Men-Women and Japanese-American Intercultural Communication - Analysis of the Mitsubishi Case

Did you know, “men and women talk differently because they are raised in something like two different cultures: a male culture from which young men learn to speak like men and a female culture in which young women learn to speak like women?”(Cooper and MacDonald 9). Well, not actually from two separate cultures, but the idea of men and women being opposites as pointed out in the opening. Deborah Tannen has made her theory that a male culture and female culture each exist, very popular with the human population and has written an extensive book on her theory.

The sun rising and birds chirping, a fresh a breath air consumed my lungs. It was the start of my junior year at Coral Park Sr. High, and I was ready to enjoy my year with old friends and maybe have a girlfriend. As I pass through classmate and teachers outside the classroom; going up the main stairs in the back of the school entrance, I was interrupted by a wonderful fruity smell. As I turned to see what aroma lured me, suddenly I bumped my head and fell off the stairs. Once I realize what happen, I quickly ran up to the girl and held her hand; her hair was covering her face at that time so I didn’t pay so much attention. Ring! Ring! Ring! The bell rung and I was late. I apologize to her and told her that I would invite

Tannen (1994) suggests that the two sexes have very different modes of communication, and she suggests that in fact, communication between man and woman should be viewed as inter-cultural communication. She also has given set of differentiations: (1) Men live in a world of hierarchy; women live in a world of connection. (2) Men require individuality and freedom; women require intimacy and familiarity. (3) Men live in a world of action; women live in a world of feeling.(p,67) The issue Tannen tries to address is that sometimes women and men don’t understand each other because they come from different cultures. These findings on gender stereotypes offer a great help to them for understanding each other and thus enhance their relationship. Women

In Sex, Lies, and Conversation by Deborah Tannen, she does a good job in identifying the problems between how males and females communicate, and the reasons behind it. Going back as far as our childhood. She explains how as children, we usually play with kids of the same sex. Thus already creating different social circles, like the many different tribes in a jungle. Within these groups, male and females communicate and play in different ways. Males would prefer to create a platonic relationship through play, with examples of sports or activities. Where as females predominantly prefer to gossip or discuss topics in a calm setting. Causing different gendered children to become adaptive to one type of relationship building. As the children grow up, they are accustomed to the means of segregated communication.

When you dig deeper into the American culture you will begin to understand different ways that Hegemonic Masculinity takes place. One of

I’d seen this girl at PE on the first day of school. She was in second grade too! They came to my seat. Anna, who seemed lively and kind, said to me “What is your name? I am Anna.” I replied to her “I… I um.. I’m Daisy.” Anna and I played together at PE today. Anna influenced me by telling me funny jokes and her being my friend made me exited

In order to be able to solve some of the problems associated with gender miscommunications, we should distinguish first between the two different types of communications: verbal communication and nonverbal communication. Verbal communication consists of messages expressed by linguistic means such as the use of intonation, the specific words we choose to say, and the way we are saying them. There are differences in females and males usage of language/verbal communication. As we might expect from traditional sex-role stereotypes, girls tend to establish more egalitarian same-sex groups. Girls use friendly groups as a training ground for cooperation. Boys view friendly conversation among their friends as training for verbal aggression. Females are more verbal, use three times more amount of words than males, they are much more descriptive and use more adjectives. Women are less direct in their communication style. As Prof. Tannen showed in one of her research, women are more indirect in answering questions depends on the situation. They answer questions the way they would like to be answered by men, which means more than just a yes/no answer. However, men answer the way they would like to be answered

Communication between males and females has always been somewhat complicated. Because we are arguing that males and females have different cultures we wanted to take a look at what some of these differences might be. According to our research the inherent differences between male and female culture are the different roles that society holds for them and the ways these roles lead to different communication styles. The stereotypes that men and women grow up with affect the types of ways in which they communicate. We first wanted to take a look at how they specifically differ while men and women are arguing or having normal conversations. We also looked at the different types of networks that men and women

This dimension processes the level of importance of culture spaces on belief such as highlighting on human connections as well as stereotypically masculine belief such as confidence, determination, power and greediness. Cultures that are extraordinary on the masculinity scale usually have more conspicuous differences among genders and incline to be more modest and determined. That score less on this dimension have less differences among genders and place advanced value on relationship structure.

How one communicates is also influenced by gender. Studies show that ones sex can place a person in a gender role expectation. Women and Men communicate differently and because sexual identity is defined through same sex parent or role model, women and men can get into gender role expectations. These expectations influence their perception attitudes and behavior that will result in a communication style. This early self-concept can effect each one's interpersonal relations. Women for instance are much-attached human beings they have very early identification with their mothers, and this can cause an on going pattern of role expectation. It can lead to interpersonal

Deborah Tannen is the author of the book You Just Don't Understand where she analyzes the different meanings of communication between men and women. Her research shows that women and men use the same words and phrases and yet can interpret and react to those same words and phrases differently. Tannen compares the two sexes to find men use their conversation as a type of competition or to preserve their independence. For example, men talk about their knowledge regarding sports, cars, women, exc. Meanwhile, women try to foster intimacy through communication. For instance, women often talk and relate on a personal level. Throughout Tannen's book she uses "cross-cultural communication" to describe the differences between the language of

From a very early age, males and females are taught different linguistic practices. For example, communicative behaviors that are considered acceptable for boys may be considered completely inappropriate for girls.

On the first day of school, my mom took pictures of my sister and me as we were in a rush to catch the school bus. I remember getting on the bus and looking at unfamiliar faces. I took a seat next to my sister, seeing picturesque views of the mountains and farms nearby. We got to school and I met my new teacher, Mrs.Fallari. She seemed nice. The morning class flew by and next was lunch. I walked into the cafeteria not knowing where to sit. I sat at an empty table until a small brown-haired girl came over. She said “My name is Jessica. What’s your name”? I replied “Alissa”. After introducing ourselves, we talked about our favorite colors, hobbies, and interests and realized how much we had in common. We both liked blue and

When I arrived at my new school, Thomas Richard High School. Then I see the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. At that moment I knew this girl must be with me no matter what it takes I will do my best to get hooked with this girl. The girl was a short brunette girl with caramel brown eyes that make you just want her more. As I walked up to her I realized that I didn’t have a clue what to say and I would probably mess up.

There was this gorgeous girl, blonde hair and hazel eyes with a crooked nose and a mouth full of metal that would gleam when she smiled. She approached me without reason and introduced herself to me. I was in considerably less shape back then, with ripped jeans and a Call of Duty hoodie and wavy hair that was much too long, but I suppose I was inviting to this girl. She and I quickly became inseparable, but separated we were upon my expulsion and relocation from Amelia halfway through the school year. The transition from elementary to middle school was a rough transition for me, considering my brother had recently become addicted to drugs and dropped out, and my mom still worked two jobs to make ends meet. My dad usually left for work before I woke up and got home after I’d fallen asleep, so I only had my coke sniffing, womanizing brother to look up to and