Sex Lies And Conversation Deborah Tannen

Ugonna Onyekachi
Mr. Harr
ENG.111.0002
5 July 2016
Sex, Lies and Conversation
In the essay "sex, Lies, and conversation” Deborah Tannen deliberates about the variance in communication styles between men and women and how it originates the many problems in relationships and marriages leading to separation and divorce of most couples. There is more to communication differences than just basic stereotypes about the two genders, Deborah gives examples, experimental results and researches conducted to analyze and explain communication behaviors and skills of both men and women to better understand the different impressions men and women have of communication.
The divorce rate is very high in the US and findings have shown that lack of communication is the
Women and men have different perceptions of what communication should be in a marriage. In the essay "sex, Lies, and conversation” Deborah Tannen talks about the linguistic battle the sexes. People have different perception and interpretation of things and communication is one thing both genders look at differently. To better explain this Deborah mentioned experiments to better understand the difference in communication styled between both genders. The Eleanor Maccoby research, it was shown genders play with their own gender and each group having organizational structures and forms of interactions. For women, intimacy is key to a good relationship and by talking to one another there is usually a bond created therefore providing an outlet to exchange secrets and build friendships. Women expect this from their husbands to bond and feel more intimate by talking. For men the way they interact and communicate with one another is more structured and hierarchical. They tend to avoid a submissive position which makes it hard for them to listen to women because if they do, it makes them feel like they a yielding to a subordinate level. Women are used to talking at