Aimee Bailey

Aimee Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in English Language at De Montfort University, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities and the School of Humanities and Performing Arts. Her research focuses on the intersection of language, identity, gender, and sexuality, drawing on queer theory, feminist theory, corpus linguistics, and multimodal critical discourse analysis. Current projects examine representation of trans people in British press within sports and charity contexts.

• PhD in Applied Linguistics, University of Nottingham
• MA in Applied Linguistics, University of Nottingham
• BA (hons) in English Language and Literature, University of Nottingham

Her research explores how language shapes social inclusion/exclusion dynamics, particularly for marginalized gender and sexual identities. Recent work analyzes:

• Transgender athletes' portrayal in media
• Discourses around trans charities like Mermaids
• Queer women’s online community norms
• Lesbian sex advice texts' normative frameworks

Key publications include analyses of:

• Trans inclusion debates in sports (2024)
• ‘Gender lobby’ framing in UK press (2023)
• Trans-exclusionary discourses in digital communities (2022)
• Lesbian advice media’s identity norms (2019)

Honors include the Judith Baxter Award from BAAL’s Language, Gender and Sexuality SIG. She supervises Ningxin Yin on trans-related research and teaches sociolinguistic methods and identity studies.