Counterspeech as an antidote against sexism

This chapter offers a philosophical discussion of harmful speech and its effects on social well-being. It argues that certain uses of language – those that demean, ridicule, or degrade social groups defined by categories such as gender, race, sexual orientation, or nationality – particularly by politicians and other authorities, produce harms ranging from the erosion of self-esteem and belonging of members of such groups to the deprivation of civil rights and organized violence. I aim to combines insights from Austin-inspired speech act theory with Lynne Tirrell’s epidemiological metaphor to examine how toxic discourse, understood as harmful speech, spreads and reinforces ideologies of subordination, particularly sexism. In this framework, language use transmits and legitimizes morally and epistemically flawed ideologies, thus undermining essential psychosocial goods necessary for community life. I also introduce the concept of counter-speech as a form of resistance or “antidote” to linguistic toxicity: discursive practices aimed at interrupting, reversing, or neutralizing the effects of harmful speech. By integrating these two theoretical perspectives, the chapter provides conceptual tools to understand the ethical and political urgency of resisting the proliferation of toxic discourse at every level – from everyday interactions to public debates – emphasizing its importance for achieving the ideal of unrestricted gender equality.

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