Gender Differences In Japanese Language

Gender Language in Japan The study of language and gender has had a big impact on Japanese ideology. The use of Japanese language in Japan include, how the language reveals attitudes towards gender and how people use the language by speaking and writing in ways that reflect gender. In Japan for instance, gender differences in Japanese language used to be very recognizable, but recently the language has become more gender natural as the language evolved. The status of women equality struggle to prove they are just as hard working and loyal as men in Japan. Also it makes the women’s movement more complex when there is a division between men and women’s language. With that in mind, they have less freedom, rights, and have the burdens of society

The use of gender language in japan has placed men and women in a certain way by controlling, dominating, or patronizing each other by the use of the language. According to Murasaki Shikibu, during time periods men thought of women differently. For instance, during the Heian period “Women should maintain feminine speech and not interfere with men’s affairs.” Then during the Genroku period “Women using male speech are disgusting and should learn to speak tenderly”. During the Edo Period (Mid-Edo period) “women-servants of samurai families used court-ladies” language (Latter half of Edo period) “Court ladies language became standard female language” lastly, Meiji period, Westernization and modernization. It wasn’t until the Meiji Era, language was more thought of as a distinction of social class. During the Edo period is where women and men language started to become gendered. Before the Edo period, women’s language was only seen as women are unintelligent because they were not allowed to go to school like men were. Women did not have options they were strictly only housewives. Another influence that keeps gender language in use is relatives. They influence the use of gender language because to them it is only natural.

The status of women has been gradually improving. Still women’s struggle for equality to prove they are just as hard working and loyal as men in Japan. With this in mind, women’s speech is seen as less than compared to men speech because of the views women had during Heian period. With this it makes the movement more complex when there is a division between men and women’s language. Since there is already complexity between the male and females. Women in their early thirties had started to use less traditional speech and opting for a more gender neutral style. Even though, women are opting for a neutral style of speech there is still some differences between young women and young men speech. For instance, women between the age of twenty and thirty would use私 (わたし), while younger girls would use うち. Recently, some girls have been adopting the word僕 (ぼく), sometimes they would even use俺 (おれ). In male speech, they use first-person pronoun 俺 (おれ) and the second-person pronoun お前 (おまえ). The ending of male speech also changes to えぇor たかい toたけぇ、ない toねぇ、きたない to きたねぇ、やばい to やべぇ. But recently, girls have also been using these types of “male speech” but still is widely used by