Roles of men and women
Of the many changes which have taken place in American society since World War II, one of the greatest has been in the roles of men and women. Members of both genders have lived multiple roles in the past, but these were generally established ones, such as men being the wage earners and women the caregivers.
Communication followed largely defined cultural and societal norms. Usually, nuances in speech and in body language could readily be interpreted. As Archie Bunker nostalgically sang in television’s "All in the Family," "... and you knew who you were then; girls were girls and men were men."
Many of the roles have remained the same, but now they frequently are carried out by members of either gender. Women have careers in engineering or sports; a growing number of men have full-time care of home, children, and the disabled. Both men and women have a variety of jobs in the workplace and positions in the hierarchy of management.
Communication between the genders has become more prevalent and pervasive in society, as norms have changed. When one adds the mobility of the American population and the differences among the cultures they represent, both the importance and difficulty of effective communication increases. Now medical and sociological researchers are offering aid, even across cultural lines, in gender communication.
Communication differences
Few Americans communicate with as many different types of individuals of both genders as U.S. Army chaplains and chaplain assistants as they interact with each other, and provide religious support to soldiers, family members, and other civilians — worldwide. Their roles and orientation to people often give them special insights in communication. The following observations, however, may also be helpful to both men and women.
Men are widely observed to come quickly to the point they wish to make, while women tend to use more detail in leading up to the point. In communicating with women, men may become impatient as they search for the point, or lose interest. If they interrupt, women can be frustrated or offended.
In talking with men, therefore, women can use two techniques to communicate more effectively. First, begin with the point, or "bottom line," if possible. Second, omit unnecessary detail.
On the other hand, men can refrai...
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...relate nonsense words, men used only the left sides of their brains; but after the majority of women processed the information on the left sides of their brains. They used the right side to relate additional examples. Might this difference have any bearing on the fact that women as a group usually include more detail in their speech?
Conclusion
Knowledge may continue to expand; many enigmas of speech and behavior may be solved. But good communication between individuals can continue to be based on the precept underlying all the examples described above.
This precept, shared by the great religions of the world, is kindness: caring for each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Glass, Lillian, "How to Communicate Better with the Opposite Sex," Bottom Line/Personal, August 15, 1996.
_____, "Perspectives on Literacy, Gender, and Change," British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 16, Issue 4, December 1995.
Richardson, Susan, "S/HE Brains," Discover Magazine, June 1995.
Margaret Robertson served as a program analyst in the Directorate of Combat Developments at the Chaplain School until her retirement in March 1997.
Army Chaplaincy
Sabbatini, R. (n.d.). Are There Differences between the Brains of Males and Females?. "Brain & Mind" Magazine - WWW Home Page. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html
Sex differentiation often characterizes males and females behaviour according to sex hormones, mainly estrogen and testosterone that takes place within the womb. This explains why boys play with cars, and girls play with dolls. Feminists tend to argue that this a result of social stereotypes, but alarming scientific results have shown that this is perhaps due to hormones(York, n.d., para.18). In fact, studies have revealed that problem-solving tasks are different in women and men. Females use problem-solving tasks in both of their hemispheres, whereas, males use only one hemisphere. There is also frequent evidence illustrating that males are better in spatial and math skills. On the other hand, females are considered to be better in vocabular...
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).
Mostly in regards to women, this change is called the gender revolution. They have become much more involved in roles and activities that men were once previously dominating. The biggest change is the increase in workforce. Ever since the 1960’s, it has dramatically increased from under 40% of women in the workforce to now around 70% (273). Also, the feminist movement allowed laws against sex discrimination to assist them even further in having both a career and family. In regards to the impact on men from the gender revolution, their role’s, in comparison to mother roles, has been more resistant but changed nonetheless. They spend more time caring for their children at home and doing housework. POSSIBLY ADD
American society needs to break from the mold of the myth of gender, which suggests that society and culture dictate our roles as men and women, as can only restrict us into unnecessary conformity. The opinion of society should no longer decide who we are, what we do, and what we’re capable of doing. We, as Americans, need to deeply analyze and question this fallacy of gender and the way it restricts us at home, in the media, and in the classroom. If we continue to follow the invisible guidelines of in invisible rulebook, we’re destined to hurt ourselves and our future generations by remaining nestled into our cultural cocoons and never shedding them.
