The “Gay Voice” and “Brospeak”: Toward a Systematic Model of Stance

Taking Elinor Ochs’s (1992) notion of indirect indexicality as a starting point, this chapter explores the significance of stance for studies of sexuality. Stance helps organize identity registers and is thus central in the creation and display of sexuality. After defining stance and reviewing ways in which it has been used in studies of language and sexuality, the chapter analyzes representations of two sexual identity registers: a “gay voice” homosexual identity and a “brospeak” heterosexual identity. The analysis reveals how these representations are based on different configurations of stances that in turn constitute the differential enregisterment of personae or characterological figures. The chapter concludes with an outline of the ways that the concept of stance may be used in further research, especially with respect to the analysis of sexuality in interaction.