Sex Lies And Conversation Analysis

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Deborah Tannen, in her article “Sex, Lies, and Conversation,” discusses how differently men and women communicate and how this causes confusion and often times disorder in marriage. She goes on to explain that in order for men and women to effectively communicate, each sex has to understand the way the other sex communicates. Generally, men are more talkative in public situations, yet they are more quiet at home situations (Tannen p. 408), which can cause problems in marriages if men and women don’t understand the ways both sexes communicate. Tannen explains how men and women’s brains function differently and how one thing may mean a completely different thing to the opposite sex. Silence, to men, for instance, means a completely different …show more content…

As Tannen explains in her article, both sexes tend to socialize with the same sex, and these allows them to develop social norms (Tannen p. 409). As children we are taught, unknowingly, different ways to communicate, not realizing that the opposite sex does not communicate in the same way. Women tend to share secrets or carry conversation which creates friendships, whereas men bond by spending time with one another (Tannen p. 409). This explains why so much confusion can go on between sexes, because if one sex feels as though they need conversation to bond and the other just thinks that they have to spend time together in order to bond, then this can create chaos. Tannen explains how men are clueless on the talk women want and don 't tend to miss it when it is not there, whereas women feel that lack of communication leads to separation and ultimately …show more content…

Men communicate silence as them no longer having to prove something or that their listening, however, women communicate silence as being quiet in order to not offend anyone or start a disagreement (Tannen p. 412). Men and women’s miscommunication on silence can also cause lots of confusion for both sexes, because women probably don’t understand why men don’t talk much when they get home, but are very talkative out in public. In fact, as long as opposite sexes are not understanding of the reasons why communication is different between men and women, then this will cause deep stress for

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