Verbal Sparring and Apologetic Points: Politeness in Gendered Argumentation Contexts

Verbal Sparring and Apologetic Points: Politeness in Gendered Argumentation Contexts

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This essay argues that ideals of cooperation or adversariality in argumentation are not equally attainable for women.Women in argumentation contexts face oppress-sive limitations undermining argument success because their puffy spa headband authority is un-dermined by gendered norms of po-liteness.Women endorsing or, alter-natively, transgressing feminine norms of politeness typically defend their au-thority in argumentation contexts.And yet, defending authority renders it less legitimate.

My argument focuses on women in here philosophy but bears the implication that other masculine dis-course contexts present similar double binds that urge social and political change.