THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN S AND TRANSVESTITE S SPEAKING STYLE IN KINKY BOOTS MOVIE

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1 THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN S AND TRANSVESTITE S SPEAKING STYLE IN KINKY BOOTS MOVIE Anissa Pratiwi Solehawati English Department, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta Address: Villa Taman Cibodas, Jl. Seruni VIII Blok P4. No. 10 RT:004 RW:011, Tangerang; Mobile: Menik Winiharti, SS., M.Hum. English Department, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta ABSTRACT Language develops over time as the communication tool used by human. Every language in the world has different speaking style such as grammar and vocabulary. The different gender between the speakers can cause many variations of speaking styles in the conversation. Therefore, this research is conducted to find the differences on grammar and vocabulary used by men and transvestite in Kinky Boots movie. This research uses qualitative method to find these differences. It is found from the differences on grammar and vocabulary used by men and transvestite from their conversation that the transvestite is polite while the men tend to use more non-standard grammar in their conversation. Keyword: language, gender, grammar, vocabulary, transvestite Bahasa berkembang dari waktu ke waktu sebagai alat komunikasi yang digunakan oleh manusia. Setiap bahasa di dunia memiliki gaya bicara yang berbeda seperti tata bahasa dan kosa kata. Jenis kelamin yang berbeda antar pembicara dapat menyebabkan berbagai variasi gaya berbicara dalam percakapan. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dilakukan untuk menemukan perbedaan pada tata bahasa dan kosakata yang digunakan oleh laki-laki dan waria dalam film "Kinky Boots". Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif untuk menemukan perbedaan-perbedaan ini. Hal yang ditemukan dari perbedaan pada tata bahasa dan kosakata yang digunakan oleh laki-laki dan waria dari percakapan mereka menunjukan 1

2 bahwa waria berbicara dengan sopan sedangkan pria lebih cenderung berbicara dengan tata bahasa yang tidak standar dalam percakapan mereka. Keyword: bahasa, jenis kelamin, tata bahasa, waria INTRODUCTION Language is a communication system and tool of human being. Every language in this world has a different system, structure and vocabulary. In fact, there are many kinds of words in language use because of different gender. The differences can lead misunderstanding in conversation. The linguistic practices are influenced and decided by social factors such as gender, family, wealth, class, second language and along with others (007, p.34). People are expected to act and to say according to their sex, but common people will not always fit with this opinion. There are remaining groups who suffer from gender discrimination for example, transvestites because they do not meet society's expectations for people born with their anatomy. Transvestites mean transgender who enjoy wearing the opposite sex s clothes and usually they act like the opposite gender they choose since their young ages as eight or ten. Charlie, who is the son of the owner of the men shoe factory, does not know what he has to do in order to save his family businees after his father passed away. He then meets a transvestite named Lola in London, who is inspiring him to change his men shoe factory into transvestite shoe factory. These situations lead them to make business together and there are differences of speaking style between men and transvestite in their conversation. It is interesting to find the differences between men s and transvestite s language style because of the grammar and the unusual vocabulary use through the characters in Kinky Boots movie which is directed by Julian Jarrold in 005. RESEARCH METHOD In conducting this research, qualitative research is used to collect data. The data source is the characters in Kinky Boots movie which is directed by Julian Jarrold in 005. Firstly, the Kinky Boots movie is watched without taking notes. Afterwards, the movie is watched again for several times while taking notes about the conversation between men and transvestite. Meanwhile, matching the movie with the script is also done in this research to collect the conversational segment between men and transvestite. After the conversational segment is collected, the utterances between men and transvestite are divided into two following categories: 1) Utterances containing different choice of grammar, ) Utterances containing different use of vocabulary. And the last, general conclusion is finally made from the result of the analysis. RESULT AND DISCUSION The summary of Kinky Boots Movie In conducting this research, Kinky Boots movie is chosen as the data source. This movie is about a traditional shoe factory in Northampton that almost goes bankrupt. The movie is based on a hilarious true story. Charlie, who is the son of the owner of the men shoe factory, does not know what he has to do in order to save his family businees after

