Conversation analysis in gender and sexuality studies

Abstract

The interdisciplinary field of Gender and Sexuality Studies addresses the historical, social and political forces shaping the ways members of society understand and experience their gender and sexuality. Conversation analysis is not primarily concerned with sex, gender, and sexuality: Rather its intellectual project is to explain how everyday life is produced through the routine interpersonal interactions that people have with each other. However, there are some important confluences, including the resonances between contemporary feminist post structuralist theories of gender performativity and ethnomethodological ones of gender as an achievement. Importantly feminist research using conversation analysis is expanding its scope by addressing significant social problems, such as gendered violence, women’s reproductive health, and “isms” in talk and interaction. Furthermore, such research can generate a grounded, evidential basis to inform responses to gender and sexuality issues as they continue to evolve with advances in new technologies.