Analysis Of Deborah Tannen's Conversation Style: Talking On The Job

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In the introduction of Deborah Tannen’s “Conversation Style: Talking on the Job”, she compares and contrasts the ways men and women communicate. This reminds me of what I tell people that are struggling in their relationships. Women and men express themselves differently. Women think, but men act. If you can’t wrap your head around this, being in a relationship with anyone is going to be hard. Yet, this is such a basic way of looking at this issue. Not only are the genders vastly different, but each person relates to the world around them in a certain way. He or she also needs to be related to in a specific way. Looking at personalities and personal histories can give a better look at the way we communicate with each other. Tannen examines …show more content…

When someone says ‘gender categorization and identity’, I think of the 1950’s and places where women aren’t worth as much as men. They hold some negative connotations for me, but they aren’t bad in their essence. Categorization is placing things into classes, to organize them. We categorize gender as children because of our culture. A doll is assessed as a girl because it wears a dress, yet it cannot be female. People are assigned the most basic identity in gender, no matter who they are. A black male would be categorized differently than a black female would be. Erving Goffman takes this debate a step further to say that some behaviors are “somehow inherent in their sex” (qtd. by Tannen; 63). Behaviors of men and women seem to fall into patterns with their corresponding genders. Not everyone fits into these neat little boxes. This does, however, show gender categorization. Gender identity is the opposite of gender categorization. This is the way we see …show more content…

No matter what is meant, it’s the interpretation that counts. This goes back to men and women being different. Tannen tells a story about Amy and Donald. Amy, attempting to be kind, sugar coats the issue she is having with Donald. This issue goes right over Donald’s head and he gets upset that Amy didn’t simply tell him. The interpretation of the exact same conversation was utterly different (63-64). People tend to communicate in the way they understand communication. If he or she likes direct people, direct is the way he or she will likely handle a situation. A timid person may see this directness as

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