Gender 2 Chapter 5 Language cultural views of gender o Most complex symbol system o Reflects and reinforces cultural views and values Male generic Language o Chairman mailman mankind o Claims include men and women Spotlighting women mayor o Calls attention to sec and not qualification Women in society o Women expect to change names when married Or at least hyphenation o Matriarchal Ruled by women Some rename themselves based on matriarchy Awareness reality o Language shapes awareness of what is important and helps is define o When something named easier to recognize it think about it stop it o Some experiences had no name in language for awhile o Stereotype generalization about entire class of phenomena Sexual harassment Date rape Marital rape Language organizes Gender perception Women emotional and weak Men rational and strong o Polarized thinking absolute opposites Wrong right Language evaluates gender o Devalues females and femininity Women are immature or juvenile girl baby Diminutive suffixes majorette Women blamed for same behavior men do slut stud Language shapes how we think if ourselves o Language change over time fat o Androgyny As alternative to feminine masculine gender binary Verbal communication o Male people socialized in masculine ways o Female people socialized in feminine ways o Important not to generalize but some patterns Gender Speech Communities o Speech Community People who had common understandings of communication goals Interpretation of communication o Males and Females socialized into masculine and feminine speech communities Lessons of Children s Play roles individuality o Boys games Large Groups competitive clear goals distinct rules and o Emphasize 4 aspects of communication cultivating competition and Use communication to asserts ideas opinions and identity To achieve a specific goal To get others attention To maintain control of the attention o Girls Games small groups or pairs with no clear rules of roles 4 aspects of communication that cultivate interpersonal relationships Use communication to create and sustain relationships Communication to establish equality Communication include others o Gendered Comm Practices Shows caring Feminine speech communities communication as tool for establishing sustaining interpersonal rel Communication in feminine speech communities o Foster connections o Equalizes status o Shows support for others o Does conversational maintenance work o Demonstrates responsiveness o Shares personal information o Is often tentative using verbal hedges and tag questions Masculine communication to establish goals extent control preserve independence entertain and enhance status Communication in masculine speech communities o Establishes status and control o Used to accomplish an instrumental objective o Grains and maintains conversational command o Direct and assertive o Often abstract rather than personal o Minimal response cues and less emotionally responsive Gender Linked Language effect Gender is not static Gender is highly dynamic depends on context Masculine or feminine style of speech affected by o Topic o Speaker Status o Conversational Partners o Significance of gender to conversation Masculine o Not always offering sympathy o Want to solve problems o Direct and impersonal o Tell story in linear chronological way o Feel feminine com fail to move to point o Masculine comm Tend to talk about relationship when problem o Masculine comm Nervous annoyed when relationship partner wants to talk about us o Public speaking viewed as standard Feminine o Showing support o Establish connection o Giving sympathy o Want to talk about problems o Empathy and emotional support o Tell stories in less structured formats o Feel masculine comm overlook relationship o Feminine communicators comforted by relationship talk o Feminine communication judged by standards contrary to preferred communication Chapter 6 Functions of Nonverbal Communication o Supplement verbal communication Repeat or contradict verbal messages Complement or emphasize verbal message Replace verbal message o Regulate Interaction Signaling that we want to speak or end it o Establish relationship level Responsiveness Being attentive to others Include inflection eye contact body posture Women use more nonverbal signaling liking Liking Power control Vocal qualities touch use of space Artifacts Artifact personal object expressing identity o Blue pink baby blankets Gender is tied to o Clothing o Colors Tied to cultural context Proximity use of space Designates who is important privileged Patriarchal systems women can t own space Women in the household o Have few spaces o Tend to borrow spaces o Only occupy spaces where they do things for others Haptics and Kinesics Parents touch daughters more often and more gently Boys associate touch with control and power Women tilt heads makes body smaller smile Men using large gestures take more space Paralanguage Physical Appearance Vocal cues that accompany verbal comm o Women higher pitch and softer volume o Men lower pitch and greater volume Socialization can explain gendered patterns o Cues signaling care and deference women o Cues signaling assertiveness men Men and Women pressure to meet societal criteria o Ideal masculinity buff muscular bodies o Ideal femininity slim Women concerns for appearance and self worth o Weight concerns stat early Culture gender and weight are connected o Interpreting nonverbal comm Are there gender related differences in decoding nonverbal behaviors Women good with facials cues However men notice angry faster Both biological and social factors Biological women and more dev Right hemisphere Social location women and standpoint Women s nonverbal behaviors emphasize community and men s emphasize agency Chapter 7 o Expectations Research suggest women expected to act more dependent and men act more independent Western society has bias towards masculine qualities Cultural beliefs are changeable Effort to understand respect and appreciate others nonverbal communication on their own terms By recognizing and attempting to understand others patterns of nonverbal behaviors Increase appreciation for individual differences and less rigidly restrict expectations for nonverbal behaviors May provide a greater range of communicative options o Identity formation as unconscious identification and internalization Freud anatomy is destiny Sex of a child is determined with which parent child would identify How the child s