Apparently there was this belief that men and women speak differently, men are direct women indirect and so what encased in John Gray's 1992 book, "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus," sold more than 10 million copies. Either people believed in the theory or they just wanted to read the book and feel challenged to disprove it.
In 5th century BC anthropology and relativism Protagoras of Abdera said that man is the measure of all things, of which that they are and those which are not that they are not." For man, the world is what it appears to him to be, not something else; and though he meant man in general, he illustrated it by pointing out that even in regard to an individual man it makes no sense to tell him it is really warm when he is shivering with cold, because for him it is cold - for him, the cold exists, is there. Of course, this meaning in opening to interpretation. But, do you think if a woman was standing out in the cold she would have been shivering more or less? On my winter bike rides, I find women dressed up as warmly as men. If they feel cold we feel cold too, not warmer.
In the 5th century, women existed, but they were not there, as they were not considered in civic life as man dominated the rule of society, but they existed for without them man could not exist and the populations could not increase. Throughout history women warriors have fought and led troops into battle who stood up to the powerful male leaders of their day. But we know little of these women as history was written by the male victors. Of course, in countries where men dominate civic life today, they will find whatever excuse they can (religious or cultural) to deprive women of the social material things in life from jobs to education and a level playing field in communication. Unfortunately, when women are deprived of rights or given meagre rights they psychologically think that they are protected or have rights. Just wittness the struggle of Aung San Suu Kyi, the woman leader who has become the face of pro-democracy in Myanmar. It's a woman leading the struggle, and who is thinking of her protection?
So this will be a never ending debate, how men should communicate with women or women should communicate with men. Of course, anything that can create a cottage industry of of this, or a niche to make some money will be captured. Needless to say, women had to fight for rights and those rights still have to be transferred to the rest of the world where women are until today deprived basic human rights, political rights, and almost every other right needed to coexist equally with men.
UNICEF is almost reaching the 50% gender equality in professional jobs and could be a good research center for any of these theorists who need to find out whether women communicate differently. Personally, for me as a man, I found it easy to work with women bosses who had more patience and were much better listeners than men. While some of the the men staff I had would go out for lunch, have an occasional beer and come fully charged to argue, the women were much more focused on their work and had less spin on ego and macho images.
Equality is one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics and extends to everyday life, and is the foundation of all measurement. So why should there be an imbalance in the equality of men and women based on some communication therory, cultural or religious? Perhaps the theory that men and women cannot understand each other is a myth, perhaps that in the 21st century it could also view as an anxiety issue that both men and women are both vying for jobs, power and status at the same time. Please read what Deborah Cameron, a professor of language and communication at the University of Oxford, tells the Sunday Times in Britain in The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do Men and Women speak different languages?
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