Communication and Gender

Definitional

To begin studying gender communication one must first understand the major differences between sex and gender. Sex is your biological makeup when you are born whether it be male or female. Sex is stable, unless you get a sex change but you still technically remain the same sex that you are born with. Sex is also seen to influence many laws or policies and it has the ability to normalize intimate interactions between people. Gender on the other hand, is socially constructed and learned over time. Gender defines whether you are a "boy" or "girl" according to society. Gender defines whether you act feminine or masculine and it is based on our norms that are put in place by society such as the influence of the media. We study gender communication to see how it evolves over time as well as see the positive and negative influences that the our norms put in place by society have on gender communication and discrimination. The overall scope of gender communication encompasses a system of social meaning that we have constructed to understand gender communication as an organized way to study how gender communication affects our daily encounters. Gender communication also affects our personal identity because it alters our own perception on how we see ourselves. According to Lugones & Spelman (1983) their are 3 actual reasons that we student gender communication: to see how parts of one's life fit together, to locate oneself concretely in the world and lastly to enable one to think about the extent to which one is responsible for being in a particular situation at a given time. Gender communication studies have further gone into detail to notice the changes of the norms such as how women were once seen as being the ones who would stay at home and cook & care for their family, now a days our norms have changed so women are seen as being able to stay at home or go out and work in just about every field of work that men are able to. These different types of actions we associate with male or female are called social roles- "a set of behavior patters that define the expected behavior for individuals in a given position or status" ( Stewart 23). Studying all the specifics of gender communication makes it easier to notice the differences between male and female communication behavior but much more importantly by studying gender communication we are able to provide more accurate descriptions of human interaction as a whole rather than the effects of just male and female communication (Stewart 34).

Application

This clip of That 70s Show that I have chose to use for my gender communication application is a great example of a friendly interaction between friends (male & female) as well as how the different sexes discuss the same exact topic in a very different way because of their gender. Technically speaking because they are discussing the same topic there is no reason as to why the two sets of friends would be able to have the discussion in the same manner. The pair of females that are located in the top portion of the video are obviously friends who are discussing the relationship of one of the males located in the lower portion of the video. I found it interesting how the actual choice of words in the conversation are so different, the males are using what society could see as "bro" language or language that two guys having a conversation about girls would use without girls around. It is likely that if the girls were present in the same room they would use different word choices as well as perhaps try to present themselves in a different manner. The girls are using their equivalent to "bro" talk which appears to be a much more gossipy form of conversation that once again would be a completely different conversation than if the guys they were talking about were there in the room. This conversation is a great example of the findings of Jacklin and Maccoby (1978) in which they discovered that there are two categories that gender differences exist: verbal versus the visual-spacial as well as aggression. The aggression seems to be more present in the guys conversation because thats normally a "guy" thing to do in conversation which is very different that the girls more "gossipy or ladylike" conversation. It is interesting to study various applications of gender communication over time because it does change greatly, for example it is unlikely that this clip of a modern day TV show could be seen on a TV show that aired in the 1940s because the norms established by society were much different than those that exist today.

Personal

For my personal application of gender communication I chose to focus on the effects that gender communication and discrimination have played a role in my life. Because I am heavily involved with the arts I have noticed the stereotypes that society has placed as the norms for what males involved with the arts should be like. For example for the past few years I have been involved with theatre and it is a common stereotype that males who do theatre are homosexuals. It is not uncommon that many of the males who are involved with theatre so happen to be gay but because many of them are it becomes the norm for society to portray that everyone who does theater must be gay just because thats what society sees. Furthermore because the population of artistic males is so much less than that of males involved with business or scientific fields, society seems to associate a stereotype with artistic males. Society seems to see them as "less grounded" due to the nature of their work. This is most likely associated with the nature of their work being much more abstract that that of a male who is found working in the business work field. The study of gender communication helps to understand why these stereotypes are put into place and how these societal norms will change and evolve over time.

Chapter 8 & 9

Definitional

Chapter 8 in the Tubbs & Moss textbook deals with “Relationships in Process”. The chapter discusses how there are specific bases of human attraction being proximity (how close you are to one another), similarity (what you have in common), and all sorts of situations such as the reciprocity of liking, self esteem changes, anxiety, isolation and online dating (Tubbs & Moss 236). It is then mentioned how there are specific characteristics of relationships that can have an effect on the communication between two people. The context in which you are communicating refers to the setting (the physical environment) and the climate (the social-psychological context) (Tubbs & Moss 239). Time is also a necessity for the qualities of relationships to develop because it affects how quickly the relationship advances and how the style of communication style changes over time (Tubbs & Moss 244). Trust is a major factor in the relationship process because in order to have a successful relationship it is necessary that you believe “no harm will come to you from the other person in the relationship”(Tubbs & Moss 245). One of the major topics also discussed in this chapter is Mark Knapp’s model of human relationships. Knapp uses a staircase to represent how a relationship is walking up a staircase, as you ascend each step the you are moving to the next stage of the relationship. Likewise as you descend each stair the relationship falls apart and is eventually terminated. Aside from partner relationships chapter 8 also discusses one of the most prominent communication areas of study—family communication. Family communication is studied so heavily because it fulfills almost all of the characteristics that define relationships, you are all living in close proximity with similar interests and undergo many of the same situations. It is mentioned how there are stages in family development, similar to Knapp’s staircase model, as the age of the children increases the style of communication changes and the relationship is altered. In a family there is the main language development with preschool children, then moving to school age children where they become more independent, finally with adolescent children peer-peer communication develops and they become much less dependent on their parents (Tubbs & Moss 263).

