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Gender inequality as a social problem
Gender bias and its effect
A conclusion of differences in communication between men and women
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There are vast communication differences between males and females, which makes it difficult for the two sexes to maintain stable and functional relationships with each other. Areas in which these problems occur include children’s development, friendships, romantic relationships, and work environments. If these communication problems continue to persist in heterosexual relationships, our nations heterosexual divorce rates may rise well over 50% in the next few decades. The communication problems between males and females usually begin in childhood. Deborah Tannen states in Sex, Lies, and Conversation that in children’s relationships “little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets” (424), but in the little boy’s relationships they “are based less on talking, and more on doing things together” (424). Theses communication differences in childhood help set the stage for more differences in adulthood. In my experience as a child, not all of the children had these differences though. I personally was different from most of the other kids and I was mostly friends with just guys. The bad thing about this is that most children are not like me. If more children were more like me, then a lot of these communication problems would probably be fixed. There are many communication problems …show more content…
When woman give feedback, they usually like to start off with the good points and then move on to the things the person needs to fix. An example of this happening in Tannen’s writing is when a woman gave a review to a male employee “She began this potentially awkward task by citing the report’s strengths and then moved to the main point: the weaknesses that needed to be remedied” (2nd article). When the man was told this he got confused, and thought that the woman mislead him to believe that everything was
Women respond very well to tone and word choice, which Tannen uses to her advantage. She uses personal experience to relate with her more female audience. For example, in the criticism section she uses a scenario that occurred between a male and female editors. Tannen “appreciated her tentativeness” that she gave Tannen when wanting to cut out part of her story(301). In contrast to that her male editor gave her a much different response, saying “call me when you have something new to say”(301). By stating a scenario with two very different outcomes, she falls more bias to women. This is effective to her more female audience because it paints women in a positive light and paints the men in a very negative light. The obvious bias towards women can arguably hurt her more than it could help her. Tannen automatically outs her male audience at a very awkward side, and makes it impossible for them to feel sympathy towards her. This hurts Tannen’s opportunity for having a broad audience, but for what she wrote it for she is very effective. If we are simply talking about how effective it was for women then Tannen hit home with them. Tannen’s choice of using what men say is also very smart, and helps with her effectiveness. She heard a man say, that after working for two women he realized neither of them have a sense of humor(304). By using examples like these
Deborah Tannen wrote “ Talk in the Intimate Relationship” to help people learn something about how men and women's interactions differ. She is a language scholar and has past experience of failed relationships and she feels as though this was because of lack of communication. Her main focus is on metamessages, these are messages that go beyond what we say. She states that the people that are literal minded, miss out on the context of what communication is. What this essay will consist of being what Tannen calls metamessages, summarizing her article on how men and woman talk, deciding whether Tannen is favorable to both genders and last but not least if I agree to an extent with Tannen says in her article.
Deborah Tannen is the author of “Sex, Lies and Conversation: Why is it So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other”. Tannen is a linguist who researches the relationships between men and women. She has not only conducted research, but has information published in several books and essays about this topic. Her research includes talking with several of groups and collecting data on the behalf of their response. In her essay, “Sex, Lies and Conversation,”Tannen argues that complications arise in marriages and relationships because individuals are not able to communicate with members of the opposite sex.
In her essay titled “It Begins at the Beginning”, professor of linguistics Deborah Tannen describes how girls’ and boys’ communication and language patterns differ from an early age. Tannen’s essay, which is adapted from her book titled You Just Don’t Understand, she states that in the world of communication boys and girls have vast differences, which makes itself apparent in the way that they play. The author backs this up with two explanations. First, is that people not only talk to boys and girls differently, but also accept different ways of talking from them. Second, children learn communication not only from their parents but also from their peers, and there are major differences in the way boys and girls play together and speak to each other.