Further evidence of communicative differences exist between men and women in various other social settings as well. Consider, for example, those individuals employed in customer service-related Jobs. While in JC Penny, I noticed that female customer service representatives were more apt to offer immediate friendly assistance than the male reps. Men are not as cocky nor as confident in this sort of situation; their eyes tend to dart around the area of the store while the eyes of a women remain focused upon the eyes of the customer. The men seem to communicate with a lot less smiles. Apparently they have to get past a certain “ice-breaking'; point before they will feel comfortable with a genuine look of happiness.
...ind this to be a typical male trait. Our surveys and research found however, that these types of traits are normally associated with men within the business world. Through our research, we found that in a male dominated society, adapt to the male styles of communication. As we have previously stated, the styles of communication between genders differ greatly. Men tend to use conversation to obtain data whereas women use conversation to create connections. Through our research, we also came up with some solutions for bridging the communication gaps between males and females. To reduce miscommunication, males and females must learn to interpret the messages being sent to them. They must learn to understand the speakers' motives and background. In effective communication, one must realize the experiences of the speaker and listener, and work to create a common understanding of the messages being created. Males should try to understand the female need for connection whereas females need to understand the male need for data. If the two cultures can learn to combine their styles by offering information while creating a connection, the male and female communication gap will be bridged.
A lot of attention has been dedicated to the thought that women and men communicate very differently from one another. In this paper I am going to discuss the gender differences in communications between the opposite sexes. Many believe that gender plays a major role in communication but in all reality, that isn’t the case. Several factors play a part in how someone communicates with another person regardless of their sex. The main question is what role does gender play in communication or is it the roles our cultures put on genders’. In my opinion, it is the way we were raised that affects the way we communicate.
The traditional gender roles have been slowly blurred over time. Traditional mid-20th-century American gender roles separate the roles of men and women within a household. Men were the head of household and then the women obeyed their husband. Within the last thirty years, the distinction between the two genders has slowly become equal in the workplace and in daily life.
In the present United States, a mixture of males and females make up a university classroom. In life, males and females have different conversational styles. The ways that they communicate to each other in a conversation, as well as how they communicate with their instructors and peers in the classroom. Although there is a combination of both genders in the classrooms, schools gravitate more towards using learning techniques that are more applicable towards men than women (Tannen 369). When teaching with a mixture of people that learn differently, it is difficult to have a certain technique to use that would help everybody in the same way. Yet it is important that equal opportunities are given to both genders that allows them to do their best and succeed in their academic careers. Educational professionals need to understand the conversational differences in gender and have better teaching strategies that fit both male and female conversational styles.
...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.
Littlejohn, S.W., & Foss, K. A. (2009). Genderlect Theory. Encyclopedia of Communication Theory (1st ed., Vol.25, pp. 205-207). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Before the movement in the seventies, women were treated unfairly throughout history. This means that women have been seen as the ones who need to rely on people and the men are the ones who are the head of houses. In 19th century America, men and women were put into different categories known as the separate spheres. The spheres were known as the public and private spheres; and it was easy for people to figure out which gender went to which sphere. The men were seen as the ones more mature to handle the public while the women were the ones who were in charge of the house, children, and different chores;
Gender roles and identity are constantly shifting throughout different societal generations. Men and woman both have notable similarities and differences in genders and they each contribute to their personalities and actions. In the past men have been viewed as a more dominant sex in society over women, both in careers, home life, and sexually, however, today women have bridged many of the gaps and society is accepting a more equal view of genders. The following examines the similarities and differences between men and woman by looking at biological characteristics, gender roles, and sexual responses.
...terpretation of language. “Women and men sometimes perceive the same messages to have different meanings” (Torppa). Everybody has seen the affects of this difference in interpretation in society. It is the reason why there are more women at Celine Dion Concerts, and why there are more men attend heavy metal concerts.