Japanese women’s desire to learn English: Commodification of feminism in the language market

ABSTRACT This critical ethnographic study explores the lived experiences of Japanese women and their desire to learn English in view of what can be referred to as the commodification of feminism. I approached 11 Japanese women to understand what kinds of desires they had to learn English and how they experienced the power derived out of learning the language. The data represented six themes: (1) desire to be acknowledged by other women, (2) mother’s influence as essential, (3) boost in confidence, (4) preference for multiculturalism rather than monoculturalism, (5) hegemonic position of a native English speaker is precarious, (6) dating is an alternative to lessons with native speaker. These findings demonstrate how these women’s desires, mediated through English, were versatile and cannot be articulated solely via discourses of intimacy with the West.