ABSTRACT
This chapter examines claims that women and men use language differently, and presents a more dynamic approach to analysing gender identity, as well as considering what language suggests about the way society categorises women. Women put more emphasis than men on the polite or affective functions of tags, using them as facilitative positive politeness devices. The chapter shows that some of the ways in which language can provide insights about a community's perceptions and stereotypes, and aspects of its culture. Many of the features which have been identified as characteristic of women's language are positive politeness devices expressing solidarity. There are many features of interaction which have been shown to differentiate the talk of women and men in particular contexts. In same-gender interactions, interruptions were pretty evenly distributed between speakers. In cross-gender interactions, almost all the interruptions were from males.
