Colloquium Title:

Linguistic sexism, binarism, and homophobia in Japanese: Reproducing force and resisting practice

Colloquium abstract

The theme of the colloquium is twofold. First, we disclose sexism, binarism, and homophobia latent in the normative usages of Japanese language. Second, we explore the diverse and innovative situated practices that resist and challenge such disparity. By revealing the problems and examining the resilient practices, we aim to explore the ways to get rid of linguistic sexism, binarism, and homophobia in Japanese.

The scope of the colloquium covers a wide variety of data ranging from metalinguistic comments in newspaper and SNS, mediatized practices such as YouTube, TV show and advertising, to Japanese translation.

The order of presenters is:

(1) Nakamura,

(2) Fukuda,

(3) Miyazaki & Furukawa

(4) Tynes

(5) Hiramoto & Robertson and

(6) Okamoto.

The title and abstract of each presentation are as follows:

• Nakamura (Kanto Gakuin University)

The norm of Japanese gendered first-person pronouns: Naturalizing and resisting sexism and anti-nonbinary ideology

             This paper overviews studies of Japanese speakers’ use of the gendered first-person pronouns and proposes to reinterpret the results of the studies as demonstrating the ways Japanese speakers simultaneously follow and resist the normative force of the gendered pronouns that works to naturalize sexism and anti-nonbinary ideology. The most common Japanese first-person pronouns are strictly gendered, watashi for girls and women, and for men in formal situations; and boku and ore for boys and men. While previous empirical studies have shown a variety of pronoun usage, few studies have focused on the normative force and ideological effect of the gendered pronouns.

Analyzing metalinguistic comments reported in previous studies, SNS, and newspapers about the pronoun usages, I argue that the gendered norm serves to reproduce sexism and binarism. First, it is sexist in forcing girls to call themselves watashi, the pronoun too formal (as adult women also use it) and too general (as men use it at times) to express their specific identities, while allowing boys to use boku and ore, enabling them to negotiate different masculinities. The disparity results in girls’ avoidance of watashi, selecting nonnormative pronouns including the masculine pronouns. Second, the norm is anti-nonbinary because the norm takes heteronormativity for granted, which amount to ignoring or excluding non-binary individuals. Many nonbinary speakers in their retrospective essays point out the painful experience in their childhoods being forced to use the normative pronouns. Nevertheless, there has been little discussion of the heteronormative force of the norm nor suggestions of nonbinary first-person pronouns.

The paper concludes with the proposal to accept the nonnormative pronoun usages so that the gender boundary embedded in the system of Japanese first-person pronouns would potentially be dissolved.

• Fukuda (University of Hawaii)

Societal and institutional homophobia in Japan through the displays of affective stances of a married gay couple   

Through the analysis of conversations and narratives of a married gay couple, this study examines how homophobia against same-sex marriage and heteronormativity in Japanese society are revealed and how the couple shows resilience.

More specifically, the study explores displays of affective stances of the gay couple in the course of interaction and underlying societal and institutional homophobia in the form of heteronormativity, which contributes to shaping such affective stances. In particular, the study focuses on affective stances regarding their explicit and implicit construction of futsuu (‘usual; ordinary’) and not futsuu. For this purpose, conversation analysis (CA) in combination with membership categorization analysis (MCA), especially, the concept of category-bound predicates (Watson 1978) is utilized. Category-bound predicates indicate certain attributes or characteristics that are normatively expected all members in a category to share (for example, in Japan, gay people are considered to use so-called feminine language).

The couple consists of a Japanese and a Lithuanian (L2 Japanese speaker) who relocated to France from Japan and got married there. In their own YouTube video and a newspaper interview, they recalled how their marriage was treated as futsuu (‘usual; ordinary’) in France, whereas how they were scared of reactions when they announced their marriage to the Japanese public. That is, in France, marriage is considered as a category-bound predicate of homosexual people, whereas it is not in Japan due to societal and institutional heteronormativity. The couple also expressed delight toward positive reactions after the announcement. On a TV show, similar affective stances are shown, and the MCs affiliate with such stances. Data come from the YouTube videos the couple produced, a TV show, an interview video in a Japanese newspaper, and articles from web news sites.

(3) Miyazaki (Japan Women’s University) & Furukawa (Sophia University)

‘I hope the world will change’: Resisting heteronormative expectations when coming out in Japanese

Although Japanese mass media is often thought of positively for the way in which it has helped LGBTQ+ individuals gain greater amounts of visibility within society, there are still many who find that the heavy focus on highly effeminate gay men often to the exclusion of others within the queer community leads to broad stereotypes and generalizations within everyday life.

Thus, it was quite shocking for many when the attractive masculine presenting singer/actor Shinjiro Atae chose to come out of the closet as a gay man in a highly publicized speech in July 2023. This speech presents a rare opportunity for Japanese people to see an image of a gay man that contradicts the stereotypes commonly held in Japanese society and at the same time allows us as sociolinguists an excellent opportunity to analyze both Atae’s language use in publicly negotiating such a difficult speech but also in seeing the reactions to his talk in the audience response and online commentary. It is clear from the beginning that the highly publicized process of Atae’s coming out is an act of resistance against heteronormative society. Atae makes strong use double voicing and a complex blend of affect, judgement, and appreciation to draw in the audience to co-construct a powerfully positive atmosphere. In the speech as well as online comments it is also quite clear that the strategies of power and solidarity are in play as well as complex negotiations of social categories through culturally established obligations to help Atae in a process of redefining and rebranding himself while undergoing public scrutiny at this event.

