Lecture 9: Cross Gender Communication

It has been an interesting lesson today to learn more about cross-gender communication. Once again, it showed us how powerful the use of language is. Japan is a great example for the use of gendered language. The use of gendered language relies mainly on how society views gender roles. A man using feminine speech might be considered effeminate or homosexual, but his utterances would not be considered grammatically incorrect. In general, the words and speech patterns considered masculine are also seen as rough, vulgar, or abrupt, while the feminine words and patterns make a sentence more polite, more deferential, or "softer" (countering abruptness).

Major differences in the use of Japanese

Female speakers	Male speakers
Use polite forms more often Use more tag questions Avoid dropping respectful titles Use intrinsically feminine words Use forms intended to soften speech	Use polite forms less often Use fewer tag questions Drop respectful titles more quickly Use intrinsically masculine words Use abrupt, rough-sounding forms more often

You might be surprised, but the simple use of “I” and “Me” is not so simple as in the Japanese language.

Words for "I" or "me"

Generic Use

watashi	polite, used by both men and women. In the Edo period, used to be used more frequently by women, but currently it is neutral.
watakushi	polite, used by both men and women; more formal than watashi.
jibun	used by both men and women. However, in the Kansai dialect, jibun refers to "you".
uchi	used by both men and women in some circumstances, especially when speaking of home and/or family, and also by young girls
One's own name	used almost exclusively by women. Greater frequency of usage connotes femininity. For men, the usage is limited to extremely feminine men and elderly male people.

Female Use

atashi	young girls, women, men expressing femininity; soft, feminine
atakushi	formal form of atashi; women, mostly in formal situations
atai	more recently characteristic of the Tokyo "downtown" dialect; distinctly rough

Male Use

boku	boys and young men, fairly casual; recently used by some girls. In songs, used by both sexes.
ore	informal form for men and boys, women NOT being feminine/polite; distinctly masculine, sometimes vulgar
washi	old men
wagahai	archaic, somewhat boastful masculine
ore-sama	pompous, vulgar; boys, men, a combination of ore and the honourific title "sama"
ware	men, may sound old.

Personally, I feel that the rigid use of gendered language is quite cumbersome. I prefer the use of generic terms. Use of generic terms eliminates gender inequalities. Yet, use of generic terms does not give listeners more insights into the context of the conversation.

Through the long process of women’s fight on gender equality, there have been several language reforms. Yet, these reforms do not give women’s the same status as enjoyed by men. However, through these reforms, they actually raised the issue of sexism that has been in the society for decades.

As discussed in class, the use of the title “Ms” does gives certain negative connotations and results certain guesswork going on in the mind of others (E.g. the person reviewing the form). But again, I guess different people have different degree of sensitivities, thus, what is considered sexist might not be so for other people.

For example, the use of “lady” seems to have some negative connotations as discussed in class. However, I do like the use of “lady” on me. To me, “lady” seems to be an appropriate word, even implies a certain degree of sophistication. To be described as “woman” will make me feel a little bit too old and masculine, and to be called a “girl” would seem a little inappropriate for me age. Thus, the use of “lady” will be suitable for use in my opinion.