Even though men and women speak the same language, they speak it very differently. The different forms of English they speak can cause communication problems between them. About half of marriages today in America end in divorce and a lack of communication is one of the main reasons for divorce. Sometimes, it may not be an actual lack of communication but rather a perceived one. Men and women communicate very different from each other. Evolutionary and cultural roles are the main influences on why men and women speak differently.
Lots of people tend to use the words “sex” and “gender” interchangeably. However, according to Gender in Sociolinguistics and Anthropology. “I use the term “sex” only when I was speaking of biological differences between males and females and use “gender” whenever I was referring to the social, cultural, psychological constructs that are imposed upon these biological differences. (Mcelhinny 22). For example, “sex” only has to do with the body and the hormones it produces. A person is born male or female. “Gender” is society’s definition of how a person of either sex should behave. One is not born a gender, the society makes them the gender they are. Does one’s gender or does one’s sex impact their language more? Evolutionary psychology helps explain how one’s sex impacts their language. “Evolutionary psychology has been described as a new ‘science of human nature’” (Cameron 3). Being born male or being born female may as much of an impact on your language as the culture you are raised in. This is basically the nature versus nurture debate. Evolution (sex) is the nature aspect and society (gender) is the nurture impact. So, is one’s mind born male or female? Or is it born as a blank slate? According to C...
... middle of paper ...
...ean what you say.” International Journal of Market Research Vol. 49 Issue 6: Ethnography Special Issue. se(2007): 715-734. Electronic Source.
Coates, Jennifer. Women, Men, and Language: A Sociolinguistic Account of Gender Differences in Language. London: Longman, 1993. Print.
Federici, Eleonora. Translating Gender. Bern: Peter Lang, 2011. E-book.
Mcelhinny, Bonnie. “Theorizing Gender in Sociolinguistics and Linguistic Anthropology.” The Handbook of Language and Gender. Ed. Janet Holmes. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003. 21-42. Print.
Lopez-Rocha, Sandra. “Men and Women in Conversation.” International Journal of the Humanities. (2005):189-196. Electronic Source.
Guvendir, Emre. “Sex-Related Structural Differences in Language Areas of the Human Brain and Their Implications for Intergroup Relations in Ancestral Groups.” Language Sciences. (2013): 174-182. Electronic Source.
How do children learn to be men or women? Penelope Eckert is a professor of linguistics and anthropology at Stanford University, and Sally McConnell-Ginet is a professor of linguistics at Cornell University. They wrote an article “Learning to Be Gendered,” published in 2013 in the book “Language and Gender.” The authors argue that society has many ways to shape children’s gender by their behaviors since their birth. Eckert and Ginet show to the readers that the parent teaches their child’s behavior.
Many feminist/post-modern theorists see language as a patriarchal construct that excludes women. As Jeanie Forte writes, this characterization of language is informed by Lacanian theory, which, in turn, is influenc...
Gender Matters is a collection of various essays on feminist linguistic texts analysis, by Sara Mills. Mills develops methods of analyzing literary and non-literary texts, in addition to conversational analysis based on a feminist approach. The author draws on data from her collection of essays gathered over the last two decades on feminism during the 1990s. The essays focus on gender issues, the representation of gender in reading, writing, and in public speaking. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of feminists’ analysis of sexism in literature and the relation between gender and politeness. The article is informative for my research paper, as my topic is going to cover language analysis of the text and who women reading and writing differs according to the discourse analysis within linguistic, psychology, case studies audiences and surveys. The book would be helpful, particularly the last three essays that discusses gender, public speaking, the question of politeness and impoliteness in public speaking. Mills’ analysis is not complete without including the idea of global notions of both women and men, to see whether women and men write and read in the same way globally. Therefore, an update would enrich the book’s discussion section. Although, Mills addresses the class and race theme in language and public speaking, I will only look into the role of language that plays a part in doing or reducing gender in literary, non-literary texts and in conversation.
In recent years, gender differences have already been one of the most controversial issues in various research. As an important communication tool of mankind, language is inevitably involved in controversies. However, Rachel Rafelman, a Canadian journalist and the author of “The Party Line” express her thought and opinion in her essay. She not only have some great points on what and how women and men are likely to talk, but also have different points on the talking environment. She comes up with facts and fit real and particle examples in her essay to make it understood. Whereas, Ronald Macaulay, a professor of linguistics and the author of “Sex Difference” uses words of novels to argue and promotes them as a cause of reinforce to men’s and women’s stereotypes in his essay. He argues through his whole as rebuttal and gives some examples to oppose the preconceived notion of sex differences. Over all, both Rafelman and Macaulay are the good writer but Rafelman is having upper to prove her essay better organized using her tones as per requirement.
Sex is defined as the biological and physiological characteristics, which can be simplified to as being male or female (World Health Organization website). However, gender is defined as the “socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women” (World Health Organization website). This means that sex is based on the physical biology of a person, while gender is based on the social roles that the person is expected to adhere to. Linguistic determinism is a theory that says “that language may determine thought,” and it was supported by “cognitive differences that resulted in people who speak in languages with different grammatical structure” (Wasserman and Weseley). Linguistic relativity has greater support, and it refers to “the idea that language can reflect and preserve existing social structures and influence perceptions of reality” (Wasserman and Weseley). The social justification effect is defined as the disadvantaged groups that “rationalize the society that puts them at a disadvantage and to therefore embrace the idea that their own group is inferior” (Wasserman and Weseley).
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
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
Lieberman, Simma. “Differences in Male and Female Communication Styles” Simma Lieberman Associates (undated). Retrieved February 25, 2010<
Do men and women really speak different languages? Well according to the Men are from Mars and Women from Venus theory, we speak very different languages. The Mars and Venus concept is by John Gray. John Gray offered many suggestions for understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite gender. Another major point of Gray's books are the differences in the way they react under stress. John Gray’s book “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” was the best seller for 6 years in a role. As you can see, people really do believe that men and women communicate in a very different way. But I am not completely convinced. I believe there is more that your gender that plays a role in how you communicate with the opposite gender.
Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand : Women And Men In Conversation / Deborah Tannen. n.p.: New York : Morrow, c1990., 1990. Valdosta State University GIL Catalog. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Kessler, Suzanne J, and McKenna. Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Wood, J. T. (2011). Gendered Verbal Communication. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture (10th ed., pp. 118-137). Boston, MA: Cengage.
Sex and gender are terms that are mixed up from day to day and seen as similarities rather than differences. Sex is what distinguishes people from being either male or female. It is the natural or biological variations between males and females (Browne, 1998). Some of these variations are genitals, body hair and internal and external organs. It is the make-up of chromosomes, men have one X and one Y chromosome and women have two X chromosomes, these are responsible for primary characteristics (Fulcher and Scott, 2003). Gender on the other hand refers to the sociological differences between male and female. This is teaching males and females to behave in various ways due to socialisation (Browne, 1998). Example: masculinity and femininity. Girls are supposed to show their femininity by being non-competitive, sensitive, dependent, attractive and placid. If and when some girls don’t succeed in keeping this image they will be referred to as a tomboy. On the other hand, boys show their masculinity through aggression, physical strength...
The book An Intorduction of Sociolinguistics is an outstanding introductary book in the field of sociolinguistics. It encompasses a wide range of language issues. In chapter 13, Wardhaugh provides a good insight to the relationship between language and gender. He explains gender differences of language-in-use with concise examples. Wardhaugh riases questions about sexist language and guides readers to look closer at how people use language differently because of their own gender in daily life. According to the Whorfian hypothesis, which indicates that the way people use language reflects their thoughts, different genders adapt different communication strategies.
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.