Animacy as a Sexual Device

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationships between gender and sexuality and the linguistic concept of animacy. Opening with an overview of linguistic animacy, it moves into a discussion of its import for discussions of forms of sociopolitical power such as colonialism, and their relationship to dehumanization as well as agency. It explores the potentiality of animacy for revisory approaches to humanity, turning to the use of animacy in the particular case of the pronominal “it” in considerations of linguistic gender and transnational trans identity. The chapter concludes with a reiteration of the ways animacy is useful as a sexual device.