I think it's worth investing some time into the way the female of the species interacts. I've sure given enough stick to the Straight White Boy (SWB). And although I've attempted to clarify in my research:
"The characteristics found in the structure of SWB texts... can thus not be assumed to be representative of either heterosexual, white or male behaviour" (Hewer, 2016)
We all know we're still really thinking about the "straight white boy". And, for the most part, those who exist with penises (although, not necessarily so).
But if we're going to be indexically-linking linguistic features with "maleness" then, what, indeed, would we expect from the straight white girl (SWG). What gives us "femaleness?"
For one - is there even an equivalent?
My research began, as all good research should begin, by watching a YouTube video.
Then it spiralled into the realms of reading a lot of posts on r/nicegirls and, well, it seems that the response to rejection follows the same path as our SWB's did.
The gals don't like to be turned down, that's for sure. After being refused, there are often such comments as: "you're ugly anyway", "you don't deserve this", or "your cock looks like an acorn". But, it should be noted that the SWG way is not quite as... intrusive as our SWB's approach. At least, not in the introductory stage. There is often a bit more of a lead-up to any sort of sexual advance in the conversation. Women explore a bit more relational needs - we see a few more moves in our 'attempt at developing intimacy' stage. Yet when it does come to the crux of it, both SWG and the SWB react very similarly when they've been rejected.
It's interesting to note that this is the "nice guy/girl" stereotype. Where do the boundaries lie within these? Seems like there are different genres of our SWG. For instance, the "Not Like Other Girls" (and this video explains it just perfectly). We see this character as someone who wishes to appear a little quirky. And most definitely 'not basic'. Yet if we were to review their texting styles - is there a particular use of language that could be coded as such, or are there any similar features found with our SWBs?
Given a lack of data to truly analyze in detail (and not wanting to scar anyone with my own, erm... *corpus) the SWG move type is a bit tricky to truly pin down. As stated by Kimberley et al. (2017), "women use social media and the internet as a way to find and maintain intimate relationships" - so we might predict to see more of the move types associated with establishing rapport or relationships. There is also evidence to suggest that women, in general, tend to use emoticons and emojis to try to help with creating a rapport.
The use of emojis was found in the SWB corpus, but it was mainly found in the 'elaboration of sexual goal' move - and it was only ever a winky face. So. Not a lot of variety for our boys. Girls, on the other hand, are often keen to express themselves with a range of emojis and emoticons. And not just for reaching a sexual goal.
I think, overall, there is a huge similarity in the use of language - our sense of SWB or SWG does in fact transcend the physical traits, and is more a cultural phenomenon. Without the horde of data that I was able to collate with the SWB corpus, it is difficult to say if there are exact move types shared (or if they do in fact consititute two separate genres). There are perhaps more similarities than differences with our SWB and SWG.
At the end of the day, we all just enjoy some 🍑🍆
*further data definitely needed x
