She said, He said

Have you noticed the way men and women express themselves differently?
When we communicate differently, this involves how we say something, what we say and how we interpret that information. Generally, guys tend to be more teasing and competitive when hanging out. Conversations can be on the surface where they talk about what they did last night rather than about their feelings. Conversely, girls support each other in conversation, are open and share stories in order to connect with one another. Our conversation styles have been shaped by our culture, family upbringing and gender. When I was a little girl, I would share my dolls with my friends and have tea parties, building friendships through conversation and sharing secrets. Boys on the other hand would play with soldiers and games, creating friendships by doing things together.

Listen to some conversations and see if you notice these styles coming out.


Just the other day I overheard two guys talking about a marketing project they were working on. One called the other “gay” because he knew that the manufacturer of Barbie was Mattel. He felt he had to cut this guy down with a derogatory remark. If a girl were in the conversation, the remark would be more along the lines of, “oh yeah, you’re right! Good job.” Conversation styles can be much more understated, or fit right into the gender stereotypes, as this example illustrates.