Acknowledgements . . ix

1. Introduction . . 1
1. Problems with research on sexism . . 5
2. My theoretical position . . 22
3. Structure of the book . . 33

2. Overt sexism . . 35
1. Hate speech and sexism . . 38
2. Contexts of sexism . . 40
3. Types of overt sexism . . 41
4. Sexism, racism and homophobia . . 73

3. Language reform . . 77
1. Institutional language change . . 78
2. Strategies of reform . . 83
3. Effectiveness of reform . . 91
4. Responses to anti-sexist campaigns . . 97

4. 'Political correctness' . . 100
1. Development of the term 'political correctness' . . 106
2. 'Political incorrectness' . . 108
3. Anti-sexist campaigns and 'political correctness' . . 114
4. Model of 'political correctness' and anti-sexism . . 119

5. Indirect sexism . . 124
1. Language as a system . . 124
2. Stereotypes . . 126
3. Institutions and language . . 132
4. Indirect sexism . . 133
5. Types of indirect sexism . . 140
6. Challenging indirect sexism . . 152

6. Conclusions . . 154
1. Public sensitivity to issues of sexism . . 154
2. Why analyse sexism . . 155
3. Why reform matters . . 156
4. Should we accept sexism? . . 157

Bibliography . . 162
Index . . 174