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Challenging hegemonic femininities? The discourse of trailing spouses in Hong Kong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Stephanie Schnurr ,
Olga Zayts  and
Catherine Hopkins
Stephanie Schnurr
Affiliation:
University of Warwick, Centre for Applied Linguistics Gibbet Hill Road, CV4 7AL, UK s.schnurr@warwick.ac.uk
Olga Zayts
Affiliation:
School of English, The University of Hong Kong Run Run Shaw Tower, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China zayts@hku.hk
Catherine Hopkins
Affiliation:
Hong Kong, China
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Abstract

While the notion of hegemonic masculinity has received a lot of attention in recent scholarship, hegemonic femininity remains largely underdeveloped. We aim to address this gap by illustrating the benefits of using the concept of hegemonic femininities in sociolinguistic scholarship. Conducting a case study on the discourse of trailing spouses in Hong Kong, we analyse hegemonic femininities at the local, regional, and global level and explore how they are interlinked with each other. Findings show how these trailing spouses often challenge and reject hegemonic femininities on the local level, but largely accept and reinforce them on the regional and global level. The specific femininities that are considered to be hegemonic are highly context-dependent, and, unlike masculinities, the hegemony of femininities is a matter of internal degree—that is, certain femininities take hegemonic status compared to other femininities but do not take a dominant position in the gender order. (Hegemonic femininities, hegemonic masculinities, trailing spouses, Hong Kong, gender order)*

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Articles
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Language in Society , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , September 2016 , pp. 533 - 555
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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