Deborah Tannen’s Genderlect is a theory that is concerned with the miscommunication between males and females. Tannen believes that “male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication” (435). She thinks that male and female styles of communication are best viewed as two distinct dialects rather than as inferior or superior ways of speaking. Tannen discusses the five social phenomena that help explain the difference between males and females. These phenomena are speaking patterns, storytelling, listening, asking questions, and conflict. She explores how women seek human connection and how men are more concerned with status. For example in the HBO television series, “Entourage”, agent Ari Gold and his wife, Melissa Gold, are constantly fighting and even go through couples therapy a few times. Throughout the show, Melissa wants a husband that will spend more time with her and their kids, while Ari is more concerned about his job and status at work. This relationship perfectly exemplifies Tannen’s Genderlect Theory.
Deborah Tannen seeks to explain why men and women often talk past each other. She understands that such categorizing of communication to men and women actually does exist. Tannen maintains a hypothesis that women focus on connection while men focus on status. This theory shows how the miscommunication between genders can be relative to the miscommunication between cultures. She stresses that instead of labeling one gender communication as superior or inferior to the other, it rather needs to be seen as separate dialects, such as those in cultures. Tannen sees that mutual understanding will bridge the culture gap between the sexes. An example of Tannen’s theory is shown in Wedding Crashers. When Jeremy has felt comfortable in his relationship with Gloria he feels it is time to take it to the next level. When he approaches Gloria with that idea she takes it as a next level in their sexual lives. Although you can argue that the communication genders are usually switched given this specific situation, you can still see the mix up between genderlect styles.
In Tannen’s genderlect styles theory, she defines genderlect as “a term suggesting that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects”. She talks about “rapport talk” versus “report talk” (women trying to get connection versus men trying to establish status). This clip from the movie “Legally Blonde” shows the different styles that men and women speak in. Elle talks about Warner’s “perfect eyes”, makes a toast and says “to us”, and talks about how she supports his career choice. These are all things that show her striving for an emotional connection with him. Warner says things like “I plan on running for office” and “if I want to be a senator by the time I’m 30”. These phrases indicate his need to establish his status and gain attention. This differing dialect can be seen in men dialogues between men and women in fiction and the real world.Legally Blonde
The theory of Genderlect, created by Deborah Tannen concerns itself with the idea that communication between men and women is inherently flawed to some degree because of the different ways each gender thinks. As a result of the fact that she considers it cross cultural communication, Tannen recognizes that men and women often have miscommunications often because the different sexes want different things. She bases a lot of this issue out of the fact that men are looking for power and status in their conversations and women often are simply looking for a connection with another person. An example of this that I have recently come across was when my two friends (a girl and a guy) had planned to go to an event that the guy had asked her to. She was very excited but thought that they were only going as friends, however when I discussed it with the guy he believed that they were going as a date. Both sides male and female could list reasons such as body language and words spoken that would support their theory however neither one understood the others intentions.
According to Professor Gerry Philipsen, the speech codes theory is a socially constructed system of terms, meanings, premises, and rules pertaining to communicative conduct. This theory deals with understanding the way other people speak. Philipson constructed six general propositions for his theory. The first proposition states that wherever there is a distinctive culture, there is to be found a distinctive speech code. The second one is in any given speech community, multiple speech codes are deployed. The third proposition says that a speech code involves a culturally distinctive psychology, sociology, and rhetoric. The fourth one is the significance of speaking depends on the speech codes used by speakers and listeners to create and interpret their communication. The fifth proposition says that the terms, rules, and premises of a speech code are inextricably woven into speaking itself. The last one is the artful use of a shaped speech code is a sufficient condition for predicting, explaining, and controlling the form of disclosure about the intelligibility, prudence, and morality of communication conduct. For example, there is a difference in the use of slang between here at school and back home on the west coast. When I first arrived at Wake Forest, I remember people saying slang words that I have never heard before. Likewise, I would say something that is common at home, but not used here.
