Publications
Publication details [#64126]
Stopfner, Maria. 2018. Put your “big girl” voice on. Parliamentary heckling against female MPs. Journal of Language and Politics 17 (5) : 617–635.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Journal DOI
10.1075/jlp
Annotation
Heckles are an illegitimate, yet common way of commenting directly and immediately on what is being said at the lectern. However, (non-)verbal interjections can also be used to disconcert the speaker, thus scoring points within the parliamentary arena. In these cases, female delegates are often confronted with discriminatory remarks and comments that border on sexism and even misogyny. Based on the extensive literature on gender and discourse, the following paper will focus on gender-related heckles and analyse argumentative structures and topoi that are grounded in sexist stereotypes and conservative role-models. Presuming that these incidents are not isolated instances, the paper will compare and contrast several examples from around the world that have caught public attention.