gender research in Asian languages

[Esther Kuntjara]

Dear all,
The cross cultural variations in the study of language and gender has urged
me to do my dissertation research in women's language and politeness used by
Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia. I am currently preparing my dissertation
proposal from Indonesia to be sent to the Rhetoric and Linguistics program
in Indiana University of Pennsylvania where I study, for approval. I'd like
some help from you concerning other researches you know on Asian languages,
gender and politeness that have been done, especially if the finding is
different from what have been generally found in English or other western
languages. Any suggestion about this topic such as what you think will be
interesting to find out, is also welcome.
BTW I've read Bergvall's article on Linguistik.Online: Language and gender
research for the start of the new milleneum. It encourages me to find out
myself how language and gender interrelate in my own Chinese Javanese
community. I know a couple of people who have done research on Javanese
politeness and Javanese women's language. If any of you are interested in
this topic or have done any research on Javanese, I'd be interested to have
personal correspondence with you too.

I hope this posting is still in line with GALA's philosphy.
Thank you.

Esther Kuntjara
Petra University
Surabaya, Indonesia.