Summary
- Brain sex/sex on the brain are books that explain that the difference between men and women is a product of nature, not nurture.
- The sexes communicate differently. The female brain excels in verbal tasks whereas the male brain is better adapted to visual and mathematical tasks. Women like to talk; men prefer action to words.
- Many employers share the call-centre manager's belief that women are by nature better qualified than men for jobs of this kind, and one result is a form of discrimination.
- Male job applicants have to prove that they possess the necessary skills, whereas women are just assumed to possess them.
Deborah Cameron wrote "the myth of Mars and Venus" and it is simply the proposition that men and women differ fundamentally in the way they use language to communicate. All versions of the myth share this basic premise; most versions, in addition, make some or all of the following claims:
- Language and communication matter more to women than to men; women talk more than men.
- Women are more verbally skilled than men.
- Men's goals in using language tend to be about getting things done, whereas women's tend to be about making connections to other people. Men talk more about things and facts, whereas women talk more about people, relationships and feelings.
- Men's way of using language is competitive, reflecting their general interest in acquiring and maintaining status; women's use of language is cooperative, reflecting their preference for equality and harmony.
- These differences routinely lead to "miscommunication" between the sexes, with each sex misinterpreting the other's intentions. This causes problems in contexts where men and women regularly interact, and especially in heterosexual relationships.
The book is patronising to towards men.
Deborah Tannen's book, 'You just don't understand' is all about her theory in which she adopts a neutral position on difference in genderlect, making no judgements about use of language by either gender.
Robin Lakoff suggested that socialisation played an important role in ensuring the female language remained less assertive when compared to that of men. She argued that the differences between male language and female language, are socially constructed rather than biologically based.
Deborah Tannen's book, 'You just don't understand' is all about her theory in which she adopts a neutral position on difference in genderlect, making no judgements about use of language by either gender.
Robin Lakoff suggested that socialisation played an important role in ensuring the female language remained less assertive when compared to that of men. She argued that the differences between male language and female language, are socially constructed rather than biologically based.
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