Abstract
Drawing on feminist theories of voice, this introductory chapter considers how, historically, the idealised communicative mode for women has been silence. While women’s speech has often been violently punished with brutal methods such as the ducking stool and the scold’s bridle, in the contemporary context, it now seems that women are encouraged—even impelled—to speak out. However, the chapter cautions against a straightforward celebration of this apparent shift, arguing that there are new kinds of cruel punishments and costs associated with public speech. It proposes a feminist theory of communicative injustice, which relates to the insidious ways in which women, as well as LGBTQ people, people of colour, disabled people and other ‘others’ continue to be denied meaningful voice.
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Notes
- 1.
This information can be found as part of the display of the ducking stool in Leominster Priory Church, Herefordshire, the UK.
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Kay, J.B. (2020). Feminism and Communicative Injustice. In: Gender, Media and Voice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47287-0_1
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