7 Chapter 7: Communicating Gender at Work
Communicating Gender at Work
- Describe Cheris Kramarae’s Muted Group Theory
- Recognize the impact of gender on nonverbal communication.
- Describe Michael Kimmel’s argument for gender equality.
Language
Are There Really Differences in Gender Communication Styles?
Below we will discuss three other ways in which the English language demonstrates a positive bias toward the masculine and a negative bias toward the feminine.
Generic “He”
The US Constitution states that “all men are created equal”. Throughout the history of this country, women have been told that this statement implies women are included. The fact is, this has not, and still is not completely true… women were not seen as equal. Today this is still the case but steps are being made to work towards more inclusive terminology. Likely you have been told that when you write or speak to use what is referred to as gender-neutral language. This is an attempt to get away from the generic “he” and move toward inclusive pronouns. For example, using “he” when we mean “he or she.” Using gender-neutral language tells us to select the latter option. Another popular way this issue presents itself is with the use of titles that contain gender markers. Words such as “policeman,” “fireman,” “mailman,” and “chairman”; all suggest that the people who hold these positions are male. Over time, replacing the above titles with gender-neutral ones such as “police officer,” “firefighter,” “mail carrier,” and “chairperson” have become the norm.
This linguistic change has two main implications;
- we don’t know the gender of the person being discussed, and
- both males and females can perform these jobs.
Since we have learned that language influences perception and constructs our reality, using language responsibly to reflect nonsexist attitudes is important (McConnell and Fazio; Mucchi-Faina; O Barr; Parks; Stringer & Hopper). In recent years, our language has been progressing even further. Instead of simply using she/he and men/women, we recognize that not every person will identify within those categories. Now we see it is more appropriate to use the term “people of all genders” to be more inclusive.
Defining Men and Women
A second way in which language is biased against the feminine is the way it is used to define women versus men. One such way is to use descriptions based on accomplishments or actions to define males, while defining females in terms of physical features or their relationships to men. As First Lady, Michelle Obama received a lot of press coverage about her choice of clothing for public events, her professional career and accomplishments as a political figure were either downplayed or used against her as evidence that she was not properly filling the role of First Lady. Another way language is used to define men and women is through the slang terms commonly used to refer to one sex or another. What are some common ones you hear on your campus and withi