Postpartum depression (PPD) is typically constructed as a medical condition that is defined by prevalence rates, time of onset, duration, symptoms, causes and treatments. Presentations of PPD in popular texts have also revealed that it is a site for constructions of mothering/motherhood. While PPD has traditionally been assumed to be the domain of women, researchers have recently focused attention on PPD and men. Using articles on maternal and paternal PPD published in Canadian and American newspapers between 2008 and 2012, we analysed how constructions of mothering/motherhood and fathering/fatherhood were inscribed in this public forum. We show how mothering/motherhood was foregrounded via dominant evaluative discourses and highly imbued with expectations while fathering/fatherhood was kept in the background and characterised by the unavailability of clear expectations. We conclude that maternal PPD remains primary and normative while paternal PPD remains ‘othered’ despite the supposed attention to it in these public texts.

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Language as the Site of Revolt in Medieval and Early Modern England: Speaking as a Woman M. C. Bodden (2011) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 257pp. Early Modern Women in Conversation Katherine R. Larson (2011) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 218pp.

The main focus of this paper is to show how the rehearsal of ‘Big Spender’ in an American middle school drama programme is embedded in larger social contexts, and thereby contributes to what the American Psychological Association identifies as the ‘sexualization of girls’ in today’s world. More specifically, I use complex and ecosystems models in order to illuminate the multilayered way in which the recontextualised use of macro-level cultural texts like ‘Big Spender’ can contribute to the sexualisation of girls in meso-level, formal education-based communities of practice as well as in micro-level, face-to-face social interactions. Data presented here were collected and analysed by combining (a) ethnographically-based language socialisation field research conducted at one middle school and (b) discourse and multimodal examinations of ‘Big Spender’-related texts. Based on this multilayered analysis I show how schools and teachers can and do contribute to the language socialisation of sexual objectification and subordination of schoolgirls.

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While studies of the interplay of language use and gendered identity have pointed to the complex interactions between the two, and while researchers have similarly considered the ways in which endangered languages of heritage serve as resources in the construction of identity in communities focused on language revitalization, the intersection of these two fields of study has only rarely been examined. As awareness of the endangered status of many of the world’s languages has grown, the processes by which languages become restricted within their communities of use, and the roles that community members can and do play in reversing that restriction, have been studied and theorized by scholars within the fields of linguistics and anthropology. This collection of papers builds upon and expands the scope of such research by looking at the role that gender plays in both language maintenance and language revitalization processes within communities whose languages are endangered. These papers also explore the impact that language endangerment and revitalization have on the construction of gender, and, indeed, upon the gendered identities available to community members. Through the exploration of processes particular to individual communities, these papers offer a more general understanding of the complex interplay of gendered identity, language use, ideology, and community, thus expanding our understanding of the ways in which gender and language interact, not only in endangered language communities, but more broadly. Gender and Language G&L (PRINT) ISSN 1747–6321 G&L (ONLINE) ISSN 1747–633X

In this editorial we reflect on Volume 6 of the journal, provide an annual profile of contributors and decisions made, and report on publishing developments.