She said: “You’re not listening to me!”; gender norms of arguing
When it comes to disagreeing, research shows that men and women take different tactics to get their point across.
Females are said to communication to establish and maintain relationship in order to share and learn things with others. Talking is essential to how most females communicate with others. This interpretation of the female speech supports the notion that when in a disagreement female will talk it out; leaving everything that supports their position on the table and they want to hear the other’s point of view.
This differs from the male speech because most men want to assertive their dominance and tend to give advice on what one should do. Males are more action prone than the female’s ways or talking first.
Reflecting this personally on myself, I find my arguing styles to differ depending on the medium of communication and situation. People usually come to me because I give good advice, but first I listen to them talk then give my opinions of what they should do.
Since we are living in the technology generation now, arguing electronically is common. I see this as the worst form of communication when you are trying to dissolve a disagreement. In this form, I find myself definitely writing novels to get my point across. In texting, myself and other females I’ve talked to about this all agree, that when having a disagreement that you end up writing lengthy messages, then the other person replies with a “K” or an one sentence message you become more agitate.
This example could help support the theory that women need to talk out arguments instead of trying to just fix the problem and forget about it.
Nicole Zukowski is a junior Communication Studies major with concentrations in journalism, public relations and rhetoric. Nicole, a Dean’s List student,...