Abstract This dissertation provides a close examination of the linguistic stylings of three individuals in Hawai‘i who identify with non-binary gender: one as māhū, one as a trans man, and one as a masculine lesbian who considers herself ‘one of the guys.’ These three individuals use linguistic resources to construct and project their identities, and through their interaction, they build and communicate their gendered selves. The dissertation uses a combination of methodological approaches in order to thoroughly investigate how language is used in the three speakers’ interactions to do identity work. I spent almost two years getting to know the participants in order to better understand their experiences and motivations. I asked them to collect data in environments that were typical of their daily interactions with their friends and loved ones. I used careful examination of the discourse together with phonetic analysis to examine how linguistic resources were being deployed to make meaning in particular contexts and therefore working in that specific moment to construct each individual’s unique identity. The three individuals use resources that index characteristics and behaviors associated with masculine, feminine, and māhū identity, and in doing so, construct and project an identity that feels authentic to their experience and their conception of self. Because their experiences and identities are different from one another, they use a wide variety of linguistic resources in this pursuit. Furthermore, each individual’s use of linguistic resources changes as his or her motivations and targets change, showing that identity is not a single inherent entity but an everchanging, evergrowing thing made up of the many different facets and experiences of the individual. Language provides a window into that process. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................... iv Abstract .............................................................................................................................................................. vi Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ vii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... x List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Aims and motivations ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.3. Organization of the dissertation ........................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Style, Gender, and Language ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Style .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1. Audience-centered conceptions of style ...................................................................................... 7 2.1.2. Style in variationist sociolinguistics .............................................................................................. 9 2.1.3. Style in sociocultural linguistics ................................................................................................... 12 2.1.4. Relevant research programs ......................................................................................................... 13 2.2. Gender ................................................................................................................................................... 20 2.2.1. Fuzzy sex ........................................................................................................................................ 21 2.2.2. Fuzzy gender .................................................................................................................................. 22 2.2.3. Contemporary American gender ................................................................................................ 26 2.2.4. Social constructionist gender theory .......................................................................................... 27 2.2.5. Gender and sexuality in traditional Hawaiian culture and today ............................................ 29 2.2.6. Gender variation for individuals in Hawai‘i assigned female at birth.................................... 32 2.3. Language ................................................................................................................................................ 34 2.3.1. Language and gender .................................................................................................................... 34 2.3.2. Language in Hawai‘i ...................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 44 3.1. Ethnography ........................................................................................................................................