Blog #7- Gender Styles and Standpoint Theory

 March 23rd, 2022

                                                  Genderlect Styles and Standpoint Theory 

Hello everyone and welcome back to this weeks' Blog Post . Today we'll be discussing two very dynamic theories : (1) Gender Styles and (2) Standpoint theory.  For those who may not know, Genderlect styles theory refers to a term that suggests that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two different distinct cultural dialects (Griffin, 2019). On the other hand, Standpoint theory according to Griffin (2019)  is perspective achieved through the critical reflection on certain power relations and their consequences that exist to oppose the status quo. Both approaches are similar in that they aim to explain how our personal standpoints and gender norms if you will coexist together to produce an idea as to why we may chose to act a certain way and how the social groups we align with affect our perception. 

In order for us to get a clearer view, let's take these concepts apart bit by bit starting with Gender select styles. 

1. Have you ever found yourself and your family engaged in a house meeting but you feel like you've just walked into a lecture? If so, welcome to the club! In my family, we'd often have house meetings to discuss certain matters big or small.They'd normally be run by my parents but mostly my dad. Before we go further into detail, I'd like us to first rehash a few elements such as report and rapport. Report according to Tanner is typically used by men. In this form of talk, men often seek the want to command attention, convey information, win arguments, and overall seek ways to draw attention to their selves. On the other hand, Rapport is steadily used (according to Tannen) by females and deal more with establishing connections with others and showing sensitivity in and during a conversation(Griffen, 2019). 

  Now, let's bring it back to the example stated up above. Keeping in mind that Tanner's research, books, and theories have been deemed controversial and known to deepen the idea of gender stereotypes lets' see what you think at the end of this post. As I was saying previously, my family would often have house meetings where we'd gather around the dining table and talk as a family. Usually led by my dad, I'd remember him having characteristics of report in his deliverance. For example, he'd always try to solve problems/issues by asserting his own ideas and draw attention to hisself which are constitutes of Tannen's studies. However, where Tannen states that this is normally a man's trait, I think its safe to say that my mom shakes up this finding because not only was my mom active in the characteristics of report but of rapport as well.  In other areas of parenting, I've seen instance of rapport and report intertwining between my parents which leads me to reason that Tannen's study makes us worse communicators because of the restrict on fluidity of gender and norms. Personally I feel as though Tannen's theory is out dated in today's society where a want to pull away from the standard 1950's lifestyle of male dominance and typical stereotype is prevalent. In relevance to this, have you ever thought about social groups and how it can heavily effect our standpoints on certain positions ? If your answer is yes, keep reading ! 

2. Standpoint Theory is defined by Harding and Wood as being a critical reflection on power relations and their consequences that oppose the status quo. As we study their research, I found myself thinking about social groups and more specifically what social group I belong to. One in particular is my college classes that are embedded in the Comm Department. Being apart of the Communication department affects my worldview as I see things and approach certain things on a more theoratically based perspective. In addition, I tend to look at things from a more interpretivist approach and am more apt to assign meaning and/or values to communicative applications. This has allowed me to view the world through an interpretivists lens and make subtle judgements/observations as such that may lead to the strengthening of my standpoint on certain matters. 

4. Let's think about this scenario. Let's imagine that we work for Taregt and are listening in on a seminar led by both Tannen and and Wood.  Let's also say a man who works there is seeking to improve his communication between women colleagues an Tannen and Wood are both there to aid in the process. I would have to think that each approach would be slightly different in comparison to the next. For example, we can regard Tannen's theory as more binary and lacking fluidity. Tannen may offer black and white advice that as her research concludes men and their report talks and gender characteristics vs women and their rapport discussions. Going deeper, she would likely look towards gender as the answer in how to go about learning how to differenctiate between male persona and female persona's. 

               On the other hand, Wood's research on standpoint theory is a bit more fluid base and allows for more interpretation into the sway of things. Wood would more than likely attack the ideals behind being more inclusive rather than sticking to black and white. She would be more inclined to explaining to the man the sterotypes of women, there would be more of an emphasis on social location regarding the environment in which the employees are immersed in that would shape experiences and the way of understanding one another through either shared work experiences and things of that nature (Griffen, 2019). 

My question for you now is how would you go about aiding the man and in addition, which approach do you find yourself relating more to ? As always, thanks for taking the time to read through this week's blog post , I hope you enjoyed ! Make sure to stay tuned for next week's blog post