sex differences

There are several places in the text that discuss gender or sex differences in interpersonal communication, as with factors affecting self disclosure in chapter 7. In 2002, Julia Wood published an essay in the Southern Communication Journal titled "A Critical Response to John Gray's Mars and Venus Portrayals of Men and Women." You've probably heard of or read the book, which was quite popular.

Wood evaluates Gray's claims against scholarly research as well as everyday experience and finds those claims lacking the empirical evidence needed to support them. She makes three important points in her essay. First, differences between women and men are not innate or immutable. Second, socially constructed differences between the sexes do exist, although they change over time; consider women's and men's roles in the home and the workplace 100 years ago. Third, there are greater differences within each group in terms of how individuals communicate than between each group. That is, there is more variation among women in their communication and more variation among men in their communication than variation between women and men.

Wood's analysis is important because it tells us women and men can interact with each other collaboratively and productively. Miscommunication between women and men is not pre-determined. Although girls and boys may be raised to communicate in different ways, those differences are not innate. Which means we can change how we interact with each other. And that suggests we can find ways to communicate more effectively and reduce instances of miscommunication.

--Professor Cyborg