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Sex, Gender, And Communication In Small Groups By Nina M. Wood

Decent Essays
A Response to “Sex, Gender, and Communication in Small Groups” Throughout this course, a focus of study has been the discrepancies between how men and women communicate in a group. The article “Sex, Gender, and Communication in Small Groups” by Nina M. Reich and Julia T. Wood focuses on many of these differences, while also providing similarities between how both men and women communicate. To begin, Reich and Wood start by making the important distinction between sex and gender. Sex is the biological difference between the two, which includes different reproductive organs, different hormones, and more. Gender is a cultural construct used to differentiate between masculinity and femininity. Gender’s meaning is not universal or stable, but…show more content…
Reich and Wood take this analysis further by showing that even with their typical differences, both men and women are similar in that they act to achieve goals, are ambitious, value supportive relationships, seek and exercise leadership, and are assertive and deferential (Aries 1996; Burleson in Press). All of this information corroborates what was said in class, and further strengthens the idea that there are differences in masculine and feminine communication styles, which can contribute to misunderstandings between the sexes. This study, however, shows that regardless of how the communication is occurring, all humans are searching for the same foundational values, including reaching a goal. I think that this is valuable information because it furthers the research presented in class by highlighting that regardless of communication style, there is purpose and validity to all forms of communication.
Through conflict styles and decision-making, there are stereotypes that can be made based on assumptions of men and assumptions of women, but overall this is not the most comprehensive analysis of conflict style or decision-making. In class, we discussed the five conflict styles developed by Kilmann and Thomas. These five styles are avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. This article expands on the conflict style knowledge given in class by explaining when put into gender categories conflict styles are too simplistic. I agree with
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