In Philipsen’s Speech Codes Theory, his second proposition (the multiplicity of speech codes) says, “in any given speech community, multiple speech codes are deployed”. The link below is a scene from the movie “Mean Girls” showing the speech community of high school girls. The speech code depicted is of the “popular” girls talking to the “new girl”. They use the words “what” and “like” excessively and she uses the phrase “shut-up” as a form or surprise. However, this phrase is confusing to the “new girl” because it is a distinct part of their speech code that she is not familiar with. The presentation of the word “fetch” also shows how speech codes can be evolved and added to. It is clear that speech codes are present in every culture and vary within subcultures.Mean Girls
Gerry Philipsen defines speech codes as historically enacted, socially constructed system of terms, meanings, premises, and rules pertaining to communicative conduct. This theory was first titled the ethnography of communication, but people couldn’t get past the idea of ethnography as a simple research method. Philipsen describes an ethnographer of speaking as “a naturalist who watches, listens, and records communicative conduct in its natural setting.” He shares six crucial propositions of the speech codes theory. They are as follows: (1) Wherever there is distinctive culture, there is a distinctive speech code; (2) In any give speech community, multiple speech codes are deployed; (3) A speech code involves a culturally distinctive, psychology, sociology, and rhetoric; (4) The significance of speaking depends on the speech codes used by speakers and listeners to create and interpret their communication; (5) The terms, rules, and premises of a speech code are inextricably woven into speaking itself; (6) The artful use of a shared speech code is a sufficient condition for predicting, explaining, and controlling the form of discourse about the intelligibility, prudence, and morality of communication conduct. The speech codes theory made me think of the scene from Austin Powers: Goldmember where he and his father speak “English English.” Here, Austin and his father have created a code of their own to contact and communicate with each other. In this specific case the speech code is being used to not be disrespectful to the ladies around them while they speak of inappropriate content.
The Speech code theory refers to the way groups communicate based on societal, cultural, gender and occupational factors within their own “speech communities”. These speech communities are made up of the different types of people that we interact with but it is important to note that a person may have a number of different speech communities. For example the way I would talk to my friends potentially using slang and words that younger people of my speech community utilize may be different then the way I would talk if I was with my family with older adults such as my grandparents who could potentially not understand the lingo or slang that is being used between I and my friends. When I think of a speech community I think one of the best examples is the different speech communities that arise in different fields. I may be able to participate in a conversation about economics because as an economics major I am a part of that speech community. But If I was to try to participate in a conversation with bio majors it is unlikely that I would be able to comprehend everything they are saying as quickly as they themselves could.
In his theory on Intercultural Communication, Gerry Phillipsen defines the Speech Code Theory as “all cultures have multiple speech codes that involve a distinctive psychology, sociology, and rhetoric. The meaning of a speech code is determined by speakers and listeners, and is woven into speech itself. Artful use of the code can explain, predict, and control talk about talk.” In other words, beneath the actual sounds and syllables formed through speech, there are many other sub-languages at work that would be unattainable without knowledge and understanding of the culture. One example that comes to mind is the Disney masterpiece Atlantis which follows an expedition funded by a mysterious billionare to discover the mythical lost city. The group is varied: Some are explorers and adventurers, some are military muscle and treasure hunters, and some are looking to make quick money. Only Milo, an intelligent maintenance man at the Smithsonian, has dreams for bigger things-like scientific innovation and anthropological studies. When they remarkably discover the city, they use Milo to befriend and learn the speech codes of the xenophobic Atlanteans with the promise of treating the culture with respect and admiration. However, many in the group reveal their wicked intentions as they infiltrate the magical place in the hopes of stealing the source of the amazing power that unites the natives and gives them the ability to fly strange machinery and operate formidable weapons. Milo is forced to take matters into his own hands and employ the help of the natives in defending the city, a feat he is only able to accomplish by understanding the local psychology and customs.
Deborah Tannen coined the term ‘Genderlect,’ which explains why men and women experience difficulties communicating with one another. She says that their ‘divergent ways of talking’ cause issues in the first place, a condition which only worsens problems that men and women try to talk their way through together. ‘Genderlect’ thus distinguishes masculine and feminine ways of speaking as two separate cultural dialects. Men seek dominance and superiority in their mode of discourse, while women desire intimacy and deep connection as a result of their communication with others. These two tendencies attached to gender as an inextricable trait of one’s sex frame men as blunt and frank, and women as sensitive and tactful. This song by Relient K, titled ‘Mood Rings,’ is a great illustration of the stark differences between female and male dialects. The perspective is from the male lead singer, attempting to decode or make sense of a girl’s contradictory expressions. Exasperated, he concludes that the only way to really understand what she means is to ‘get that girl a mood ring.’
