Language and Gender: Insights from Japanese Feminists in the 1980s

Abstract

This essay examines how language contributed to the feminist movement’s decline in Japan in the 1980s, a period that witnessed major legal reforms and socioeconomic shifts. While earlier studies have linked the sluggish progress of feminism in Japan to legal deficiencies and the shortcomings of capitalist regime, this paper clarifies that few achievement in feminist campaign during this period can be mostly ascribed to the linguistic distinctions between men and women. By analyzing the works of prominent feminists Aoki Yayoi and Ide Sachiko, the essay illustrates how gendered linguistic conventions perpetuated the marginalization of women and brought the destruction of feminist progress in the 1980s. The research underscores the importance of recognizing language’s role as an obstacle in the development of feminism and proposes that changing linguistic conventions could support feminist movements in Japan and elsewhere.