Analysis, Comparison of Two Articles - Essay Example

Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 4 1Works Cited 10 Introduction This paper undertakes an analysis and comparison of two articles, one on the difficulties and issues surrounding the sex divide when it comes to conversations, and the other relating to the rise in use of an undershirt whose name, wife-beater, has connotations that the writer asserts are negative, that reinforce the dominance of males in society, and which imply the acceptance of violence on women as fashionable, non-serious, and non-harming. The reverse is true as far as the latter is concerned, according to the writer, and that there is a need to replace the name for the undershirt, as it is worn by both men and women, and that wife-beating is a serious social problem with implications for gender equality and the social acceptance of male violence inflicted on women. On the other hand, the article by Tannen on the divide in communication across genders posits the thesis that men and women communicate differently, and that there is a need for both sexes to understand where the other is coming from from a communication point of view to foster greater understanding among men and women, especially in the intimate context of heterosexual relationships, marriages ,and pair bonds. The rest of the essay undertakes an analysis of these two articles, and undertakes to compare them from various contexts aligned with the subject of gender differences, communication between the sexes, the power hierarchies between and among the genders, and the implications of language, word usage, and word choice in everyday relational contexts between men and women, and in such things as items of clothing, on perceptions of what how men and women form relationships and interact with each other (Tannen; Smith). Discussion In Smith’s article there is an exploration of the social and gender implications of the use of the name wife-beater to refer to a piece of undershirt that has gained popularity among young people, and among men and women. The issue is not so much the undergarment itself, which is also worn on its own, a T-shirt in essence. The issue has to do with the use of the name wife-beater to refer to the shirt. The shirt has become a staple among even the most famous and popular apparel brands, from Gap to the iconic names of high fashion. Moreover, the author notes that young people, those below 25 years of age, seem to relish wearing the shirt with no qualms about its name and the social and gender, cultural implications of the name. On the other hand, the author herself has serious reservations and objections about the name wife-beater. Why not use another name, something that does not evoke images of violence and the subjugation of women and of wives through force by their partners? The author notes that there are no ambiguities whatsoever about the violent nature of the name, and that in essence the objection lies in making something so obviously hurtful to women, and so obviously filled with so many violent implications, seem cool, important, fashionable, not worthy of condemnation, something to be proudly worn as an ornament, and something that even women can proudly wear as a fashion item. The author notes that the very term itself has official meanings in the dictionary that connote the subjugation of women by force, and that in general young people have to be aware of the grim statistics about violence to women, in order that they may understand what it is that they are using to name a piece of clothing with so much pride. In essence it is like wearing a shirt named Swastika or Hitler to a Jewish settlement, and not being aware that such names have serious implications and connotations to the people around them. The article notes that the wife beater in real life is someone young, of the same age as most of the people who wear the shirt, and that there is a need to educated people, and maybe urge a name change to the shirt (Smith). In Tannen the issue has to do with communication issues that are bounded along gender lines. Tannen posits basically that men and women communicated differently, and that there is a need to educated both genders about the differences in hopes of resolving many conflicts and miscommunication that result in so many failed relationships and marriages, and which have eve caused so much misery, feelings of isolation and of being left out, and loneliness and alienation among both men and women. Women, according to Tannen, are especially vulnerable to being left out by their significant male partners, because of the way they feel shut out in relationships, when it may be the case that men do try to listen and do try to talk and to bond, but they do so in ways that may come across as non-communication to women. In the same vein, men may often view the communication strategies of women as being too obtrusive, over the top, or else that they talk too much, demand too much, talk in ways that they do not understand or rub them the wrong way. For instance Tannen stresses how men, among themselves, communicate in different ways from women, not being too face to face, shifting topics often, making little of each others’ problems, and generally focusing on action and doing things together. Women, on the other hand, talk non-competitively but cooperatively, love face to face communication, are more expressive emotionally, show more vulnerability, and engage in listening actively, by making sounds. There is a divide therefore that is basic across the genders, and without education the two are doomed to miss out on each other’s communication cues. And where communication bogs down, Tannen notes, divorce, failed relationships, anger and pain are not far behind. This divide and the lack of understanding between the sexes amounts to a crisis. As Tannen notes the crisis is akin to the crisis that faces different cultures trying to talk to each other, and that fixing the crisis in essence requires starting to fix it at the level of the home, where men and women are failing at talking to each other well (Tannen). An article on differences in level of aggression, violence and suicide across gender lines, among others, seem to tie the issues on gender and communication that are discussed in the two articles above. in Glaeser, the author notes that there are marked differences between men and women in many relevant educational and behavioral areas. The differences are profound, and are deeply ingrained in biology, in brain structure, in their psychologies, in the way that they relate to the world, and in the way that men and women behave. For instance, men are many times more violent and aggressive than women, are many times more likely to carry guns, and many times more likely to take their lives by their own hands. Suicides are more prevalent among men. They are more than 50 times as likely to be involved in gang violence than women. Many statistics that are applicable worldwide pinpoint men as the more aggressive and violent gender too. 94 percent of those who carry out suicide bomb attacks are men, for instance. All but 16 percent of all crimes that are of a violent nature are committed by the male gender. In fact, the statistics for male violence, and how those statistics overwhelm violence statistics committed by women, are universal, and not just applicable to a certain geography. Men everywhere have ever been more violent than women (Glaeser). To conclude, the three articles highlight concerns about the differences in the way that men and women act out their profound differences and affect each other and society at large. Is it a kind of resignation, a kind of acceptance on the part of society and even among women, to name a shirt as a wife-beater? What does the communication divide between men and women imply for making the world safer and less violent? As the articles all note, the gender differences are profound, and we need a greater appreciation of those differences to understand why things are the way they are between men and women (Smith; Tannen; Glaeser). 1 Works Cited Glaeser, Edward. “Violence, learning, and the gender divide”. The Boston Globe. 2 November 2007. Web. 10 December 2014. Smith, Gayle Roswald. “The Wife Beater”. n.d. Web. 10 December 2014. Tannen, Deborah. “Sex, Lies and Conversation: Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?”. The Washington Post. 24 June 1990. Web. 10 December 2014. Read More