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Sex Lies And Conversation Analysis

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Roger, Mission Control, Copy That: An Analysis of “Sex, Lies and Conversation:
Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?”
Communication with the Mars rover fifty-six million kilometers away in space is accomplished in three minutes and seven seconds (Lombry n.d.), whereas communication between a man and a woman in the same room generally ends in miscommunication. The different styles men and women use to communicate can lead to the same message having two different meanings (see fig 1). By analyzing and understanding these differences, resolutions can be adopted to overcome misconceptions between men and women.
In the article, Sex, Lies and Conversation: Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?, Deborah …show more content…
In order to sort out their feelings or express what they want to say, women will converse deeply about one topic as a way to share intimacy. Men, however, tend to speak in order to make a point while looking for a solution. Instead of patiently listening, men rush in “… impatient to get to the fire …” (Gray 53). Therapist Terrence Real offers this response, “Learning to listen rationally, listen with cool heads and clear boundaries, listen with the quietness of the heart and the gentleness of the body, means having a self so developed it can afford to yield” …show more content…
Tannen further discusses the differences between the communication characteristics of men and women with a phrase she has coined, “participation listenership” (Tannen 53). Used as a conversation tactic by women to show reassurance and support, the use of listener-noises is often interpreted by men as distracting and disruptive (Tannen 53). Women perceive their job in conversation as one of encouragement or inspiration, but men have a tendency to try and “fix-it”, then move on (Tannen 53). Professor Torppa claims, “Women tend to be the relationship specialists and men tend to be task specialists” (1). Research has shown female brains are more dedicated toward language and hearing, have a larger prefrontal cortex responsible for greater self-control, and have a larger hippocampus which allows women to, with abundant detail, dredge up emotional events (see fig 2) (Ashworth & Nobile 95-97). The male brain has more cells devoted to the sex and aggression center, and there are fewer areas of the brain dedicated to emotions or patience (Ashworth & Nobile 95-97). By understanding these differences between genders author Trisha Ashworth clarifies, “One simple way to think about male and female brain differences is to know that the male is set to choose action first and talk second, while the female brain is wired the other way around”

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