Genderlect Styles
Deborah Tannen
Cultural Context—Gender and Communication
Standpoint Theory
Theory Overview (7th Edition)
Abstracts appear in Appendix A of the text
Male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication. Masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects rather than as inferior or superior ways of speaking. Men's report talk focuses on status and independence; women's rapport talk seeks human connection. (Semiotic and socio-cultural traditions)