Chapter 9 in the Tubbs & Moss textbook deals with “Interpersonal Communication”. The overall concept in the chapter is that communication is in many ways seen as a microcosm for relationships ranging from one-time encounters to life long relationships (Tubbs & Moss 272). The social setting strongly affects interpersonal communication because norms, or preset rules, influence how a communication encounter is able to take place in any given situation. Along with the social setting, the roles that they place in society have an effect on the encounter, for example an encounter with an authority figure would be vastly different than an encounter with a good friend or parent. Quality also affects communication, depending on setting and of the exchange and the roles of the communicators the quality and level of intimacy of what is being communicated will obviously have an effect on the final message. This was more closely examined with marriage and the different love styles as well as the status of each individual in the marriage (who has more power)(Tubbs & Moss 298). The end of the chapter dealt mostly with assertiveness in communication and its effect on the communication exchange. Depending on how you decided to behave your communication will be altered. For example a person with assertive behavior, their reward will depend on how their behavior stacks up against a nonassertive person. The nonassertive person will typically avoid conflict and anxiety while a person with aggressive behavior will choose for others and will often use force to achieve their goal (Tubbs & Moss 304).

Application

This clip from a Seinfeld episode is a perfect example of a one of the subcategories under intimacy in chapter 9 Interpersonal Communication. In this clip George is explaining to his best friend Jerry that he describes himself as being 2 different people: relationship George and independent George. He explains how the George as Jerry knows him is independent because he is able to do whatever he pleases with his free time: hang out with friends, and possibly be deceptive or lie without worry. This is explained in the Tubbs & Moss textbook under the section "To be connected or independent", "... our need to be on our own, deciding what you want to do and when you want to do it, and to be connected with someone close to you, sharing experience (Tubbs & Moss 288). George foresees his relationship with this woman as being one that would tie him down to her, not allow him to be the free and independent person that he would like to be and furthermore change him from being the person that his friends have grown to know and love. This is seen as a normal problem that often occurs in many relationships and has to do with the level of commitment and attachment style that each person is planning on following through with in their relationship. It is a normal occurrence for George to be threatened by the commitment of a relationship, especially one that would affect the independent person he appears to be in front of his friends.

Personal

I chose my personal application to be in relation to family communication and more specifically the stages in family development. After studying this chapter it became apparent to me that as your age increases the way in which you communicate with your family changes as does the relationship that you have with your family members. I noticed that the interesting thing about when you are at a young age when you only know a few words, looking back on it now it really amazed me how things such as hand gestures or even screams to communicate a message to my parents was all I knew how to do but they were always able to know exactly what I wanted. I find it interesting that parents are able to know their children so well that they can almost sense what they want at a given time without even following through with a true communication exchange. As I developed into a school age child my vocabulary obviously increased to the point where I was able to communicate much better with my family but I find it interesting when looking back on it that you are not yet really aware of the norms that are set in your family. I was able to communicate well with both my parents and brother as a school age child but it wasn't until much later on in my life when I started to figure out more specifically how I could communicate differently with my mother or father depending on the situation that I was in at the time. This is also true with my relationship with my brother, because he is 3 years younger than me I always had the advantage of being at a further stage than he was, I would love to say our relationship was always as strong as it is now but I can admit that I probably took advantage of the fact that I was able to use my age difference to benefit me in many situations. The change between school age and adolescent was probably the biggest change for me as it is for most kids growing up. This seemed to be the age where the norms were pretty well established by this point and you I was able to really communicate my message effectively, whether it was positive or negative. This was also the age where I became much more independent and therefor not only the quality of the communication changed but the actual subjects of our communication began to change as well. This was a point in my life where I felt I was able to be more open with my parents and my relationship with my brother really evolved because we were no longer the typical bickering brothers constantly at war, we would often hang out or I would help him with his homework. This was also the time in my life where more conflicts began to arise because I was able to really understand every situation I was in as well as the ones I wasn't directly involved in, if my parents were having an argument I had no problem jumping in and voicing my opinion because I felt confident that my opinion now mattered. At the point where I am now out of the house and living on my own, the communication between my family and I has obviously drastically changed because I am halfway across the country but in some ways I feel I have been able to be closer to them because I am not there to see the bad, I am only there to talk about the good or reminisce about the past. I know that when I go home for break, as a family we will be able to pick up right where we left off and hopefully evolve as a family as we all mature with age and our family communication evolves.

