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When trying to understand the language between men and women, there exists a variety of differences that speak for themselves. From my observations and casual conversations with friends and co-workers, I have observed that men tend to be more objective and controlling, while women tend to take on a more sensitive, caring role in the conversation. While it holds true that the role of language acquisition has changed for women over the years, it is still evident that men seem to find it necessary to dominate the conversation. From my observations, men aim to display how much knowledge they have while women have a tendency to keep to themselves in fear of challenging, or intimidating their male counterparts. In our present day society, women are given more active roles in the work force and are holding positions of higher power than what they were fifty years ago. More women are seeking higher education that leads to jobs of higher status. With more knowledge, women are moving up the ranks and sometimes taking on jobs that were once considered a ‘mans job’. For example, it is more common to hear of a woman becoming a mechanical engineer today than it was twenty years ago. In Tannen’s article, “I’ll Explain It to You”, she says, “when I talk to men, revealing that I have acknowledged expertise in this area [linguistics] often invites challenges” (Tannen 369). Quite often, it seems that women who try to talk to men about their expertise on a topic are often downplayed and their knowledge is challenged or considered insignificant compared to that of a man. Tannen suggests that, “[e]vidence of the woman’s superior knowledge sparked resentment, not respect (Tannen:368).
Approximate Word count = 1093
Approximate Pages = 4.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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