Chapter 33 Genderlect Styles

I really enjoyed learning about this theory because I am currently taking gender and communication. It was nice to be able to relate what I am learning in that class to this theory, and it also helped me understand this theory better. Tannen talks about the difference between sex and gender, and relates these differences to communication. Men and women communicate in different ways however, women can develop more masculine ways of communicating, and men can develop more feminine ways of communicating. Tannen says that while men and women use different styles, neither one is better or worse than the other. While discussing this in class, I began to think of specific times where I have seen masculine and feminine ways of communication. I decided to watch CNN and observe the communication styles that the broadcasters where using. I observed a conversation that was going on between a male and a female reporter. As I listened, I noticed that the man had a very masculine way of communicating. He was very blunt and persuasive in the way that he talked. When I observed the women, she actually seemed to carry very similar traits. It was obvious that she was using a more masculine style of communication that almost mirrored him. I found this very interesting, and it made me wonder if this women communicated like this in her everyday life, or if she was only molding it so that she could maintain her part in the conversation. I think that this is a very interesting topic to look into, and I feel that there is so much involved in these different styles of communication.