Gendered Speech

-Dear Daniel, Boy-

-Hello Kitty, Girls-

The above photo’s show three characters: two feminine Hello Kitties, and the masculine Dear Daniel. But how can you tell which is supposed to be the ‘girl’ and the ‘boy’? After all, one picture is simply a package of a snack, and the other a stuffed animal; they don’t have a specific sex, but you can still tell what they portray. You certainly don’t know the sexes of the cows in the background of the snack package, and probably don’t care. They’re just cows. But the kitties are specifically marked with gender signals, so you do know. Now pretend you couldn’t see the kitties. If the cats started meowing, do you think you could tell what sex they were just by listening to them?

In the Japanese language, gender is easily distinguishable not only by visual cues, but by different forms of speaking. This goes beyond word use, and into tone, pronunciation, and other subtle forms in speech. An easily understandable example, even for people who don’t speak the language, can be noticed in the pronouns individuals are allowed to use, as seen at this link.

Personal particles are not where the only differences lie. The ending of sentences can also be different, which directs assertion and/or requests. The feminine forms tend to show more hesitation and are much more polite than the masculine forms. Subsequently, students studying Japanese language are taught very feminine language, so that they sound more polite even if they stumble through the language. I, as a Japanese minor, was not aware of this until I took a Gender in Japan class, and I think it's important for anyone interested in Japanese language to look into.

A broad summary of gendered language and culture can be read here.