FREE ESSAY ON "WOMANSPEAK AND MANSPEAK"

"WOMANSPEAK AND MANSPEAK"

"Womanspeak and Manspeak" is the article that I chose to read. The article mainly talked
about the differences of sociological behavior of men and women. Not just only on how
they act, but mostly on how society views them to be. Basically, I had learned the how
few differences man and women have. The only true difference is how we are perceived. Men
have always been looked at as being at a higher status in life. It seems as if these
ideas are still around today. Many people just assume that it is alright for men to do
certain things that women are forbidden to do. Also, I learned that a person of higher
working status instigates most touching or sexual behavior, which is usually a male. Of
course this is not always tru in all situations. So, what is more likely the true story
behind this? Are the differences between men and women real or are they only perceived?
Three concepts, which helped me to understand the article in greater detail are
tradition,
Tradition is something that is done the same way over and over again. Traditions may also
be something that is done over and over that has been passed down from generation to
generations of people. This particular article was all about traditions. By perceiving
that the women today act and are all treated in the same way as early years in life is a
tradition. When you act on things just because that is the way it had been done many
times before, you are continuing a tradition. The article talks about defining a man or a
woman into certain statuses in life. Men get power when their wives continue the
tradition of losing their last names to take on their husbands. When you talk about
certain working positions you always assume that they are held by males unless you
specifically state that it is a woman. Such examples are, "lady professor", "lady pilot."
One thing you never hear is "male pilot," or "male professor."
Besides keeping traditions, there are groups to be put into such as an ingroup. An
ingroup is a type of group, which you may feel some belonging to. Although you may feel
like you belong the group requires many demands to make sure you remain loyal to the
group. As the article had stated that since men attain most of the higher positions in
the workforce, they would be considered the ingroup. Everyone wants to be accepted and be
able to live by the same rules. Men of a high status may get away with things such as
propping there feet up onto the desk or sitting in a lounged position whereas a woman may
not. It tends to be looked upon as being unethical. Ingroups don't just separate men and
women. A boss is able to be relaxed and able to make short conversations whenever he
wants to. The workers must always remain at a high level of concentration and never stop
during work just to be relaxing. When you are in the ingroup these things are all
possible without any problems. 
The key concept tradition helped me understand the article very well. The ingroup helped
me to relate to the article, but the outgroup is the group which must struggle through
these traditional ideas everyday. An outgroup is a type of group where you are alone. You
try to be in an ingroup; so you are being competitive and feel as if you have an opponent
now. Males hold the high level positions in both; work and social life, which tend to be
considered as an ingroup. So, it is obvious that just because you hold a high status does
not mean you are part of the ingroup. Many women are in an outgroup just because they are
female. When a male can touch a woman on the shoulder to explain something and nothing is
thought of, it is because he is in the ingroup. A woman on the other hand, will be looked
at with great confusion if she touches a male on the shoulder. Anytime a woman touches a
male, the man begins to assume that she is trying to be intimate with them. Believe it or
not, males can also be part of an outgroup. The men are outcastes by society when they
are made out to be the instigators of a sexual or intimate relationship. 
The article tries to make men out to be worse then it really is in life. The article
actually just based the fact that men are the instigators of nonverbal gestures on past
relationships. Basically, they just inferred that was the way it was now. Just as the
article ends with the heading, "Breaking the Mold-A First Step" many women have begun to
turn the tables and become the instigators of nonverbal communication and gestures. This
in turn has made many relationships between males and females much stronger. A lot of men
make the mistake by assuming that males are better then women, making relationships very
difficult to maintain. But it is not always the men who need to change. It is women who
will stay away from a particular chance of a relationship just because she is in a
position that puts her at a higher level professionally. She is not at a higher level
mentally, socially, or does she even retain the right to say she is better. She will just
assume that going below her professional status to be involved with someone would be
unprofessional and unethical.