Week 2: Sex and Gender

I couldn't help but laugh during our lecture this week when we were talking about the differences between male and female speech habits.  My brother is two years older than me and we get along pretty well.  Because of this, we are pretty comfortable around each other so I am able to see how he talks around people he is not trying to impress.  Trust me, there is a huge difference!  There have been so many times when I have been having a normal conversation with my brother when someone else comes in the room and his voice and language completely change.  More than once I have looked at him and said, "What are you doing?  You're voice doesn't sound like that!"  He will usually get really embarrassed at this point and say that he doesn't know what I'm talking about.

          This is why I thought it was really funny when we were talking about how males use language and gender to gain status, because as soon as someone else came into the room TJ's voice got lower and I could tell that he was trying to gain report.  He was more short with his answering, trying not to give too much away and show that he actually enjoyed communication and disclosing information, because that might be seen as too feminine.  I wonder if this will ever change when communicating with men, because I don't know if I will ever understand why boys like to put on a front that they care more about establishing report than rapport.