Abstrakt: | The Japanese language of women – an unwanted component of speech, or a con-
scious choice?
In the western people’s imagination, the Japanese society appears as a hierarchized
structure that cherishes the division of gender roles drawn from tradition, where the
woman runs all the household errands, and the man is the breadwinner. The said
Japanese family model has been in decline since the early 1990s known in Japan as
the period of “bubble economy.” However, the process of dividing along the gen‐
der lines – into “female” and “male” – in Japan, does not only relate to household
chores, but also to the language devised by both the sexes.
According to Lakoff (1973), the weakness and marginalization of women find their
expression in both the language they use and the expectations concerning the way in
which they are allowed to express themselves. Their utterances are supposed to ac‐
centuate doubtfulness and triviality, in opposition to the men’s language, traditionally
perceived as being transparent, precise and well-adjusted to making key decisions.
In the present article, I aim at presenting a brief characteristics of the Japanese
languages of men and women by emphasizing their most typical grammatical and
stylistic forms, as well as their respective lexicons. I shall also discuss the stances
towards the Japanese language of women adopted by such female researchers as
Robin Lakoff (1973) and Sachiko Ide (1990), to finally present my own opinion on
the topic in question, based on both – reading of the published research results
dealing with the Japanese language of women, as well as on my own analysis of
young Japanese females’ utterances published on their blogs. Thanks to the above,
I am going to answer the following question: Do young Japanese females always
use the language of women, or are there situations in which they would rather use
the men’s speech, and if so, what determines their choice? |