GENDER & COMMUNICATION

By Sheila Ritter

WHAT IS GENDER?

Gender Roles Masculinity Femininity Androgyny

Sex Biologically

female Biologically male

Sexual Orientation Heterosexual Homosexual Bisexual Asexual

(Floyd, 2009, p. 56)

Gender Roles & Sex

Not one in the same Sex is biological Gender roles are what society wants us to

fit into. (Floyd, 2009, p. 56)

Fitting into Gender Roles

Delicate Fragile Homemaker Mother Cooking and

cleaning

http://youtu.be/qVgHrV9H-8k

Rough and tough Strong Breadwinner Guns Sports http://youtu.be/lx

5qCUB1fEw

Feminine (girls) Masculine (boys)

Starting Young

Girls and boys are treated differently to help fit into gender roles.

Starts in the hospital. Baby girl = pink Baby boy = blue

Coaching Study

Study occurred at Southwestern University. Sixty undergraduate students participated (30 men,

30 women) ages 18-23 Read fictional half time speeches given by high

school coaches. Half speeches contained expletives. Half were given to female teams, half to male

teams. Participants rated the effectiveness of the speech

on a 7- point scale.

(Howell & Giuliano, 2011)

Coaching Study Result

When speech contained expletives, male participants found less effective when directed at a female team.

Men found expletive use to be more inappropriate when directed at female players.

Women’s perceptions are not affected by gender of players.

Cursing behavior perceived differently by men and women.

(Howell & Giuliano, 2011)

Women

•Expressive talk: express emotions and build relationships.

•Intimacy

•Closeness

(Floyd, 2011, p. 67)

Men

•Instrumental talk: convey information.

•Solve problems

•Accomplish things

(Floyd, 2011, p. 67)

Power Struggle

More powerful speech

Directive

Less powerful speech

More attentive to others

Seeks validations

men women

(Floyd, 2011)

Emotional Availability (Toddler Study)

Mother- toddler and father- toddler dyads from 113 families.

California’s Central Valley Mother’s ages 19 to 44 years Father’s ages 21 to 50 Mother and fathers filled out questionnaires and

were observed and videotaped with children separately.

Rated on scale of parent sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness and nonhostility.

Rated on child responsiveness and involvement.(Lovas, 2005)

Toddler Study Results

In all variables, mother daughter dyads did the best, with mother son close behind.

Sensitivity Mother daughter rated the highest Mother son rated second Father daughter rated third Father son rated the lowest Both mothers and fathers are more

sensitive with daughters.(Lovas, 2005)

The Power of “I”

Men use more “I” statements

Women use more “we” and “they” statements

(Floyd, 2009, p.71)

Meet in the Middle?

Masculine and feminine are good in different ways

Meet in the middle Embrace both

Works Cited http://www.parentsconnect.com/parenting-boards/baby-names-games/80058, October 17, 2011.

http://madamenoire.com/66146/why-having-girlfriends-is-important/african-american-women-talking-3/, October 17, 2011.

http://mybro.com/page/2/ , October 17, 2011.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_6682611_sad-woman-looking-down-and-a-man-standing-behind-her.html, October 17, 2011.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-young-black-man-standing-tall-image4678225, October 17, 2011.

http://scrabblesense.com/2010/01/scrabble-can-you-play-names-ie-gloria/, October 17, 2011.

http://youtu.be/qVgHrV9H-8k, October 17, 2011.

http://youtu.be/lx5qCUB1fEw, October 17, 2011.

Floyd, K. (2009). Interpersonal Communication: The Whole Story. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill.

Howell, J. L., & Giuliano, T. A. (2011). The Effect of Expletive Use and Team Gender Perceptions of Coaching Effectiveness. Journal of Sport Behavior, 34(1), 69-81. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Lovas, G. S. (2005). Gender and patterns of emotional availability in mother–toddler and father–toddler dyads. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26(4), 327-353. doi:10.1002/imhj.20056