Shojo and Adult Women a Linguistic Analysis of Gender...

Shojo and Adult Women: A Linguistic Analysis of Gender Identity in Manga (Japanese Comics) Junko Ueno Abstract: This study analyzes the linguistic behavior of female characters in shoJo (girls) and ladies (women) manga (Japanese comics) and discusses the portrayal of female gender identities in the context of popular print media. Considering the great impact that Japanese print media has had over Japanese womens speech patterns throughout history, a linguistic analysis of female characters speech patterns in shojo and ladies manga may reveal the kinds of representations of language and gender in manga and how these representations may affect Japanese womens gender identity today. Based on data collected through quantitative and†¦show more content†¦As Ito (2000) argues, It is very influential for children and adults alike because it teaches the readers the roles, expectations, rights, duties, taboos, and folkways of Japanese society whether the reader is aware of it or not (pl4). Ogi (2003) also states that one of the roles ladies manga performs is to offer alternate role mo dels to adult women. Therefore, in addition to studying peoples actual linguistic behavior, it is important to examine the kinds of representations of language and gender in manga and how these representations may affect Japanese womens gender identity. This study analyzes the linguistic behavior of female characters in shojo and ladies manga and discusses the portrayal of their gender identities in the context of popular print media. Research Questions This study poses the following two questions to explore gender identity expressed through language use in manga. 1. How and to what extent do the female characters speech pattems, the use of gendered forms in particular, in shojo and ladies manga magazines differ according to the characters ages? 2. Under what circumstances or settings are traditional and unconventional womens language used in manga magazines? Literature Review Conventional characteristics of Japanese womens speech Japanese male and female speech differences have bee n extensively examined in