3 his father passed away. He thinks that the shoe factory must reduce the number of its employees. Once upon a time, he meets a transvestite named Lola in London. When Charlie sees Lola wearing women shoes, he concerns about that, because women shoe usually is not designed for men s weight. Charlie finds the idea to make business together with Lola. When they decide to make business together, many people in Northampton can not accept Lola s identity as a transvestite because it is not very common to see a man in women clothing, transvestite, in Northampton. However, people can finally accept Lola s identity until Charlie s and Lola s business succeed in Milan fashion show with their transvestite shoe. The Grammar Analysis There are aspects of speaking style in which men and transvestite differ. The first one is the use of grammar, while the second is the use of vocabulary. According to Cheshire, gender differences have been found in usage of nonstandard morphological and syntactix features in working class district of Reading, England (as cited in Coates, 004): 1)Non-standard s: They calls me all the names under the sun don t they? )Non-standard has: You just has to do what the teachers tell you. 3)Non-standard was: You was with me, wasn t you? 4)Negative concord: It ain t got no pedigree or nothing 5)Non-standard never: I never went to school today. 6)Non-standard what: Are you the little bastards what hit my son over the head? 7)Non-standard do: She cadges, she do 8)Non-standard come: I come down here yesterday 9)Ain t = auxiliary have: I ain t seen my Nan for nearly seven years. 10)Ain t = auxiliary be: 3

4 Course I ain t going to the avenue. 11)Ain t = copula: You ain t no boss. Meanhile, the use of grammar by men in the Kinky Boots movie is analyzed based on only 5 features of Chesire s non-standard morphological and syntactic: 1)Non-standard s with nonsingular subjects: 1 occurence )Non-standard Has (with first- and second person subjects): 1 occurrence 3)Non-standard Was (with plural subjects and singular you ): occurrences 4)Ain t = auxiliary have: occurrences 5)Ain t = auxiliary be: 3 occurrences According to Barret (as cited in Cameron and Kullick, 003), the concept queer was formulated in 1990 as political challenge to gay and lesbian develops as particular language that is spoken by gay community. He suggests that the drag queens use the co-occurrence of inappropriate linguistic. In Kinky Boots movie, there are the co-occurrence of inapropriate linguistic that used by transvestite such as missing subject and verb:: - Very sweet. You riding to my rescue. Very Prince Charming. - Let s have a look. Don t flatter yourself. Vodka. Helps you forget pain. - No, he disowned me. Wouldn t see me. Even when he got lung cancer, he wouldn t. However, an article and noun that is used currently can be described as subject or object. It can be categorized as nonstandard grammar when noun and verb are not used in the utterance or sentence. The Vocabulary Use Analysis On the other hand, in vocabulary use, men use curse words with greater frequency. There are 4 data in the movie that are categorized as curse words used by men: - And how it applies to you. I m about to take an almighty fucking gamble. - Piss off. (The setting is in the shoe factory. When Don talks to Lola.) - What the hell was he playing at? I mean, why didn t he Why did he carry on making em? -Crew: This is it. It s you, Charlie. Charlie: Shit. (The setting is at shoe affair in Milan. Charlie is preparing himself for the show.) According to Cameron and Kullick (003, p. 10), the study of language and sexuality bring the specialisation of language used in sexual subcultures and the speaking style issue of gay men and lesbians which differs them from heterosexual men and women. Commonly, feminine gender identity is defined as women s behaviour while the masculine gender identity is describred as men s behaviour. Meanwhile, Zwicky (as cited in Cameron and Kullick, 4

5 003) argues that gay men speak unusual linguistic features as they want to differ themselves from heterosexual masculinity. In this movie, transvestite uses : 1)More specific terms denoting colors such as: They aren t totally red. They re Burgundy. Burgundy. Please God tell me. I ve not inspired something burgundy. Red. Red. Red. Charlie boy. Rule one, Red...is the color of sex. Burgundy is the color of water bottles. Red is the color of sex and fear and danger and signs that say, Do Not Enter. All of my favorite things in life. Meanwhile, the transvestites also create their own vocabulary to be understood only in their community. Describing the meaning of color is only understood by their community. Other common people do not describe the meaning of color. They just think about the comfortable of the thing. In this case, transvestites tend to express more the feminity as their identity, as suggested, one of the evidences of the frequency of particular colour terms in women s talk study by Lakoff in 1970s, US, In these utterances, Lola describes red based on her own meaning and it is understood only in her community. She can also describe red into another part, such as burgundy. )Describing the meaning of something based on transvestite s meaning: - I m not merely transvestite, sweetheart. I m also drag queen. It s a simple equation. A drag queen puts on a frock, looks like Kylie. A transvestite puts on a frock, looks like Boris Yeltsin in lipstick. There d I said it. Ta. Whatever. Don t kid yourself. The situation of this utterance is taken bar when Charlie and his assistant, Lauren, came to asking Lola to be a new shoe designer. In these utterances, Lola describes transvestite and drag queen based on her own meaning and it is understood only in her community. It is uttered by the transvestite to the man who cannot differ between transvestite and drag queen. She says that drag queen puts on a frock looks like Kylie, and transvestite puts on a frock looks like Boris Yeltsin in lipstick. The utterance is supporting Legman s theory (as cited in Cameron and Kullick, 003) with list of words that are used by some homosexuals in some contexts which is documented as The Language of Homosexuality mentiond the terms that is only used by homosexuals in their community and the heterosexuals basically do not understand the meaning of each terms. - Amen. Look to the heel, young man. The sex is in the heel. What s that supposed to mean? Sex is in the heel. This shows that Lola as a transvestite can describe the heel of the boots. Other common people do not describe the meaning of their heel. They just think about the comfortable of the boots. Lola describes the heel based on her own meaning and it is understood only in her community. It is uttered by the transvestite to the man who does not care about the model of the heel. The utterance is supporting Legman s theory (as cited in Cameron and Kullick, 003) with list of words that are used by some homosexuals in some contexts which is documented as The Language of Homosexuality mentioned the terms that is only used by homosexuals men in their community and the heterosexuals men basically do not understand the meaning of each terms. 3)Using politeness ( please, thank you ): - Thank you. Could you get me a Bloody Mary, please? In these utterance, Lola uses a politeness formula thank you and please. In this case, transvestites tend to express more the feminity as their identity, as suggested, one of the evidences of superpoliteness in women s talk study by Lakoff in 1970s, US, is used when Lola says thank you to the waiter who is picking up a chair for her. 5

