Saying 'I' - Gender, Identity and Social Status In Japanese Pronouns

The question of ‘I’ and first-person pronouns is one that needless to say differs between and within cultures and contexts, and in this presentation I will focus on the case of Japan, and specifically on the first-person pronoun use of individuals who identify as x-jendaa.  ‘X-jendaa’ (x-gender) is a term that emerged in Japan in the late 1990s, and simply put, refers to identifying as neither woman nor man, although the definition of the term and its specific usage depends on the person employing it.  There are a number of first-person pronouns in Japanese, and a person is not limited to using just one fixed pronoun throughout their life-course, but rather shift pronouns depending on social context.  The use of social pronoun depends on a number of different factors – social hierarchy (especially in a business or work context), geographical region, and significantly, gender.  Although there do exist pronouns that can be considered gender-neutral, most first-person pronouns have a notable gender bias, and one would be expected to use a specific pronoun depending on how one appears and passes gender-wise.  Based on interviews conducted with individuals who identify as x-jendaa, in this presentation I will seek to examine how these individuals choose what pronoun to employ in their daily lives, and at the same time explore the social ramifications that these pronouns have in turn.  It should also be noted that it is possible to communicate in Japanese without using first-person pronouns, which is a tactic that some of my informants also employ.  Through this presentation, I seek to bring forth the restrictions as well as possibilities that language brings forth, and how using or not using personal pronouns reflect as well as forge one’s social experiences.