It’s been said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, and sometimes it may strike us as astounding that the two planets can even occupy the same night sky, much less the two genders share the same bedroom!
It’s an old conundrum, this vexed issue of female/male communication (and total lack of communication) styles. It’s also probably one that we can all relate to intimately from personal experience!
It’s therefore worthwhile to check out this argument of sociolinguist Debra Tannen on the root cause of the obstacles to communication between the genders because it might be argued that Tannen is playing it fast and lose with her claims, evidence, and conclusions here!
For this discussion topic, therefore, we want to take a critical look at her argument. Read carefully and note what her main claim is and upon what evidence she bases it. Do you agree with her conclusions? Do you think her evidence is solid? Is it possible some of her deductions went awry — and if so, how?
Answer the Questions for Discussion on page 208, and then write a response where you offer your own critique of Tannen’s argument. Is there anything about this old argument (it was first published in 1986) that strikes you as dated? Fallacious? Are there ideas you particularly resonate with?
0 comments