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October 04, 2005
Tannen Article Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed the article because it took apart some of the stereotyped, and often nebulous, ways in which we don’t seem capable of getting communication “right.”
Tannen does a great job, in my opinion, of showing how much of this is has to do with cultural differences and how men and women of the same ethnic group do in fact have different language cultures or styles. She made refreshingly clear connections between these cultures and our manner of expressing and understanding or misunderstanding.
I had to laugh when she explains the way girls and boys learn conversational rituals and says of girls learning to downplay the ways in which one is better than the others that “nobody really takes such modesty literally.” This is so true! There were many other instances in which I felt she was doing a great service to the divide between the sexes.
And although the article was focused on corporate America there were many instances in which I could relate to cross-cultural differences. And some times when both as a foreigner and as a women I realized I fall outside of the norm of either one or both by virtue of my individual make-up.
This was a fascinating reading - I’m glad it was prescribed (I think everyone should have to read it!) and look forward to discussing it in class.
~ Nanette Savides
Posted by lcissavides at October 4, 2005 11:14 AM