Chapter 15 10/15

In this chapter, Deborah Tannen discusses her research on communication and how it relates to gender. Specifically, she wanted to research why women who attended all female colleges did better later in life than women who attended coed colleges. She discovered that there is a difference in the way men and women use language in their peer groups. Men tend to be more aggressive and learn to use their language in a competitive setting, while women tend to be less assertive. Women view their best friends as someone that they can share their secrets with, while men view their best friends as people they do activities with. She explains that girls are at a disadvantage in the classroom because men are raised in “adversativeness”, which makes them talk more in class, drowning out the girls. Although, this does not mean all men talk more than all women, it is saying that this is the case most of the time. The ideas of sociologist Charles Winick are also discussed in which he believes sexual identity in America is becoming twisted. This can be seen in the new ways we dance, the names we give our children and current fashions. I believe this is particularly true in fashion as we see many people dressing comparable to the opposite sex not only through mass media, but real life as well.