Gender and Communication Style - Essay Example

?Topic :Gender and Communication Style Introduction Communication is an important part of everyone’s life despite of age, sex or race A life without communication is hard to believe and everyone exchange their ideas and thoughts with the aid of communication. It is the flow of information from one person to another by the medium of verbal and body language. Communication can be effective only if the receiver absorb the information correctly which is transmitted by the sender. The nature of communication changes according to the type of the sender and receiver. For example the communicative style of a child is different from that of teenager or adult. It is the study about communication which has led me understanding the way I interacting with people is more complex than I assume. After studying about communication I have become more observant in communicating with people at home, work and online classrooms. I acknowledge that speaking itself does not constitute communication but equal importance must be given to listening aspect too. It is a two way phenomenon in which, both the speaker and listener have position to comply with. For example, communication between genders has different perspective when closely monitored. When I communicate with my mother and sister I perceive that I am more emotional, but when I talk with my father it is more of action – oriented and practical. As per (Sherwood,2013) “Women communicate through dialogue, discussing emotions, choices and problems. Males remain action-oriented -- the goal of communication is to achieve something”. Communication at Home and Gender concept The communication held at home is different from that of workplace or online classrooms. The communication process at home is informal whereas work place and online class rooms are formal. Communication is a two way process and people involved in it largely makes the nature of it. Communication is an art and interacting with women and men in this as a process largely differ. When I perceive the way in which I communicate with my mother and sister, I can understand I am using a different tone and style. I can understand that inequality does exist while communicating with females and males. My talking style is different with my mother and sister and it takes different direction when communicating with my Father. When communicating with men and women we can understand the functionalism concept in them as both the gender convey inequality. When I talk to my mother I find that she wants to connect to me emotionally and wants to know about my wellbeing and physical status. My mother talks about choices, problems I encounter and think a lot before giving her decisions. Even my sister wants to achieve emotional satisfaction by communicating with me and be playful with me all time. She likes to argue with me without reason to engage more emotionally with me. However, my father is more serious while communicating and is direct in his speech. He gives practical solution to the problems I encounter in life and is guides me for a better living. According to (Lieberman,2009)“Men like to tell and give information rather than ask questions. They share experiences as a way of being one-up”. Communication at work place and gender concept Communication at workplace is different from home as the former is a formal environment. In my workplace my main communication is with my manager. My manager is a male and I can identify his communicative style to mostly resemble with my Father. I can find that he is very authoritative in his talking style. He is very reserved person and unlike female colleague is less problem sharing and expressive. When I talk with my female colleague, I find her as a talkative person, who enquires more about my life outside the office. I find her very pacifying compare to my other male colleague. As per (Tannen,2010) “I have spent more than three decades collecting and analyzing thousands of examples of how women and men interact and have found that men’s talk tends to focus on hierarchy—competition for relative power—whereas women’s tends to focus on connection—relative closeness or distance”. Here, I can find that there is much conflict arising out of my manager and my communication phase. My manager is a less co – operative person and this gives rise to tension among us. Looking from professional angle, I can say that assisting me in office chores could be a better way of my manger to deal with my situation. This is the same situation I encounter with my male colleague, who is egoistic and proud in his behavioral pattern. He is more direct and blunt in his approach and this reminds me the differing way in which both men and women communicate. As per (Guiller,2010,pg.368-381)“Females were more likely than males to make attenuated contribution and express agreement, whereas males were more likely than females to make authoritative contributions and express disagreement”. Communicating in online class room and gender concept Communicating in online classrooms is a largely interactive process and there need to be accurate transmission of information in order for it to be effective. In an online classroom there is face to face encounter but it is virtual platform .The body language of the people in communication plays a significant role and when it happens through an indirect medium then it takes more effort. In my online classrooms I encounter with male and female tutors and my experience with them is vivid. I find it relaxing and comfortable to communicate with my female tutor than my male tutor as I find her more understanding and mild in interaction. Looking from a symbolic interactions perspective, the tutor in the online classroom identify that they are communicating through computer and express themselves in a way which is compatible to it. They know that the communication needs to be more clear and expressive in order to reach to the other end. Here the action of the both parties in communication gets to a different realm and needs more accuracy and clarification. In online classrooms action can be overlooked and more attention is given to speech alone. I find my male tutor less expressive and explaining when it comes to teaching. It is noticed that he does less to explain subject in depth unlike my female tutor. Conclusion Communication is a two way process and people involved in this phenomenon influence it a lot. Communication can happen on many levels and there need to be much concentration of verbal and physical language for this to be effective. Naturally the communication takes place in many environments. The usual places of communication are at home, workplace and educational platforms. In communication, there is always involvement of two genders which is male and female. Naturally the communicative style of men differs from that of women. Thinking from a gender perspective, there is much inequality in the communication process between man and woman. So it needs to be taken care that the communicative style of both is well studied to make sure the talking process is effective. The communication taking place at home, workplace and online classroom is different and gives a glimpse regarding the communicative style of different gender. It is understood that to make talking with my mother and sister more comfortable, I need to give more attention towards their emotional side. While interacting with Father, I need to share my problems with him and listen to him carefully. At the workplace, it is more difficult as the communicative environment is formal and professional. I have understood that communicating with my manager can open up only if I am more on talking side. Since he is reserved person communicating more from my side can change his attitude towards me. As my female colleague is comfortable in talking with me I need to give more space to my male colleagues to make interaction more effective. References Guiller, J. (2010, April). ‘I totally agree with you’: gender interactions in educational online discussion groups. John & Wiley, 22(5), 368-381. Lieberman, S. (2009). Differences in Male and Female Communication Styles .In http:/ /www.simmali eberman.com. Retrieved July 6, 2013, from http://www.simmalieberma n.com/articles/malean dfemale.html Tannen, D. (2010, April). He Said, She Said . In http://www.simmalieberman.com. Retrieved July 6, 2013, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=he-said-she-said Sherwood, S. (2013). 10 Ways Men and Women Communicate Differently. In http://dsc.discovery.com. 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