Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8745
Title: The interaction of class and gender in illness narratives
Authors: Charteris-Black, J
Keywords: Gender;Illness narratives;Social class;Sociolinguistics
Issue Date: 2008
Publisher: Sage Publications
Citation: Sociology, 42(3), 453 - 469, 2008
Abstract: Perspectives on gender and identity that emphasize variability of performance, local context and individual agency have displaced earlier paradigms.These are now perceived to have supported gender stereotypes and language ideologies by emphasizing gender difference and homogeneity within genders. In a secondary analysis of health and illness narratives we explore the interaction of class and gender in individuals' constructions of gendered identity. High social class men perform gender in particularly varied ways and we speculate that this variable repertoire, including the use of what was once termed `women's language', is linked to a capacity to maintain social distinction and authority. Men's performance of conventional masculinity is often threatened by both the experience of illness and being interviewed about personal experience. Lower social class women in particular demonstrate an intensification of a pre-existing informal family and support group culture, marking successful members by awarding them the accolade of being `lovely'.
Description: This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2008 BSA Publications Ltd.
URI: http://soc.sagepub.com/content/42/3/453
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8745
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038508088835
ISSN: 0038-0385
Appears in Collections:Sociology
Dept of Social and Political Sciences Research Papers

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