In the discussion, connections and comparisons will be made to discourses of other Japanese living on the gender and sexual borders of society.

(4) Tynes (Prefectural University of Hiroshima)

Transmitting gender expectations? A cognitive study of marketing language in Japanese children’s products.

              Despite government targets, Japan's persistent gender disparities in management, labor distribution, and social expectations remain a subject of criticism. This study investigates the perpetuation of gender ideology through marketing language, potentially transmitting it unintentionally from one generation to the next.
              This study examines the points at which we perpetuate gender ideology, with the understanding that it is perpetuated in part through a cyclical relation with gender ideology and language use (Nakamura 2002, 2003). This study analyzes marketing language, such as that found on websites and in commercials and SNS, as an attempt to understand how and when gender-specific expectations are passed on to and possibly internalized by the next generation. Products aimed at children are likely to be chosen and purchased by an adult, but must appeal to both parties, and thus offer a unique chance to examine multigenerational targets for these advertising campaigns.
              This research seeks to illuminate the linguistic strategies that conceptualize the individual at this life stage, as well as the family and society around them. Previous works have shown the usefulness of a cognitive linguistic toolset for sociolinguistic research (Koller 2008). This study draws on cognitive linguistics concepts to analyze the data, including conceptual metaphor (Lakoff 1980), foregrounding and backgrounding, categorization (Lakoff 1987), framing, and expectations (Lakoff 2000).
              Findings suggest that linguistic mechanisms observed in the marketing language, such as conceptual metaphors, framing, and categorization are consistent with the expected gender ideology, such as the emphasis on beauty and cuteness in products aimed at girls. This phenomenon was also observed when the particular type of product is prototypically associated with another gender, like a “Tell today’s fashion fortune♥” feature in a robot toy designed to teach programming skills to girls.

(5) Hiramoto (National University of Singapore) & Robertson (Macquarie University)

Resisting semiotic sexism: Commodification of men’s VIO hair removal

This research investigates the linguistic and cultural aspects of a contemporary trend in Japan, which involves the elimination of pubic hair or VIO datsumō 'hair removal.' While historically primarily targeting women, the personal grooming industry has recently shifted its focus to attract male customers.

Drawing on concepts related to Japanese gender ideologies and cultural sensemaking frameworks, we analyze the commodification and linguistic strategies observed in online advertisements for male VIO datsumō. There are two distinct approaches: (1) kaigo datsumō 'nursing hair removal,' and (2) haiji danshi 'hygiene boys.' Both of these approaches are deeply rooted in their respective cultural contexts.

In the case of promoting kaigo datsumō, advertisements emphasize the importance of avoiding potential burdens by suggesting that hair removal simplifies caretakers' tasks when assisting with bodily functions in later years. Moreover, it is intertwined with concepts of male dignity, positioning the practice as a means to preserve men's honor during nursing care. For haiji danshi, advertisements highlight women's preference for hairless male bodies. Additionally, they promise a more relaxed lifestyle brought about by hair removal, as men would no longer need to be concerned about making their intimate partners uncomfortable due to body odors or awkward appearances.

Through the analysis of persuasive discourse patterns, this study sheds light on the complex relationship among language, culture, and contemporary practices. In essence, VIO datsumō is depicted as a way to align with cultural sensemaking frameworks in Japan, which include the preservation of male dignity by avoiding inconvenience to others. The findings deepen our understanding of how cultural values not only influence but are also influenced by evolving socio-cultural ideologies. That is, a traditionally highly sexualized feminine practice, such as private hair removal, has been repackaged as a new masculine practice in the commodification of men’s VIO hair removal.

(6) Okamoto (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Covert stratification of male and female characters in fiction: The case of Japanese translations of English novels

Japanese norms of speech are highly gendered. Research has actively investigated how such norms have been constructed historically (e.g. Nakamura 2007) and how speakers deal with such norms in situated practice (e.g. Okamoto and Shibamoto Smith 2016). Interestingly, however, the notion that such norms reflect sexist and heterosexist ideologies has not been adequately discussed. The present study addresses this issue and considers the sociopolitical effects of such norms. As a case in point, I examine media discourse.

Research involving English and other languages shows that stereotypical language tends to be used for certain social types in fiction. Japanese fiction is no exception, as well attested by the common use of normatively, stereotypically, gendered linguistic forms in fiction (e.g. Nakamura 2013; Okamoto 2021). In this study, I compare dialogs involving professional women and men (e.g. detectives, coroners, lieutenants) in two English crime novels, both written by Michael Connelly, with their Japanese translations. Special attention is given to the use of normatively gendered linguistic forms, including utterance-final forms, honorifics, personal references, expletives, interjections, discourse markers, and speech acts.

              The analysis shows that even when female and male characters use the same or similar expressions in the English original (e.g. direct commands, the pronouns I and you, expletives such as shit and fuck), the Japanese translations are differentiated in a normatively gendered way. The effects of such skewed translations are not trivial. For example, female detectives’ direct and forceful speech in English are transformed into gentle feminine speech in Japanese, effacing the tough and powerful professional women’s personae. Such translation may be taken for granted as resulting from assigning yakuwarigo ‘role language’ (Kinsui 2003) to different character types. However, I emphasize that it is not ideologically neutral and that it is a covert way of stratifying female and male characters, reinforcing gender-biased ideologies.