[lbo-talk] Differences Between Women & Men

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Fri Jan 2 16:33:56 PST 2009


Michael Pollak wrote:
>
> On Fri, 2 Jan 2009, Brian Dauth wrote:
>
>> I was wondering: is there any research or information that has found
>> that there is a difference in communication styles and expectations
>> among women and men?
>
>
> FWIW, two prominent writers on the subject are:
>
> The linguist Deborah Tannen, who wrote several books on the subject
> which became bestsellers in the early 1990s.
>
> The psychologist Carol Gilman, who tackled the same subject from the
> developmental psyche POV.
>
> Michael

I think you mean Carol Gilligan. In any case, as critics of Tannen and Gilligan have pointed out, what they call "gender differences" in communication are in fact the differences in communication styles among any groups that differ in prestige and power. The high prestige group members interrupt more, speak more, direct the conversation, etc. The research on women in supervisory positions reinforces this perspective: Tannen's and Gilligan's claims about "women's communication styles" notwithstanding, women in positions of legitimate authority tend to use the "male", dominating verbal and nonverbal communication patterns when they interact with subordinates. Similarly, men in subordinate positions tend to use the "female", relational patterns of communication when they interact with their supervisors. Thus there are no essential "gender differences" here, just a reflection of power differentials in a given social context.

Miles



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