Critical Analysis of the Nature of Gender Differences in Communication - Essay Example

In addition, the way that men and women adapt to others whose communication methods are different in order to achieve their communication goals. One non-verbal element of communication that can often be seen is the concept of confirmation. This is the process of acknowledge that someone exists and that the communicator is aware of that existence. This is often achieved by the nod of the head, a handshake, smile, or eye contact. A verbal indication of confirmation is a greeting such as a simple “hello”.

This type of communication demonstrates respect and is often used as an attempt to gain trust from another person. We can see how men and women respond differently to this type of communication by looking at the first scene of the Modern Family episode. The theme of the situation comedy is that the family supports the other members even when they don’t agree on the actions of the family member, and even if they don’t believe that an endeavor will work. They communicate their support in a secondary way through nonverbal cues as well as verbal advice.

The characters in the family represent the stereotypical characters for the most part, but three members of the family stand out from the rest. There are two gay guys and a Latin Woman present in the show, who has a son with Jay in the show. Gloria, the Latina, has a thick Spanish accent and dresses like a Flamenco dancer almost, she is the prototype of a hot Latin woman, wearing bold colors and low cut dresses with high heels. Since the essay is about the difference between men and women and how they communicate, parts of the essay will focus on how she communicates in certain situations with her husband and other men.

When Claire sees Dwayne, the town councilman standing outside a grocery store campaigning for reelection, she calls him “jerk” and “phony” in a low voice to her husband because Dwayne did not accept her proposal to put in a stop sign on her street. On the other hand, the councilman who is running for office shows a big sign of the element of confirmation by warmly saying hello and shaking the husbands hand and asking for his vote. The husband immediately responds with eye contact and a smile saying that he will vote for the man.

Meanwhile, Claire keeps reverting her glance away from the councilman, and indicator that men are more straightforward when communicating in person, while women are more self-aware. When Claire finally introduces herself, she announces that they have met before implying that the man should remember the encounter. After a few seconds, the man does remember and once again refutes her original request, keeping a smile on his face the entire time as if smiling is all it will take to win him the election.

The man fails to acknowledge her request, responding that everyone asks for the same thing, but that’s not really what people want. This frustrates Claire even more and as she walks away, the issue for her is clearly not solved and her trust in the councilman has diminished even further. This is a great example of how men and women respond differently to confirmation efforts in communication. For the husband, the nonverbal cues were enough to satisfy him and increase his faith in the councilman, but for Claire, the use of non-verbal cues and the lack of verbal confirmation only served to lessen her faith in the coun