There are many expectations on the way males and females are suppose to talk. As a baby and toddler one’s parents wants them to talk
Do men and women effectively communicate in the same way, or is it just a conversation of misunderstanding? There is constantly a new interest in whether men and women converse successfully. Professor and journalist, Deborah Tannen writes, “Sex, Lies, and Conversation: Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?” Tannen compares and contrasts all conversational styles, and explains how the expectation of dialogue affects how men and women converse. Tannen focuses on the subject of marriage and the imbalance of interest between male and female couples. The contrasting perspective however comes from, Deborah Cameron, author of, “What Language Barrier”. Cameron conveys that the stereotypes left upon male and female communication
This work (repeat the teaching) could make the kids realize and know their genders. The second step, in ages 3-5, when the kids know exactly what their gender, the parents want to let them do activity together. In this step, it is very hard to do that for boys particularly because their stereotypes about the gender are very stronger than the girls. This is back to the learning that they (boys) got from their previous step. In the third phase, we find that Kohlberg believes that children age 6 to 10 years begin to comprehend the gender differences between them. We find that kids at this stage, they begin to develop their skills on this basis. At this stage may not happen without any intervention of the parents, but the children get some confusion; for example, a child who has a tendency to carry out activities of gender, we find the parents are suffering at this stage because the child 's return to its own stereotypes. Also, at this stage, we find that the competition between the sexes is increasing somewhat, so that we see the kids are trying to prove gender personality. We can now say that the stereotype of children throughout
Tannen observed that communication begins with children. While a child grows they learn to speak from their parents and peers. Boy and girls may grow up within the same household but learn to communicate differently with each other. In groups children often play with the same sex: i.e. girls with girls, boys with boys. Although Tannen did a study on communication between men and women, she started with the interactions and communication of children. Her study concludes boys tend to play outside within large groups usually playing: sports, army, or cops and robbers. One boy in the group tends to take control, over the rest of the members, making him the leader. Meanwhile, girls play in smaller groups or pairs playing: house or dolls. This type of playing gives girls equality to ensure they will make a best friend. Tannen points out boys style of communication is more competitive arguing over who is the winner opposed to who is the loser, while the girls are less competitive by trying to make suggestions and compromise with others.
Through out history, men and women have struggled to understand each other. Society has struggled to meld their complex differences while embracing the wonder of individuality. Biologist attempt to explain why men and women are different yet comes from the very similar genetic make-up. Psychologists have made grand strides in understanding how the mind works in the dynamics of relationships between men and women. And in a society that is governed by economics, the realm of social status and money can often determine whom one will couple with.
Communication between males and females has always been somewhat complicated. Because we are arguing that males and females have different cultures we wanted to take a look at what some of these differences might be. According to our research the inherent differences between male and female culture are the different roles that society holds for them and the ways these roles lead to different communication styles. The stereotypes that men and women grow up with affect the types of ways in which they communicate. We first wanted to take a look at how they specifically differ while men and women are arguing or having normal conversations. We also looked at the different types of networks that men and women share. These networks also differ and as do the reasonings for their formation. Although we do not think that men and women need to change their cultures to effectively communicate, we do think that better communication is possible. One of the researchers we took a look at was Deborah Tannen. According to Tannen the reason that men and women do not communicate well is that men and women use language differently. Women take the attitude that conversation is to explore solutions to common problems while men concern themselves more with getting information and hard data from conversation. Tannen states that what women look for in communication is human connection, while men consider status to be most important. They are looking for independence and are constantly looking for higher accomplishments. Intimacy threatens this independence, so men have a tendency to avoid it. One of the old sayings about women is that they talk more than men. It turns out that it is not necessarily true. Women seem to talk more in private conversations than do men. Women do not generally have a fear of intimacy and therefore are much more open with one another during private conversations. It is more difficult for women to use this type of communication style in the public arena. In that case it is men that do most of the talking. Tannen ultimately argues that men use communication as a weapon. They use long explanations to command attention from who it is they are speaking to. They use it to convey information and to ultimately gain agreement. Tannen suggests that through even simple conversation men are continually protecting their status. She sugg...
In fact, gender socialization appears very early in childhood, and it is generally regarded as one of the most related issues in early childhood. (Early Childhood, 2007) Children learn the differences between boys and girls by the environment they are exposed to, and the ideas are reinforced mainly by family, education, peer groups, and the mass media.
Communication is something we all humans use. Communication “is the sharing of information between individuals by using speech”. People have ways of communicating some have their weaknesses in conversations and others have their strengths. When I communicate with others I feel that some things I say I do not verbalize right. I have two strengths and three weaknesses in my communicating. My three weakens in my communication are, check nonverbal feedback, to make people wrong and recognize that people understand information in different ways and my two strengths in my communication are being flexible, and take responsibility for the communication.
...a meaningful communication to take place. In conclusion, there are differences between men and women that go beyond social nurture. These differences have their origin in their genes. The differences evident in men and women are translated in their behavior and communication. There are possibilities of these differences in their turn raising the problem of failing to understand one another because in a communication men and women have a different set of expectations from each other. It is essential to understand and appreciate these differences for a meaningful communication to take place.
Lieberman, Simma. “Better Communication between Men and Women in the Workplace: Some Useful Tips”. Retrieved on October 4, 2004 from http://hodu.com/business-communication.4.shtml
Relationships are intricately complex. Made up of several interactions that are full of verbal and non-verbal communication, a relationship between any two people is completely and utterly unique. There are so many dynamics that are at play in relationships and several opportunities for both good and bad communication. In my life, I have experienced all kinds of people and relationships: friends, acquaintances, brothers, parents, teammates, lab-partners, peers, teachers, mentors. The list goes on and on. Three examples of my personal relationships are my relationship with my brother Caleb, my friend Kennedy, and my high school teacher Mrs. Antwine. In all three relationships, we communicate verbally and non-verbally. However, because of different circumstances, atmospheres, and backgrounds, each relationship differs from the others.