Gender directed slurs and the relevance of their neutral correlates

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Freiburg (English Department), language: English, abstract: For many swearing is part of everyday life. It has various functions from releasing emotions and showing group membership to expressing negatively connotated and bigoted perspectives towards groups or individuals. Besides racial and ethnic slurs, slurs directed towards gender make up a big proportion.
This study will give a brief review of the research within this area and then move on to presenting the different linguistic approaches to slurs. Special focus will be put on the different targets of gendered slurs and on the question whether or not the absence of a neutral counterpart can be defined as a main characteristic of gender-linked derogatory terms.