CS 1: Cross Gender Communication

To me, this lesson was the most interesting thus far as the class was split up into practically 2 factions, the boys... and the girls.

In this class, I challenged Dr Deng to explain to me why men think differently than women in terms of mannerisms and subject choice and he reasoned very succinctly. It all boils down to when we all were little primary school children and how we were all grouped or cliqued in our little "boys team" and "girls team" worlds. The very fact that we grew up unconsciously imbedding societal norms into our minds makes me feel a little bit strange as I've never seriously considered this point when trying to reason why men are from mars and women are from venus.

I've always had some problem understanding the other gender and why they act the way they do. Many misunderstandings often arise because of this lack of insight into the train of thought the other gender makes when conversing with the opposite sex.

Well, I have been watching Gossip Girl a lot lately and it is fast reaffirming what i've learnt in class. Gossip girl is a tv series following the lives of New York's richest kids in school and all the trials that they have to go through in life. This show, although some may say bimbotic, actually summerises this whole less on cross gender communication very fittingly. The boys are often seen displaying a macho and nonchalant attitude while the girls are often seen more preoccupied with their fashion and girly talk. Not that this show stereotypes these two genders fully because they also show exceptions to the rule.

However, upon thorough review of this lesson over the past 1 week, one thing the show does reflect very clearly is how men and women have spoken discourse. In class we learn that men normally are very information based while women are more relationship based. In the show, it can often be seen that the boys often seek each other out purely because they need help or want something; hardly starting a conversation because they generally want to build a strong relationship with the person. Women, on the other hand, are normally found sitting together in groups discussing the latest happenings in each other's lives (like Blair and her gang on the steps of the school in the tv series). Therefore, yes, there is some truth in the research.

However, I must say that this research does not apply to everyone. When compared to myself, I do not seem to fit the typical guy profile. This got me thinking about the different exceptions to the rule and also how i've noticed that my upbringing has helped shape the way I see things now. This will be very useful next time when i'm placed in charge of helping to mould someone's life from their younger years as what I tell or encourage them to do can have far reaching effects on their life.

Terribly interesting class we had that week and I must say, sometimes, opposites attract.

Jon