Why do women and men communicate so differently? Could it be thatgenetics play a factor? I believe so. In general, males are much strongerand more aggressive than females are. This directly effects how the twogenders communicate. For example, women tend to offer suggestions and givereasons, whereas men tend to give demands without reason.
We live withthese differences everyday, and although we do not always understand thesedifferences, we have come to accept them. We stereotype women as theweaker more emotional gender. They are the homemakers. Men are seen asthe caretakers of their families, the financial providers. They arestronger and more dominant gender. What importance does this have insociety? How does it effect society? Many women feel that they do nothave the same privileges as men.
On the other hand, some men say it isunfair that so much more is expected from them compared to what is expectedfrom women. To me these sound like simple complaints. Stereotypes shouldnot be seen as wrong, because in most cases they simply highlight thedifferences between men and women, unfortunately there are alwaysexceptions, and sometimes stereotyping can result in conflict. Primarily stereotypes are not wrong, they exist because of the verydistinct differences between men and women. Almost all stereotypes hold atleast some truth.
For instance, men say women want to talk too much and aretoo emotional. Deborah Tannen explains in her article “Put Down That Paperand Talk to Me” that women feel the need to talk with those they are closeto in order to compromise and build relationships (Tannen, 229, 9). So themen are right, women do feel the need to talk a lot in relationships. Whatis so bad about a stereotype that is true? Yes, there are those men andwoman who do not reflect the set image. For instance, some men stay homeand take care of their children, which is traditionally known as a woman’sjob, and some women are the financial providers for their families. Justbecause the stereotype claims women stay home and men go to work, does notmean this is the case in every situation.
Our society has come far overthe past decade. Stereotypes today have very different meaning than theydid many years ago. Stereotypes mean most do, not all do. It is perfectlyacceptable in today’s day and age for a woman to work and leave her husbandhome with the kids. In fact may people respect it. Unfortunately, there are instances in which stereotyping does createproblems.
Some people over emphasize the existence and legitimacy ofstereotypes as a whole. For example, the men or women who openly expresstheir disapproval for those who do not follow traditional male and femaleroles have caused severe conflict with feminists and male advocates. According to them, men and women should never pursue a life outside of thetraditional setting. These beliefs are completely outdated.
Very fewpeople continue to live such old fashioned lifestyles. On the other hand,the feminists and male advocates who say that stereotypes are unfair andbelieve men and women should be considered equal, are just as guilty ofstereotyping society. In the article “Real Men Don’t, Or Anti-Male Bias inEnglish,” Eugene August argues that it is unfair that our society excludesmales as parents (August, 217, 7). Those such as August are accusingeveryone of being completely biased against the opposite sex.
It seemshypocritical that they would fight for equality and then label our entiresociety as being sexist. Our society has changed so much over the years. Most do not feel that male and female roles are set in concrete. Except for the few situations which result in conflict, stereotypesshould not be seen as unjust. Men and women are very different, andstereotypes simply highlight the most common differences.
Feminist andmale advocates fight to say we are all equally alike, but this is untrue. Science can prove we are both physically and mentally different. Why wouldwe want to be equal? What fun would it be if we were exactly alike, if wespoke the same “language. ” The little games men and women play with eachother while conversing would be lost. The question everyone asks himselfor herself after talking with someone of the opposite sex, “I wonder ifthere’s something there?” would cease to exist.
