How do we talk at work? Are there distinctively 'feminine' or particularly 'masculine' ways of interacting in the workplace? If so, who uses them, and in what contexts? This book explores the ways in which gender contributes to the interpretation of meaning in workplace interaction, and examines how women and men negotiate their gender identities as well as their professional roles in everyday workplace communication. Using original and insightfully analyzed data, Janet Holmes focuses not on how women and men differ in the ways they communicate power and authority, but rather on the ways in which both draw on gendered discourse resources to enact a range of workplace roles.

Janet Holmes holds a personal Chair in Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington. Her publications include The Blackwell Handbook of Language and Gender (2003; co-edited with Miriam Meyerhoff), Power and Politeness in the Workplace (2003; with Maria Stubbe), and Women, Men and Politeness (1995).