1887
Volume 9, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2211-3770
  • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study analyzes language use among a group of gay men who participate on an online messageboard (OnYourKnees), focused on the attainment of a ‘dumb jock’ identity. Posters align with a series of qualities that largely conform to ideologies of American jock masculinity, but at the same time satirize those ideologies: in particular, many posters view as an integral quality of dumb-jock identity ‘dumbness:’ an unwillingness/inability to engage in scholarly/academic pursuits. The repeated citationality of dumbness as a positive quality creates a distinct identity-type that posters link with erotic desire. Orthographic variation contributes to the attainment and recognition of a jock identity: posters who identify as jocks are more likely to display non-standard American English spelling than those who do not. This study thus highlights the importance of orthographic variation in maintaining distinct identities among local communities, especially in a space where traditional ideologies of masculinity are recontextualized.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jls.19020.cha
2020-09-07
2025-04-23
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ahearn, Laura
    2003 Writing desire in Nepali love letters. Language & Communication23: 107–122. 10.1016/S0271‑5309(02)00046‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(02)00046-0 [Google Scholar]
  2. Androutsopoulos, Jannis
    2000 Non-standard spellings in media texts: The case of German fanzines. Journal of Sociolinguistics4(4): 514–533. 10.1111/1467‑9481.00128
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00128 [Google Scholar]
  3. Baker, Paul
    2008Sexed Texts: Language, Gender and Sexuality. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Barrett, Rusty
    2017From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bucholtz, Mary & Hall, Kira
    2004 Language and identity. InA Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, Alessandro Duranti (ed), 268–294. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bullingham, Liam & Vasconcelos, Ana
    2013 ‘The presentation of self in the online world’: Goffman and the study of online identities. Journal of Information Science39(1): 101–112. 10.1177/0165551512470051
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551512470051 [Google Scholar]
  7. Cameron, Deborah & Kulick, Don
    2003a Introduction: Language and desire in theory and practice. Language & Communication23: 93–105. 10.1016/S0271‑5309(02)00047‑2
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(02)00047-2 [Google Scholar]
  8. 2003bLanguage and Sexuality. New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511791178
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791178 [Google Scholar]
  9. Campbell-Kibler, Kathryn
    2008 I’ll be the judge of that: Diversity in social perceptions of (ING). Language in Society37(5): 637–659. 10.1017/S0047404508080974
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404508080974 [Google Scholar]
  10. Chambers, Eric
    2019‘It’s Something You Do Bro’: Language and Identity on a Male Erotic Hypnosis Messageboard. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, City University of New York.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Connell, Robert W. & Messerschmidt, James
    2005 Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society19(6): 829–859. 10.1177/0891243205278639
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639 [Google Scholar]
  12. Darics, Erika
    2013 Non-verbal signalling in digital discourse: The case of letter repetition. Discourse, Context and Media2: 141–148. 10.1016/j.dcm.2013.07.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2013.07.002 [Google Scholar]
  13. Dresner, Eli & Herring, Susan
    2010 Functions of the nonverbal in CMC: Emoticons and illocutionary force. Communication Theory20: 249–268. 10.1111/j.1468‑2885.2010.01362.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2010.01362.x [Google Scholar]
  14. Dumb Jock. n.d.
    Dumb Jock. n.d.RetrievedNovember27 2017 from TVTropes website: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DumbJock
  15. Eisenstein, Jacob
    2015 Systematic patterning in phonologically-motivated orthographic patterning. Journal of Sociolinguistics19(2): 161–188. 10.1111/josl.12119
    https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12119 [Google Scholar]
  16. Foucault, Michel, Martin, Luther, Gutman, Huck & Hutton, Patrick
    (eds) 1988Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Friedline, Benjamin
    2008 A Linguistic Profile of Power and Identity in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. (Unpublished) Master’s thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
  18. Gray, Mary
    2009 Negotiating identities/queering desires: Coming out online and the remediation of the coming-out story. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication14(4): 1162–1189. 10.1111/j.1083‑6101.2009.01485.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01485.x [Google Scholar]
  19. Grivelet, Stéfane
    2001 Digraphia in Mongolia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language150: 75–93.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Hill, Jane
    1998 Language, race, and white public space. American Anthropologist100(3): 680–689. 10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.680
    https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.680 [Google Scholar]
  21. Iorio, Josh
    2009 Effects of audience on orthographic variation. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences: Illinois Working Papers 2009: 127–140.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Jackson, Lauren
    2017We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in GIFs. RetrievedApril8 2020, from Teen Vogue website: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/digital-blackface-reaction-gifs
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Jackson, Phoebe & Seiler, Gale
    2018 I am smart enough to study postsecondary science: A critical discourse analysis of latecomers’ identity construction in an online forum. Cultural Studies of Science Education13(3): 761–784. 10.1007/s11422‑017‑9818‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9818-0 [Google Scholar]
