Why should I strive to sound feminine in Japanese when I don¡¯t sound feminine in English? I¡¯m not interested in using feminine speech to make myself sound more appealing to Japanese men. There¡¯s a difference between a speaker of Japanese making a mistake in gendered speech and purposely using the language to create a gender identity. I may be a woman, but I¡¯m more of an ¡°ore¡± or ¡°boku¡± than most men I know. Why not encourage breaking down gender boundaries instead of forcing them on us?
leah zoller
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