Male Vs Female Communication Styles Essay

The evidence suggests that you cannot predict an individual's communication style from their gender: there is too much overlap between men and women, and too much variation within each group. Of course there are women who fit the generalizations, but there are also many who do not. The women MP's, police officers, soldiers, salon-owners, are too numerous to be dismissed as merely marginal exceptions. What makes the difference in choosing a man or a woman as a MP's and must be underlined is the women's disposition to behave differently from men. Women MPs do not stick to the rules because they are timid conformists: they do it to counter the perception that they are interlopers. These ways of behaving are problem-solving strategies which women adopt in particular circumstances. They have nothing to do with the way women "are", and everything to do with the position women are put in. This is the issue that really needs to be adressed if women are to participate in public life on equal terms. The problem is not that men and women have different communication styles, but that whatever style women use, they are liable to be judged by different standards. Women are obliged to walk what Janes Holmes

It is argued that women's preference for cooperative and relational ways of interacting puts them at a disadvantage in the public sphere, whose norms are more competitive and instrumental. Women are said to have difficulty in excercising authority directly, in acting decisively, and in dealing with aggression or conflict. They may be seen as good lieutenants, but not as potential commanders-in-chief. They are also said to lose out to men because they are too reticient about their own achievements. While competitive men are busy blowing their own trumpets, supportive women are sharing the credit and missing out on the rewards they