Theories of Gender Communication

Harding, S. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge? Thinking from women’s lives. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Kramarae, C. (1981). Women and men speaking. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand. New York: Ballantine.

Genderlect Theory – Deborah Tannen

Tannen believes that the best way to describe communication between the genders is in a cross-cultural format. Women use rapport talk to establish meaningful connection with others, while men use report talk to gain status in relation to others. Because women and men use language differently, Tannen suggests they are speaking different dialects, or genderlects. The goal of genderlect theory is to acknowledge and appreciate the language of the opposite sex and achieve mutual respect and understanding. (Semiotic and socio-cultural traditions) Genderlect theory is evaluated on the back of this page.

|Tenet |Clarification |
| | |
|Why We Communicate: Women seek connection, men seek status. |Women engage in communication to build and maintain relationships with |
| |others. By contrast, men are more likely to engage in talk only when it|
| |makes them look good, strong, competitive, or independent. |
| | |
|Style of Communicating: Women use rapport talk, men use report talk. |Women express emotions, share personal feelings, relate stories, and |
| |listen empathically (rapport talk). Men engage in competitive joking |
| |and assertive speech that wins control of the conversation (report |
| |talk). |
| | |
|Language: We speak the same language, but each gender has its own |Each gender has its own set of vocabulary and preferred topics, and |
|dialect. |they use spoken language differently: men talk to get things done |
| |(instrumental approach); women talk to interact with others (relational|
| |approach). |
| | |
|Goal of Genderlect Theory: Mutual respect and understanding. |In contrast to feminist viewpoints that criticize men for inferior |
| |communication that represses women, Genderlect Theory simply identifies|
| |the differences between us and encourages us to acknowledge and accept |
| |the communicative culture of the other. |

To what extent does Genderlect Theory meet the criteria for a good interpretive theory?

• Does it lead to a deeper understanding of people? Because this theory reveals how men and women subconsciously communicate in different ways, it shows how easy it is for all of us to misjudge the words and actions of others.

• Does it engender clarification of values? This theory promotes mutual respect and understanding by showing that communicators should appreciate and respect the style of communication of both genders.

• Does it have aesthetic appeal? Genderlect theory has universal appeal because we can all identify with the frustrations and misunderstandings of communicating across genders.

• Has it generated a community of agreement? This theory has been widely accepted by the popular press, but a relatively small number of Communication scholars take this theory seriously enough to use it as a grounding theory for further research.

• Does it contribute to communication competence? We can all improve in this area. Competent communicators who understand and appreciate both sides of gender communication can become more effective (minimizing misunderstanding) and more appropriate (socially acceptable) as we adapt to the contrasting styles of the other gender.

Standpoint Theory – Sandra Harding and Julia Wood

Feminist standpoint theorists suggest that women are underadvantaged, and thus men are overadvantaged. Otherness is engendered in women by the way men respond to them.
Different locations within the social hierarchy affect what is seen. The standpoints of marginalized people provide less false views of the world than do the privileged perspectives of the powerful. Strong objectivity requires that scientific research start from the lives of women, the poor, gays and lesbians, and racial minorities. (Critical tradition; see Ch. 35)

A culture is not experienced identically by all members. “Each person can achieve only a partial view of reality from the perspective of his or her own position in the social hierarchy” (Harding). “The social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience and know as well as how we understand and communicate with ourselves, others, and the world” (Wood).

Muted Group Theory – Cheris Kramarae

Mutedness is due to the lack of power; people with little clout have trouble giving voice to their perceptions. As a result, they are overlooked, muffled, and rendered invisible.

“Women are not as free or as able as men are to say what they wish, when and where they wish, because the words and the norms for their use have been formulated by the dominant group, men” (Kramarae). Man-made language aids in defining, depreciating, and excluding women. As women cease to be muted, men will no longer maintain their position of dominance in society. (Critical tradition; see Ch. 36)