  24. Jones, Raya
    2005 Identity commitments in personal stories of mental illness on the internet. Narrative Inquiry15(2): 293–322. 10.1075/ni.15.2.06jon
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.15.2.06jon [Google Scholar]
  25. Kendall, Lori
    2000 “OH NO! I’M A NERD!”: Hegemonic masculinity on an online forum. Gender & Society14(2): 256–274. 10.1177/089124300014002003
    https://doi.org/10.1177/089124300014002003 [Google Scholar]
  26. Kiesling, Scott
    2004 Dude. American Speech79(3): 281–305. 10.1215/00031283‑79‑3‑281
    https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-79-3-281 [Google Scholar]
  27. Lavelle, Katherine
    2010 A critical discourse analysis of black masculinity in NBA game commentary. Howard Journal of Communications21(3): 294–314. 10.1080/10646175.2010.496675
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2010.496675 [Google Scholar]
  28. Leppänen, Sirpa
    2016 Dog blogs as ventriloquism: Authentication of the human voice. Discourse, Context, and the Media8: 63–73. 10.1016/j.dcm.2015.05.005
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2015.05.005 [Google Scholar]
  29. Manning, Paul
    2015Love Stories: Language, Private Love, and Public Romance in Georgia. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Mendoza-Denton, Norma
    2008Homegirls: Language and Cultural Practice Among Latina Youth Gangs. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. 10.1002/9780470693728
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470693728 [Google Scholar]
  31. Mercer, John
    2017Gay Pornography: Representations of Sexuality and Masculinity. London: I.B. Tauris. 10.5040/9781350986541
    https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350986541 [Google Scholar]
  32. Miller, Kathleen
    2009 Sport-related identities and the “toxic jock.”Journal of Sport Behavior32(1): 69–91.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Mowlabocus, Sharif
    2010Gaydar Culture: Gay Men, Technology and Embodiment in the Digital Age. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Ochs, Elinor
    1993 Constructing social identity: A language socialization perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction26(3): 287–306. 10.1207/s15327973rlsi2603_3
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi2603_3 [Google Scholar]
  35. Pronger, Brian
    1990The Arena of Masculinity: Sports, Homosexuality, and the Meaning of Sex. New York: St. Martin’s.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Sailes, Gary
    1993 An investigation of campus stereotypes: The myth of Black athletic superiority and the dumb jock stereotype. Sociology of Sport Journal10: 88–97. 10.1123/ssj.10.1.88
    https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.10.1.88 [Google Scholar]
  37. Sebba, Mark
    2003 Will the real impersonator please stand up? Language and identity in the Ali G websites. AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik28(2): 279–304.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. 2007Spelling and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511486739
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486739 [Google Scholar]
  39. Squires, Lauren
    2012 Whos punctuating what? Sociolinguistic variation in instant messaging. InOrthography as Social Action: Scripts, Spelling, Identity and Power, Alexandra Jaffe, Jannis Androutsopoulos, Mark Sebba & Sally Johnson (eds), 289–323. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781614511038.289
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614511038.289 [Google Scholar]
  40. Sul, Eunsook & Bailey, Benjamin
    2013 Negotiating Zen Buddhist and Western language ideologies and identities in a text-based, English-language online forum. Journal of Multicultural Discourses8(3): 213–233. 10.1080/17447143.2013.841704
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17447143.2013.841704 [Google Scholar]
  41. Teddiman, Laura & Newman, John
    2007 Subject ellipsis in English: Construction of and findings from a diary corpus. (Paper presented at26th Conference on Lexis and Grammar, Bonifacio, Italy).
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Trechter, Sara & Bucholtz, Mary
    2001 Introduction: White noise: Bringing language into whiteness studies. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology11(1): 3–21. 10.1525/jlin.2001.11.1.3
    https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.2001.11.1.3 [Google Scholar]
  43. Vaisman, Carmel
    2011 Performing girlhood through typographic play in Hebrew blogs. InDigital Discourse: Language in the New Media, Crispin Thurlow & Kristine Mroczek (eds), 177–196. New York: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199795437.003.0009
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199795437.003.0009 [Google Scholar]
  44. Valentine, David
    2003 “I went to bed with my own kind once”: The erasure of desire in the name of identity. Language & Communication23: 121–138. 10.1016/S0271‑5309(02)00045‑9
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(02)00045-9 [Google Scholar]
  45. Vigoroux, Cécile
    2011 Magic marketing: Performing grassroots literacy. Diversities13(2): 53–70.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Wertheim, Suzanne
    2012 Reclamation, revalorization and re-Tatarization via changing Tatar orthographies. InOrthography as Social Action: Scripts, Spelling, Identity and Power, Alexandra Jaffe, Jannis Androutsopoulos, Mark Sebba & Sally Johnson (eds), 65–101. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781614511038.65
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614511038.65 [Google Scholar]
  47. Yeung, King-To, Stombler, Mindy & Wharton, Reneé
    2006 Making men in gay fraternities: Resisting and reproducing multiple dimensions of hegemonic masculinity. Gender & Society20(1): 5–31. 10.1177/0891243205281267
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205281267 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jls.19020.cha
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jls.19020.cha
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): adequation; citationality; desire; gay men; jock; orthography
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error