An Analysis Of Janet Holmes's 'Women Talk Too Much'

Strong Response to Talking Too Much Throughout history, women have been made to seem as if they can 't keep quiet, unlike their male counterparts. Through proverbs and literature, women are always the one gossiping and having to let other 's know of their opinions. How true is this, though? Janet Holmes addresses this in "Women Talk Too Much", a chapter in the book Language Myths. "Women Talk Too Much" explores this concept while looking at it from a scientific point of view. Firstly, different forms of speaking are used in different scenarios. Formal talk is used during business meetings, while informal talk is used for more personal reasons. Studies have shown that males govern over formal talk more than females. It could be deduced

It gave the readers plenty of opportunities to think of different angles. I began considering not only how I thought I talked, but analyzing how other women talked. After reading, "Women Talk Too Much", it made me analyze my own experiences along with the shocking realization that teachers do not know how biased they are being, as described by the Australian researcher, and pondered strategies on how teachers may use to combat

After reading "Women Talk Too Much", I reanalyzed my past discussions, but it still stands. In elementary, the only times the boys would speak up was if it was a conversation about sports or dinosaurs. In my later years, neither genders spoke up much. Now, that I 'm in college, I am noticing this trend that studies have shown. Some courses, such as a history course, seems to have both genders equally contributing. Others, like Calculus, was definitely dominated by men. Math is seen as an untraditional subject for females, so that might account for the lack of conversation. As Holmes discussed, social confidence accounts for a portion of women not adding to conversation. When I was in the class, the majority of students were males. I, a very outspoken person, felt uncomfortable asking questions, mostly because I was afraid of being judged not smart enough. When it came to social science classes though, I was actively discussing. To me, it was a more welcoming environment, possibly because I was never confused and I knew more about the subject. This is a direct reflection to the study on experts. "Women were more likely to ask questions and make comments when the topic was one they could claim expert knowledge about" (Holmes