Essay On Gender Miscommunication

Analysis Paper #1 Even from a very young age, I had always realized that males and females thought and communicated differently. Within my own family, gender miscommunication plagues my parent's marriage and my relationship with my three sisters. Even so, the dissimilarities between how my girlfriend and I communicate helped me further grasp the importance of understanding gender miscommunication. Through her research, Deborah Tannen has found that males and females see the world through different lenses. While they value the elements of each other’s “worlds,” they emphasize the elements differently. Males tend to be more direct in their communication while females prefer indirection and expressiveness. Contributions to my worldly lens were

Males typically communicate using “report talk” while females communicate using “rapport talk.” Report talk is any conversation held in a public setting that is usually performed through the display of knowledge, humor, and denigration. This form of talk has a narrow classification for what is considered to be “valid talk” and is principally used for conveying information. In contrast, rapport talk has a broader definition of what is considered valid talk and is primarily used for establishing and maintaining connections in a more private setting. As a male, I lean mostly use report talk in my everyday conversations. However, I appreciate rapport talk more than report talk because, from my experience, report talk is sometimes off-putting because it can turn into a selfish battle of egos. Rapport talk, in contrast, can be more productive because helps people increase intimacy with one another rather than simply trying to one-up each other. My girlfriend probably engages in report talk more than the average girl. Even so, she predominantly uses rapport talk because she values connection over