Gendered Communication
It is an area of study in communications that reflect how verbal and non-verbal communication impacts and are impacted by gender. Thus, it enables a person to understand how men and women communicate differently in our societies across the globe. It remains crucial to realize they are factors that exist a myriad of factors that differentiate between male and female modes of communication. Gilligan, a Harvard psychologist in her book Different Voices (1982), reflected on the issue of gendered communication by acknowledging that men and women might speak different languages that they are similar, resulting in a misunderstanding that halts communications and also limits chances of cooperation. Suggesting that gender communication is problematic does not infer that it only enters only in problems, but it simply highlights complications that exist. Different disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, linguistic, and anthropology, accept that sex differences in communication are real. In this consideration, men and women, in some instances, can be perceived as members of separate subcultures within a more general culture. A subculture consists of various rules, beliefs, behavioral expectations, and also verbal and non-verbal signs. It, therefore, becomes important to explore how gender affects communication styles and interpretations.
It becomes easy to understand how communication is affected by gender by reflecting features of feminine and masculine-identified by researchers. For people socialized in feminine communities-most men and women- tend to perceive communication as a basic factor to establish and maintain relationships with other people. In the case of masculine communication, it is different since it focuses on establishing status and control. The second feature of masculine speech includes instrumentality such as face-to-face or computer-mediated communication as they try to demonstrate their knowledge on a specific topic or providing a solution to a problem.
Gender-linked language affects the communication style and interpretations depending on speaker status, the salience of gender in a communication scenario, and other people present. Women tend to speak tentatively when reflecting on masculinity topics such as automotive and sports topics, but men are more tentative when talking on feminine topics such as fashion and shopping. Studies also emphasize that women demonstrate typical femininity in communication when they are assigned feminine avatars than masculine avatars and also similar for men. It is also important to note that the language effect reminds us gender expression heavily relies on the context and other factors.
Gender also affects communication through misinterpretation. It arises since men and female responds in a conversation on either a masculine or feminine perspective. Men and women fail to understand that they operate under different rules of communication. Misinterpretation is the major factor that demonstrates how gender affects communication where men may provide a piece of advice while women want to establish a connection due to misinterpretation of a conversation.
Trouble talks also affect communication styles and communications. It is a form of interaction that hurts the feelings and may arise from differences between masculine and feminine styles of communicating. How a man shows support to a woman in most cases does not auger well with her due to misinterpretation. The support message a woman gets from a man is misinterpreted by many as a dismissal of their feelings. It is important to understand that man responds from a masculine perspective that holds respect is showed by assuming that other people do not need sympathy. When a man is troubled, a woman tries to show interest as an indication they care, but men feel they are being pushed to expose their vulnerability. Women insist further to understand the trouble of a man who withdrawals further when pushed further and result in women feeling shut out. The situation arises since women and men misinterpret conversations affecting the communication style. The misinterpretation that is witnessed arises since women and men come from different speech communities.
A pattern of a story is another area where gender affects communication. For masculine speech, it tends to follow a specific pattern with major points in a story being presented sequentially to get to the climax. For feminine speech rules, it emphasizes on details and less linear storytelling. Another difference includes women embedding information with a larger context while a male is likely to provide bare information.
Public speaking is also an area that masculine and feminine communication pattern difference is evidenced. In a public context, masculine style demonstrates assertive, dominant, and confidence feature that serves as standards for public speaking. For women who are in the limelight, they must focus on accomplishing the set standards in a public context and also balance sufficiently on feminine to be perceived to be acting appropriately for women. For a woman to be regarded as an effective public speaker, they have to integrate masculine communication styles and combine them with traditionally feminine.
Vancort (2018) has reflected on how gender that exists and affects communication styles and interpretations. The manner in which women present their ideas is very different from men and is a key factor that defines the response or reaction from the audience. Women need to uphold some critical standards that exist for an individual who wants to become a public figure, although there are more masculine as outlined in the video (Ted Talk, 2018).