Talking About Problems in Intercultural Communication.docx

Talking About Problems in Intercultural Communication.docx

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TalkingAboutProblemsinInterculturalCommunication

GenderDifferencesinCommunication:

AnInterculturalExperience

Arguesthatcross-gendercommunicationqualifiesasaformofinterculturalcommunicationandoffersadviceonhowtodevelopeffectiveinterculturalcommunicationskillswhenspeakingacrossgenders.

byBeckyMicheleMulvaney

DepartmentofCommunication

FloridaAtlanticUniversity

Introduction

AcatalogwhichrecentlyarrivedatmyhouseadvertisesT-shirtsandbumperstickerspopularizingthewordsoffeministscholarsCherisKramarae&PaulaTreichler:

"Feminismistheradicalnotionthatwomenarepeople."

（1）Indeed,sometimesIthinkwe'vespentthelasttwomillenniamakingthatnotionacceptable.Now,asthe20thcenturyends,wemaybeatthepointofcompletingafirststepforwomen--thatfirststephasbeenadifficult,long-termstruggletowardacceptanceofwomenaspeople.

Yethistorydemonstratesthatlegalpersonhooddoesnotnecessarilyresultincomparable/equaltreatment.Thatis,women,likesomanyothergroups,havegainedlegalrightsonlytofacelessinstitutional,perhapsmoresubtlebutinsidiousformsofdiscrimination.Inthistimewhenpolitical,educational,andsocialdiscussionscenteronissuesofdiversityandofcreatingaconstructive,multi-culturalsociety,itmaybehelpfultoexamineproblemsincommunicationbetweenthegendersasaculturalissue.Thisisnottheonly,theright,orthebestwayofexamininggenderandcommunication,butitdoesofferanalternativeframeworkforanalysis,onethatperhapsdefusesthepotentialforoffensiveand/ordefensiveposturingwhendiscussinggender.

Hence,inthispresentationIarguethatitisbothusefulandappropriatetoviewgendercommunicationasaformofinterculturalcommunication.First,Iofferabriefprimerongenderdifferencesincommunicationwithprimaryemphasisonexamplesthatillustratehowgenderisbothaninfluenceonandaproductofcommunication.Inshort,thisdiscussionhighlightstheprimaryroleplayedbycommunicationingenderissues.Second,IofferdescriptionsofsomesalientelementsofinterculturalcommunicationandIillustratehowgendercommunicationisaformofinterculturalcommunication.Finally,Iwillapplyadviceonhowtodevelopeffectiveinterculturalcommunicationskillstothesituationofgendercommunication.Duringourdiscussionperiod,Ihopethatyou,theaudience（thetrueexpertsongendercommunicationissuesandthelibrarian）willprovideexamplesofproblemsand/orpossiblesolutionsrelateddirectlytothepracticinglibrarian.OverviewonGenderandCommunication

Twoassumptionsfromcommunicationtheory（bothclassicalandcontemporarytheories）helpsituatemyoverviewongenderandcommunication.First,communicationisepistemic.Thatis,communicationisthemediumbywhichwecometoknowthings（Protagorasarguedthatabsolutetruthwasinaccessibletohumans;hence,truthhadtobeestablishedbyhumanstandards[doxa].Similarly,contemporaryrhetoricaltheoristsarguethattruthissociallyconstructedthroughlanguageandothersymbolsystems）.

（2）Forexample,itwasthroughscientificdiscourse（rhetoric）thatpeoplecametoviewtheuniverseasearth-centered.HumanacceptanceofthisnarrativewassostrongthatGalileo,inpositingthattheuniverseissun-centered,wasplacedunderhousearrest.

Mysecondassumptionaboutcommunicationisthatitisaxiological.Thatis,communicationisvalue-laden.Virtuallyallcommunicationtheoristsagreethatlanguageissubjective.Allcommunicationmakesclaimsandtakesstances.Andsometheorists,suchasWeaver,Eubanks,andWinterowdwouldarguethatnolanguageisneutral.（3）Indeed,anyuseofcommunicationexhibitsanattitude,andanattitudeimpliesanact,andallhumanactionshavemoralconsequences.Hence,communicationentailsmoralrepsonsibility.

Thesignificanceofcommunicationpracticesinshapingourlivesisnolessimportantinthearenaofgenderandcommunication.Infact,LaurieArlissarguesthat"communicationisthoughttobe,atonce,theprocessbywhichwelearntobemaleorfemale,andtheproductofourattemptstobehavesexappropriately."（4）Indescribingfeministcriticism,rhetoricalcriticSonjaFosspositsthat"Itsfocusisonafundamentalelementofhumanlife--gender--anditisdramaticallychangingtheformandcontentofknowledgeaboutrhetoric."（5）Thatis,genderisbothaninfluenceonandaproductofcommunication.Letmeprovideafewillustrations.

