Verbal Lecture 6

Gender and
Communication Communication
MCJ 402 – 2022
and Gender
 – Gender is a communicative process – we construct and
communicate our gender to others and vice versa
– Gendered communication may be accidental or
intentional – influenced by our gender or the gender of
Communication another person

and Gender – Communication influences relationships and gender

communication permeates relationships
– In order to understand gendered communication
cultures, we need to explore relationships among men,
among women, and between women and men
 Masculine Communication Feminine Communication
Cultures Cultures
Masculine – Accentuate instrumental – Accentuate expressive
goals goals
v.
– Support a hierarchical – Support a less formal
Feminine structure structure
Communication – Tend toward individual – Tend toward collective
Cultures orientation orientation
– Foster competitive speech – Foster cooperative speech
patterns patterns
 – Gendered communication is dynamic – continuous,
changing, unpredictable
– Gendered communication is systemic – context,
Principles of people, cultures are all related

Gendered – Gendered communication is pervasive – social

expectations of masculinity and femininity impact our
Communication psychological, interpersonal and professional lives
– Gendered communication is learned – we learn
”normal and appropriate” gendered behaviour and we
can also learn to challenge it
 – Language is the symbol system we use to
communicate - to name persons, objects, feelings,
things, and to establish relationships.
– Language and gender are partners in how we express
ourselves and how others react to our forms of
Language expression.
– Labels shape thought and behaviour.
– There is a sexual bias in how words are selected and
used to describe men and women.
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WLugDJYXmM
 Boys’ games teach them to Girls’ games teach them to
Language – Assert themselves, gain
control, try to dominate
Socialisation others
– Attract an audience
– Gain status and keep the
focus of attention centred
on them
– Boys’ games lead to
competition and
establishment of hierarchies
– Create and maintain
relationships
– Make requests, be
noncritical and inclusive
– Respond accurately to
others’ feelings
– Girls’ games lead to
cooperation and
collaboration
 Men Women
– Portrayed as independent – Portrayed as decorative and
Language and and serious emotional
Sex-role – Defined and described by – Defined and described by
activities and appearance and
Stereotypes accomplishments relationships
– Use competitive or – Use collaborative or
adversarial speech affiliated speech
 Gendered
Perceptions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSYI70kTGT8
 Masculine Speech Feminine Speech
– Logical – Emotional
– Concise – Verbose
– Controlling – Vague
– Dominant – Gentle
– Straightforward – Friendly
Masculine v.
– In-charge attitude – Submissive attitude
Feminine
– Competition oriented – Collaboratively oriented
Speech – Adversarial – Affiliative
– Focused on negotiation – Focused on connection
– Attention-commanding – Unobtrusive
– Not necessarily connected to – Responsive to and built upon
others/ ideas others’ ideas
– Quick in shifting topics – Gradual in shifting topics
 – Masculine words
Sexist – Different titles
Language – Different words to describe men and women who perform
the same functions or do the same things
– Sexist comments
– Mainstream = “Malestream”?

– When people are not told about the sex of a person, they
generally assign the person a sex based on stereotypes
 – Overvaluing of masculine
communication
– Use of masculine forms of words as a
baseline
How Language – Primacy given to masculine words
Exhibits – Masculine images denoted by neutral
Sexism words
– Use of spotlighting to highlight sex
– Use of sexist metaphors to express
stereotypes
 Feminine Genderlect Masculine Genderlect
– Cooperative – Competitive
Genderlects: – Maintains connections – Establishes status
varieties of speech or
conversational style used – Communicates equality – Communicates dominance
by a particular gender
containing features – Demonstrates support – Demonstrates ability to
marking it as masculine – Relationship focus solve problems
or feminine – Content focus
– Rapport talk
– Personal – Report talk

– Highly responsive – Abstract

– Minimally responsive
 True or false?
– Women talk more than men
Language,
– Women interrupt others more than men
Gender and
– Men are dismissive of women’s feelings
Myths
– Men and women agree on the purpose of talk in
relationship development
Communicative
Norms and
Gender – Dominant/deficit approach – focuses on power differentials
in society and women as oppressed and marginalised, a
reflection of male domination and female subordination
– Difference approach – sees women and men as different,
belong to different subcultures, socialised in different
sociolinguistic subcultures, men’s and women’s language
not ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ respectively
 – Gamble, T. K. and Gamble, M. W., 2014. The Gender
Communication Connection. 2nd edn. London and New
York: Routledge. (Chapter 3)
Key Readings – Wood,J. T. & Fixmer-Oraiz, N. (2019) Gendered
Lives:Communication, gender and culture. 13thedn.
Boston: Cengage. (Chapter 5)