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Implications of gender on communication
Difference in male and female communication
Difference in male and female communication
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Communication is the basic way for human beings to connect with each other. In our daily lives tons of information are exchanging from one another. If you have notice, there are some differences during communication between men and women. Because of these differences, a nature-versus-nurture debate on the cause of these communicate differences had been occurred. In my point of view, both sides can cause these differences.
Some expects propose an idea to explain this communication difference that is biological factors (Cordileone, 2006). According to Cordileone, Marianne Legato, an internist and professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University in New York and founder of the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine, explains in her book Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget that sex determines the hormones that circulate in our brain. Hormones trigger the fetal brain to grow in particular ways and this meshes with the learning we undergo through out our lives to make us who we are. She points out that men have larger brains but studies show women’s brain has more cells in the left hemisphere where controls listening and speaking. Female also have higher concentrations of dopamine, a chemical messenger that nerve cells use to communicate. More messengers means better and faster connections. The right hemisphere that we use to navigate the world and call on to do spatial tasks plays a dominant role in the male brain. Another expert Baron-Cohen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry and researcher in sex differences at Cambridge University holds common ground with Legato and found evidence to support that men and women behave differently because their brains work differently. In Baron-Cohen’s book The Essential Differ...
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...rs communicate in the same way and for some time the nurture affects biology profoundly. According to Provitera (2000), Tannen (1992) reported after research that males speak more often than females in mixed-gender interaction. Usually males dominated the conversation and researchers thought males and females were participating equally, which means there’s no big difference between men and women. Actually the communication difference gap between men and women has been shrunk nowadays. People are no more trapped in the stereotypes. Men can talk more about their feelings while women can express straight to the point, like men do.
We have to admit that both nature and nurture factors affect the way men and women communicate. It’s inappropriate to conclude in an extreme answer. There’s no doubt that genes made us who we are meanwhile the society shape us in some ways.
Both male and female brains are different and extends into a difference of what they can
Verbal communication is intended to deliver a specific message (Carnes, 2015). It is ideal for communicating face to face, long distance, or even using technology driven formats (Carnes, 2015). Nonverbal communication is immediate (Carnes, 2015). Through the eyes or even a soft touch, emotions can be displayed (Carnes, 2015). As it relates to men and women, there are differences in how both use verbal and non-verbal communication. Men communicate verbally to offer solutions that are goal oriented (Carnes, 2015). Women communicate verbally to show empathy and focus on relationship building (Carnes, 2015). On the other hand, women are very in tune to understanding non-verbal communication, while men tend to miss subtle signals (Carnes,
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
Men recognize that what they say to a female is either heard or reacted to differently than expected. Men find themselves thinking carefully about how to approach an issue or how to speak, thereby removing rapport building from the relationship with a female. Because female are more relationship oriented, they tend to lead by consensus. Men tend to be more hierarchical and include only the people closest to them at their level in the decision making process. When females have to make a decision they will often process and look at options out loud while men tend to process internally until they come up with a solution. Females often think that the male is being unresponsive to suggestions because of this and men often think that females are looking for approval when they process out loud or that they don't know what they are doing. Some men think that a female's way of processing is a sign of weakness.
Male or female, we all have the same basic human need to be understood by others, to communicate. One trait that can greatly influence the way we communicate is our gender. We may not agree with every theory of differences between male and female communication, but we do notice some differences in the genders when it is time to talk. Whether the communication is online or in person, there is a clear discrepancy between the genders. When it comes to public speeches and academic institutions, private discussions, and online talk we can clearly see the difference between how men and women talk and interact with other people.
Deborah Tannen is the author of the book You Just Don't Understand where she analyzes the different meanings of communication between men and women. Her research shows that women and men use the same words and phrases and yet can interpret and react to those same words and phrases differently. Tannen compares the two sexes to find men use their conversation as a type of competition or to preserve their independence. For example, men talk about their knowledge regarding sports, cars, women, exc. Meanwhile, women try to foster intimacy through communication. For instance, women often talk and relate on a personal level. Throughout Tannen's book she uses "cross-cultural communication" to describe the differences between the language of men and women. Tannen observed that, "For males, conversation is the way you negotiate your status in the group and keep people from pushing you around; you use talk to preserve your independence. Females, on the other hand, use conversation to negotiate closeness and intimacy; talk is the essence of intimacy, so being best friends means sitting and talking. For boys, activities, doing things together, are central. Just sitting and talking is not an essential part of friendship. They're friends with the boys they do things with" (Tannen 95).
I also felt that it is majorly due to the different contexts in which men and women are analyzed that creates more difference. If some informal situation is considered and comparison made between the language and style of communication of men and women, there would only be some minor differences and more similarities where language and communication is concerned.
“Love is magical, and it can last, if we remember our differences” (Gray 14). Gender communication differences are very complex, yet somewhat remarkable. Dr. John Gray explains that it is as if men and women come from different planets. Unfortunately, many times men and women forget that they are supposed to be different (10). In addition to the biological natural differences between males and females, society treats and values each gender very differently, all of which plays a big part in how they communicate (Papadopoulos 2). Dr. Gray states, “When you remember that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, everything can be explained” (10). If a man and woman do not take the time to understand, respect, and become aware of their differences,
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...
Although, it may be not recognized, gender is expressed through mindsets, non-verbal communication. According to Zimmerman (1987) , it is revealed that in order to realize the affect gender holds in society, one must step back and separate themselves from the perspectives on what sex and gender should look like that exist. Gender communication relates to expressions used by one gender in different types of relationships and roles amongst others. When communication was observed in gender separated environments to promote discussion, there were numerous differences observed in the ways that the men and women expressed themselves (How Do We Learn Gender?, 2015). Women held the ability to reveal a lot of personal information in group discussions
Several weeks ago I observed a woman at the Mall. She and a young man sitting directly across from each other were engaged in what was apparently a mutual flirting. But the younger man seemed much more confident and cocky than did the woman. For one thing, he was more relaxed and calm. The woman, however, kept her arms folded over a bag that she was holding on to very tightly. The woman also had a strong tendency to look down more often than the man. Although her admiration for him was obvious, she seemed to be trying hard to conceal it. Often women seem to be more noticeably shy than men. Non-verbally, their “body language'; seems to communicate their feelings of great uncertainty and self-consciousness.
...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.
...or a relationship”. In genderlects, there is no superior or inferior method of communication, but rather, men and women just communicate differently. By understanding these differences, one can reduce the amount of misunderstandings in future conversations.
We all know that men and women are different. They look different, act different, walk, talk, and even smell different. In part, the simple fact that we are different explains why we sometimes have trouble communicating with and understanding the opposite sex. However, a close look at our language may show that there is more to the communication barrier between the sexes than meets the eye.
Essentially, we are all different. We use language differently and interpret language differently. This is what we base our perceptions of others on, thus it is ultimately what dictates our interaction with others. The fact that men’s and women’s interaction differs because the two sexes generally interpret things differently is not a strange phenomenon, because we are all different.