Research and observation has proved that men and women speak differently when it comes to language style and gestures. The article, Linguistic variation and social function by Cheshire records some amazing findings that prove the difference displayed by men and women in language use. There is a unique way through which males speak that distinguishes them from their female counterparts. Apart from the difference observed in their vocal cords, women display a difference in tone and even expression. The difference in language use has been noted in different dialects where women have been found to use some specific words more than males. This also explains why women thrive well in certain careers that pertain to language use, while makes struggle (Eisikovits, 1998). For instance, when it comes to business and marketing, it has been found that most females have more convincing tactics that is likely to attract clients compared to males. This is because of their gestures and the use of certain words. The ability of women to succeed in using language to convince is majorly influenced by their gender make up that makes it easy for them to understand the needs of others.
The genetic and psychological makeup of women helps them analyse an issue basing on the results, compared to the males who are only interested in executing the plan. Women take time to analyse an issue by considering their side effects before they can speak. When addressing an issue verbally, their brains are wired to understand the needs at different dimensions and hence having the ability to speak with more knowledge. Language has also been identified to be one of the ways through which women can perfectly express themselves. Research has shown that women speak more than men by almost half. This hence give women more opportunities to express themselves through language, an experience that makes them geniuses as they grow older (Cheshire, 1982). Men on the other hand do not put a lot of effort in language since it is not the way they express themselves. Men are designed to take action rather than just talk. Males will hence find more satisfaction in executing rather than just talking and therefore making them bad masters of language use.
Language use in women is also affected with their hormonal imbalances brought about by their gender. This is different in men whose hormones are a bit stable. Women will therefore express themselves differently depending on the occasion and season. For instance, women are mostly driven by emotions and thus affecting language. For instance, you realise that men tend to speak almost the same in any given occasion, while women will react. Women easily empathise with people on certain occasions and will therefore express it through the tone and language they use (Trudgill, 1972). During happy moments like weddings, women will be seen expressing a happy mood through their language and gesture of dancing, while most men will appear unmoved. This also applies to other occasions like mourning and even criticizing. Even though men also empathise with the prevailing situation and circumstances, they may not know how to express it through language as women do.
The difference in how men and women speak, as stated in the articles, starts manifesting through their tender and even adolescent stages. Girls as young as three years old show a difference in how they demand things from their parents compared to their male counterparts. For instance, in as much as it easy for a boy to give up and withdraw when his demands are not met, a girl will show some persistent and even cry until when she is attended to. This implies that women have mastered the art of language that helps them have their way, while men have mastered the art of action to demand their way. All this are gender survival techniques that help each gender to survive in a given environment. After reading the articles and analysing them, I find a lot of credibility in what the authors have written. Most of the points they have brought about are real life examples that can be observed on a daily basis. Trudgill, Eisikovits and Cheshire in their articles have put in a lot of effort to explain some of the differences in language as expressed by gender to explain why men and women express themselves differently. I agree with their ideas and findings that indeed, there is a lot of difference displayed by how men and women express themselves through language.
Reference list
Cheshire, J. (1982). Linguistic variation and social function. Sociolinguistic variation in speech communities, 153-166.
Eisikovits, E. (1998). Girl-talk/boy-talk: sex differences in adolescent speech. Language and Gender: a Reader, Oxford: Blackwell, 42-54.
Trudgill, P. (1972). Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change in the urban British English of Norwich. Language in society, 1(02), 179-195.
