Communication and Body Language

When people communicate, they hardly notice their body languages. They do not realize that their body language is just as powerful as their words. Communication can be affected by the body language. Through body language, two people can communicate without ever saying anything. Through body language people can predict which certain characteristic a person posses. These characteristics can be masculine, feminine, or androgyny. Body language includes body hand gestures and other non verbal methods of communication. Nonverbal communication can be affected not only based on society’s view of a particular sex and what its characteristics should be, but also one’s cultural beliefs. Body language is very important to study and understand because it varies culturally, and can be easily misinterpreted. By understand that there are certain body language that might mean something to one person, and something else to another person, we allow ourselves to become more open minded. Body language is an important study because society has come to attach it to a certain sex. Therefore by studying the body language we begin to understand that no particular body language should be attached to any sex.
Men and women differ in the way they use body language during communication. Facial expression, hand gestures, eyes movements, are all part of the body language expressed during a communication. Women of today are perceived to use more body language during communication than men. Men on the other hand are perceived to be louder and use less body language during a conversation; of course this is just a perception. We all participate in nonverbal communication every day. Sometimes we are so accustomed to it that we do not realize when we’re using it. Society is a major contributor to how much a man and a woman uses body language during a conversation (Ambady, Corner, & Hallahan, 1999). 1
Today’s society demands that a man