6 She also says please when she offers a Bloody Mary to the waiter. This shows that politeness formula is used by the transvestite in this movie as Lola shows her feminity behaviour. - Thank you again, Mr sorry to be presumptive. Are you a Mr? In this utterance, Lola says thank you to Charlie who saves her from the freemen on the street. It can be seen that the transvestites more often uses female register in their communication. In this case, transvestites tend to express more the feminity as their identity, as suggested, one of the evidences of superpoliteness in women s talk study by Lakoff in 1970s, US, is used when Lola says thank you to Charlie who saves her from the freemen on the street. This shows that politeness is used by the transvestite in this movie as Lola shows her feminity behaviour. Based on the data that are analyzed, the differences between men s and transvestite s speech styles in the movie can be seen in the following table: Table 1. The Differences Between Men s and Transvestites Speaking Styles in Kinky Boots Movie. Use of Men s Utterances Occurrences Transvestite s Utterances Occurrences Grammar 1. Non standard s 1 1. Missing subjects and verb 3. Non-standard has 3. Non-standard 1 was 4. Ain t auxiliary have 5. Ain t auxiliary be 3 Use of Vocabulary Use of cursing words 4 1. Denoting colors with more specific terms. Describing the meaning of something based on transvestite s meaning 3. Using politeness ( thank you and please ) 1 6

7 CONCLUSION 1 occurence of non-standard -s, 1 occurrence of non-standard has, occurrences of was with plural subjects and singular you, occurrences of ain t used for negative auxiliary have and 3 occurrences of ain t used for negative auxiliary be. Meanwhile, there are 3 occurrences that are missing subject and verb which are uttered by transvestite. In terms of vocabulary, there are 4 occurrences of men s utterances that use cursing words. Meanwhile, there are occurrences of describing meaning based on transvestite s own analysis which is explaining about herself to a man, and occurrences of female register such as using politeness ( thank you and please ) which are uttered by transvestite. In addition to the different use of grammar and vocabulary between men and transvestite, it is found that Lola, as the transvestite, is more polite that Charlie, as the man. It is concluded that Charlie as the man who owns the business has higher frequency in using more non-standard grammar which based on Chesire s theory in non-standard grammar as to reveal the gender differences among the speakers. REFERENCES Aarts, F. & Aarts, J English Syntactic Structures. London: Pergamon. Acker, J. (006). Class Questions: Feminist Answers. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Bjursäter, U. (004). Speaking Styles and Phonetic Variation. Retrieved April 17, 013, from Cameron, D. & Kulick, D. (003). Language and Sexuality. Cambridge: University Press. Coates, J. (004). Women, Men and Language. (3rd ed.). Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited. Eskenazi, M. (199). A bibliography on Speaking Styles and Related Subjects. Notes et Documents du LIMSI, Holmes, J. (008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. (3rd ed.). Edinburg Gate: Pearson Education Limited. Mallison, C. (007). Social Class, Social Status and Stratification: Revisiting Familiar Concepts in Sociolinguistics. Social Class: Other Sociological Frameworks, 13, 155. Nunan, D. (199). Research Methods in Language Learning. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Schmitt, N. (010). Researching Vocabulary. University of Nottingham: Palgrave Macmillan. Sergei, K. Kinky Boots Script - Dialogue Transcript. Retrieved March, 01 from Stockwell, P. (007). Sociolinguistics. (nd ed.). New York: Routledge. Wardhaugh, R. (1993). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. New York: Basil Blackwell. 7

8 AUTHOR Anissa Pratiwi Solehawati was born in Bekasi on August 10 th, The author graduated his Bachelor degree at Bina Nusantara University in the field of English Literature on