The History of Communication

Definitional

Chapter 1 and 2 in "Boxing Plato's Shadow" by Dues and Brown thoroughly depicts the history of communication spanning from 400 BC all the way through the 1900s. It all begins with the in Athens, Greece where the citizens wanted to develop an adversary system and begin to introduce democracy into government. Communication begins to be studied because the citizens needed to enhance their communication skills in order to be able to knowledgeable discuss the issues at hand with others. The sophists emerged as the first teachers of communication, known as rhetoric at the time, where they taught how to effectively communicate, persuade and know the attitude of the audience (Dues & Brown 3). After the original sophists had emerged, many other scholars of rhetoric became well known for their teachings. Gorgias began studying public speaking and its effects on the audience and Hippias studied how speakers needed to be knowledgeable about their topic in order to defend it. Probably one of the most prominent figures of the time would be Socrates because he was able to pull together all of the ideas of Sophists and question every aspect of their study (Dues & Brown 3). His pupil was Plato who believed rhetoric was absolutely essential and that the truth itself resided within the individual. Up to this point in history the study of communication had only evolved from scholars individual studies, there was so organized method to the study until Aristotle theorized that communication must have a purpose and delivered certain skills that will make your message effective. Later in the 300s BC Alexander the Great saw the teachings of Sophists as a worthy accomplishment and had preserved all of their materials in a library in his city (Dues & Brown 10). The library was captured by the crusaders because it was always seen as an area of considerable knowledge that would later benefit Europe. As communication was studied in England and the New World, persuasion and non verbal communication were more deeply studied to teach the lower class citizens to present and advocate for themselves. As the study of communication had evolved throughout time and throughout various cultures, it was altered and added upon by each scholar that studied it.

Application

As the study of communication progressed throughout history it was added upon to further improve its depth and understand for others to follow. I chose to represent this by using a diagram of the snowball effect because in the past as each scholar made improvements on the study it was then noticed and reacted upon by either the general population or other scholars. After their theories and studies were recorded and published they would be used by people to learn about this newly found topic. For example Aristotle was the first to systematically study communication, because this put things in order and gave some organization to the subject, many works that were published and held in Alexander the Great's library that would eventually be translated into Latin for the benefit of Europe to learn from

the Sophist scholars (Dues & Brown 19 ). By referring back to the diagram you can see that as the first cycle is accomplished the arrow points upward into the "present" section. This is where the study of communication currently is. By the end of the 1800s communication was being taught at colleges and universities where in many cases a basic understanding of communication was required for all students (Dues & Brown 31). Communication was an extremely fast growing area of study once it reached the late 18th century where entire departments were formed to conduct research and educate the largely growing student population at the time. (Dues & Brown 32). The remaining part of the diagram is depicting the future where we have yet to go with the study of communication as a whole. I don't believe many new great discoveries will be made in the actual study and organization of communication because most of that work has been done from 500 BC-Present, however I do believe the specific applications of communication will only be further developed with much room for expansion.

I have also chosen this illustration to depict how communication was not at all the study of one individual or even a small group of individuals but rather many groups of people in different cultures throughout hundreds of years. The evolution of communication was a collaborative effort of many scholars throughout history.

Personal

When reading and studying these chapters the most evident personal connection that I found myself always making was to my work and involvement in theater. George Campbell seemed to really interest me in his studies of communication because he added the psychological focus into our understanding of communication, it was no longer just a study of rhetoric as the truth but infused with the affections, the will and the imagination that the communicator has control over (Dues & Brown 25). Campbell states that the purpose of rhetoric is to "enlighten the understanding, to awaken the memory, to engage the imagination, to arouse the passions to influence the will to action or belief" (Smith, 1998). I have acted in a few shows and have enjoyed that experience but I found that much of my true passion was in directing and stage managing various theatrical performances. When directing I had to learn how to convey the thoughts and dreams that I had in my head to my cast. This took a serious improvement of communication on my part because a directors vision is not often clear to anyone else except for the director because it is so preset in his mind. Campbell describes this in a unique way that I found applies to my work on a daily basis. Campbell published in his works that rhetoric communication has to deal a lot with the ability to convey moods, and express ideas. This to me is so essential in my work. Being able to express my ideas clearly to the cast and convey how a certain actor's mood should be as well as how their emotions should be. Theatre is a great example of psychological communication because it is so intensely based on the fact that the actor needs to take on specific characteristics of a completely different person and by using unintentional persuasive communication--fool (persuade) the audience into the belief that they are that character.

What is Communication?

My communication model is a fairly literal depiction of what communication is. The two black figures are silhouettes of faces meant to represent communicator one and two. They are facing each other, as they would be in an intentional verbal communicative setting. The background text that is flowing between the two communicators is a representation of how each person at a given time is known as a sender and receiver simultaneously filtering what is being said in the conversation. As mentioned before this is a intentional verbal communicative setting, however the orange and red shapes are meant to represent what could possibly be other channels that messages or ideas could be communicated between the two individuals. The rather bold and bigger “communication” word that is flowing between the two people is the topic at hand being spoken from one individual, listened to by the other and hopefully remembered. However because communication is not always fully effective there are other factors that come into play. Interference is the main factor that results in having the receiver not interpret the same meaning to the message that was sent out by its sender. To represent this, the white circles and ovals in the background are present as different forms of interference whether it be technical or semantic.