This is a new introduction to the study of the relation between gender and language use. Written by two of the leading experts in the field, it covers the main topics, beginning with a clear discussion of gender and of the resources that the linguistic system offers for the construction of social meaning. The body of the book offers an unprecedentedly broad and in depth coverage of the interaction between language and social life. "This is the book on language and gender we have all been waiting for." Janet Holmes, Victoria Univeristy, Wellington, author of Women, Men, and Politeness