Gendered communication is a state in which groups of certain gender have tendency to use recognized or accepted communication style of the other gender. Gender inequalities and assumptions regarding the state of the relationships between individuals may be brought about by gender communication.
Gender can be described as a combination of individual’s interactive, social, and psychological characteristics. Communication is described as a process whereby people allocate and express meaning to produce mutual understanding. Such process needs certain kinds of skills of interpersonal and intrapersonal processing, monitoring, talking, inquiring, listening, examining, and assessing. The use of communication promotes the event of cooperation and collaboration.
There are existences of several sorts of personal relations which are very important to everyone’s life in which gender plays an essential role. The most common example is romantic relationships. These occur in all kinds of relationships such as heterosexual, lesbian, bi-sexual, and gay, the partners’ gender will have effect on the communication in the relationships in addition to relational anticipations positioned on them from the culture in general (Trent & Friedenberg, 2008, p.147).
Some other interpersonal relationships take place at homes and with companionships where gender is considered as a consistent element. It is noticeably a growing up tendency that both boys and girls, at each and every family, obtain different treatment like in curfews and chores.
It is also noticeable that state of the male and female companionships, as both important, manifests themselves in different way. Gender communication is going on to influence the normal activities of every organization (Canary, 2008, p.16). Matters like equal payments, paternity and maternity leave, and sexual harassment are all manipulated by gender. Gender has a great impact on the policies and decision-making in office, and the roles employees play in the workplace (Canary, 2008).
Men and women are considered to have great challenges while expressing their authority or power. Authority expression is commonly contributed by biological more than behavioral differences, and this may be hard to handle.
For instance, men portray greater degree of visual dominance than women, which is related to status and power and which is evaluated as the fraction of amount of time that a person maintains eye contact as he or she listen to the other person. This is contrary to identified roles of women as democratic and more communal.
This does not signify that men are more commanding, simply that they show their authority more visually, or that women have to be democratic while in managerial place so that they maintain authority. Better attitude to the nature may assist to balance this viewpoint and let men and women have similar powers when pursuing managerial positions (Barrett & Davidson, 2006, p.14).
Gender plays a vital role in communication since, in line with researches, both sexes say the same things, but they may hear them in different ways (Vijai, 2004, p.23). In case emotional and empathic contexts of communication, it is essential and women providers are more probably to prove this, for example, cancer patients can wish that their doctors be women.
On the other hand, while with patient satisfaction, even though patients generally favor the mode of communication which women probably exhibit, male do not dissatisfy the patients when compared to women providers. Except if practical evidence is available, the issue placed above can be solved in a satisfactory means.
In the past, when the different method of gender and communication was most accepted, women were persuaded to make use of the masculine speech styles, i.e. speaking like men, so as to balance the playing ground in male dominated settings (Canary, 2008, p.16).
However, current studies propose that women who utilize more feminine speech styles can be apparently successful in the managerial posts than women who use masculine speech patterns of authority.
Male and female employers or bosses similar to those who use usual masculine speech, issuing direct orders and instant statements, can show that they are less successful than managers who use feminine speech styles, placing a constructive spin on harsh requests and looking to locate common ground with their workers.
Gendered communication examinations commonly endorse the concept that gender communication variations are socially studied and are therefore active and fluid. Practically, males and females may study to communicate in the two means, feminine and masculine means.
Gender recognition has an enormous impact on lives of the people, starting with the manner they are brought to it, to the manner it changes over a lifetime. As gender role in the community has changed, so did their knowledge of gender communication. The past researchers utilized communication to enforce the secondary role women played in the community or society.
While women ended up taking more posts of influence in the community, researchers used more difficult approaches to gender communication (Vijai, 2004, p.24).
All cultures and races in every country have one thing in common, presence of men and women, and the success in their lives that relies on effective communication between both men and women. The issue of gendered communication should be tackled well and effectively by the organization to provide better management.
References
Barrett, M., & Davidson, M. (2006). Gender and Communication at Work. Aldershot, U.K: Ashgate Publishing.
Canary, D. (2008). Sex differences and similarities in communication: critical essays and empirical investigations of sex and gender in interaction. London: Routledge.
Trent, J., & Friedenberg, R. (2008). Political campaign communication: principles and practices. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Vijai, G. (2004). Gender Role in Communication Style. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.