“Men and women commonly use nonverbal communication in ways that reflect societal expectations” (Gamble). In other words, nonverbal communication within the genders usually shows the “societal expectations” during that time (Gamble). Cues that are connected to language, but are not actual words can be considered nonverbal communication, such as pitch, tone, facial expressions, and touch, and both men and women are different when it comes to these elements.
Women tend to have a higher pitch to their voice than men. This might be due to the fact that men have naturally deeper voices, although some women do not have as squeaky as a voice as they might make others perceive. One thing from childhood that I remember quiet clearly was when my mother was dating there would be an alteration in the pitch of her voice. As soon as her date’s polished black shoe would touch the cold pavement she all the sudden sounded like more “girly”. This change was because she altered the pitch of her voice to a higher form, and she fit the “societal expectations” of her gender role. My mother does not have a deep voice, although you will not find her filling in for any Disney princess character.
The tone of men and women have can be vastly different but they can also be similar, and I think the current time indicates what the tone will be like for both genders, like the 1950s. In the ‘50s there was a distinguishable difference between men and women when it came to tone. Women were portrayed as whimsical with their tone, almost sing-song. This was attractive, and made women seem more feminine, thus their tone reflected their society’s expectations of their extreme femininity. Men of course did not have this sing-song characteristic with their tone, although some had a serious and stern tone.
I think the best example of this difference in tone would be Red and Kitty, despite the fact that they are from That 70’s Show they were definitely stuck in the ‘50s. Kitty had a whimsical tone, while Red was serious and stern with his tone. In addition, I think that Donna was a good example of what tone women take now a days, which is serious and definitely not sing-song. This is of course just generalizing, but television does usually depict what society deems as acceptable, thus the tones used during these time periods indicate what was perceived as “normal” for gender roles.
Facial expressions do differ between men and women. Usually the difference is that women smile a lot, while men do not. I see a lot of this at my job, Subway. The women working at Subway will smile a lot more, than the men working there. Of course, many of them do not have a reason to smile, but it is often times seen that women have this friendly demeanor as opposed to the men.
I do not necessarily agree with the idea that “men are much more likely to touch women than women are to touch men” (Gamble). I have been born and raised in a Western culture, and it has always been looked down upon if a man touches a woman. In fact, I had this very conversation between my mother and boyfriend. We discussed how it usually means something when a man touches a woman, and if that woman is not inviting this touch, then it is frowned upon greatly by society. I do not know if it is the physical power that most men have over women, but it is seen as less invasive and dominating when a women touches a man. Women are less threatening due to their lack of physical superiority, and that is probably the reason as to why it is seen as okay by my mother and boyfriend for a woman to touch a man, but not for a man to touch a women. Then again, they could be biased on the fact that both of them do not want another man to touch me.
Both men and women are different from each other when it comes to nonverbal cues, such as pitch, tone, facial expressions, and touch. It makes sense that women and men are different when it comes to these aspects of nonverbal communication, after all, they depict the gender roles of that time due to the “societal expectations” (Gamble). Having these differences in nonverbal communication allows for a clear distinction between the two genders.
Works Cited
Gamble, Teri Kwal, Michael W. Gamble. “Nonverbal Behavior: Culture, Gender, and the Media.” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 147. Print. 8 March 2011.
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