Fromaveryearlyage,malesandfemalesaretaughtdifferentlinguisticpractices.Communicativebehaviorsthatareacceptableforboys,forexample,maybeconsideredcompletelyinappropriateforgirls.Hence,thebodyofresearchonwomenandlanguagerevealsthatwomenexperiencelinguisticdiscriminationintwoways:

inthewaytheyaretaughttouselanguage,andinthewaygenerallanguageusagetreatsthem.（6）So,forexample,womenreflecttheirroleinthesocialorderbyadoptinglinguisticpracticessuchasusingtagquestions,qualifiers,andfillerstosoftentheirmessages.Likewise,traditionallywomenwereidentifiedbytheirassociationwithmen,andweknowthatoccupationaltitlesindicatedwhichjobswere"formen"andwhichwere"forwomen."Whilemuchofthishaschangedtoday,oursocietyretainsatendencytoimplythatmaleness,afterall,isthestandardfornormalcy（afemalephysicianmaystillbereferredtoasa"womandoctor,"andwhileafemalecommitteechairmaybecalledthe"chair"orthe"chairperson,"amaleinthatrolewillmorelikelybecalled"chairman"）.（7）Whatwearetaughtaboutgender,then,isreflectedinourlanguageusage.

Communicativepracticesnotonlyreflectnotionsaboutgender,buttheyalsocreateculturalconceptsofgender.Messagesourcesprivilegedbysocietyaslegitimateknowledgegeneratorscreateawebofsociallycompellingdiscourses.Thus,religious,mythic,philosophic,andscientificdiscoursesteachus,amongotherthings,aboutsociety'svaluesandrulesrelatedtogender.Itisnoaccident,then,thatAmericanmythsfocusontheactivemaleandthesupportingfemale,orthatPlatodefinedwomenas"lessermen,"orthatAristotledescribedwomenas"adeformity,amisbegottenmale,"orthatSt.ThomasAquinasarguedthatgodshouldnothavecreatedwomen,orthatcraniologistsofthenineteenthcenturyarguedthatwomen'ssmallerheadsjustifiedtheirsubordinatepositioninsociety（thusinitiatingallthe"prettylittlehead"rhetoricaboutwomen）,orthatFreudbelievedwomenhad"littlesenseofjustice,"andsoon.（8）

Therhetoricalforceofmythsinconstructingpowerfulworldviewsis,frankly,awesome.AsEwardSaidexplained:

Therearenoinnocent,nounideologicalmyths,justasthereareno"natural"myths.Everymythisamanufacturedobject,anditistheinherentbadfaithofamythtoseem,orrathertopretend,tobeafact.（9）

Similarly,religiousmythsseemtobeespeciallypotentnarrativeformsofrhetoric.Religion"legitimatessoeffectivelybecauseitrelatestheprecariousrealityconstructionsofempiricalsocietieswithultimatereality."（10）Alltheseprivilegeddiscourses,Iwouldargue,createawebofmeaning,asociallyconstructedworldviewthathistoricallyhasexcludedormadesecondarytheexperienceofcertaingroupsofpeople.

Inaddition,massmediatedmessagesofferthemostcontemporary,powerful,technologicallyandrhetoricallysophisticatedstrategiesforshapingculturalreality.Thebeauty,diet,andadvertisingindustriesarethemostobvious,bestresearchedexamplesofcontemporary,self-consciousmyth-makerswhocontrolculturalconcepts（andacceptableimages）ofgender（ofwhatittakesandmeanstobemaleorfemale,masculineorfeminine）.（11）Considerthemyriadofmassmediatedcommunicationformsavailablenow,asweenterthetwenty-firstcentury--fromthenowsimplisticprintingpresstotheinformationsuperhighwayandbeyond.Theopportunitiesforgenerating（andreceiving）massmediatedmessagesisstaggering.Sotooistheopportunityforabuse.

Communication,then,isofcentralconcernwhenaddressinggenderissues.Rhetoricalmessagesinlargepartdeterminewhatweconsiderknowledge,whatknowledgeweprivilege,andwhatvaluesweespouse.Furthermore,theroleofcultureincommunicationpracticesdirectsustoaninterculturalperspectiveongenderandcommunication.

InterculturalCommunication

Interculturalcommunication,definedbyRichardPorterandLarrySamovarasoccurring"wheneveramessageproducerisamemberofonecultureandamessagereceiverisamemberofanother,"hasbeenofinteresttocommunicationscholarssincethe1960s.（12）Literatureoninterculturalcommunicationoftenincludesdiscussionofsubcultures（"aracial,ethnic,regional,economic,orsocialcommunityexhibitingcharacteristicpatternsofbehaviorsufficienttodistinguishitfromotherswithinanembracingcultureorsociety"）orcocultures（analternativetermforsubculturesadoptedbyJudyPearsonsoasnottoimplyinferiorityinrelationtothedominantsociety）.（13）Pearsondefinesco-culturesas"groupsofpersonsunitedbyacommonelementwholiveinacultureoperatingwithinadominantculture."（14）Communicationpracticesbyandaboutwomenclearlyfitdefinitionsofbothsubculturesandco-cultures.Furthermore,communicationbetweenthesuborco-cultureandthedominantculturerepresentsaformofinterculturalcommunication.Scholarsinthisareaoftenbegintheirdiscussionsbyidentifyingthemaincharacteristicsofinterculturalcommunication.Forexample,SamovarandPorteridentifywhattheycallthe"constituentpartsofinterculturalcommunication."（15）DorothyPeningtoncallssuchelements"signif