Navigate Left
  • The Butte Humane Society is organizing the Woofstock Festival Saturday. The event will raise money to support the animals at the humane society. Courtesy: Butte Humane Society.

    Arts & Entertainment

    Woofstock Music Festival wags its way back to Chico

  • Students in line to check in for the career fair. Taken by Jessica Miller on March 27.

    News

    Border Patrol unexpectedly absent from Chico State career fair

  • The Media, Entertainment, Technology and Immersive Experiences department will be making some major changes. Courtesy: Chico State.

    News

    Chico State to combine journalism, MADT, CAGD programs under one school

  • Lunar Market customers taking a look at a vendor business. Taken by Julianna Rose on Dec. 2, 2023.

    Arts & Entertainment

    Lunar Market’s growth in the Chico community

  • Damage to Pickup After Accident

    News

    Lane closed due to traffic accident at East Ninth and Bartlett Streets 

Navigate Right
Breaking News
Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

The language of gender

Photo+credit%3A+Helen+Suh
Photo credit: Helen Suh

When someone says they’re bilingual, they typically mean they speak two languages. Like in America, it’s most common for someone to speak both Spanish and English.

That way, it’s easier for that person to communicate with someone whose first language is different than what is normal. Or if you’re visiting, it’s easier to communicate with the natives.

However, most people overlook two languages that are the most important to learn, that no matter what country you’re in you need to learn these languages. And those languages are the gender languages.

I took a gender communication class a few semesters back, and it made me realize how much difference there is between a more masculine speech and a feminine speech. Feminine speakers have tag questions at the end of their statements and masculine speakers are straight to the point.

I often feel people see problems in relationships or other sort of things as a communication problem, whether it is a lack of communication or a misunderstanding of what is being communicated.

The best way to understand the opposite sex or someone with a different gender speech is to learn how they speak. Becoming aware of how someone talks is just one step closer to better communication.

It’ll be easier to understand why someone says one thing and what the true meaning behind it is. It’ll probably lessen the fights about communication.

Communicating about communication is hard enough, but when you speak two different languages, that just doesn’t help at all.

First, you must become aware of what language you speak. It sounds simple, like a man would have masculine speech and women would have feminine speech. But sometimes it’s not that way. Sometimes women could have a more masculine speech, which is what my gender communication teacher had.

Once you figure out your speech, you need to find out what your partner is or whoever you’re communicating with. This is probably easier, because once you figure out yours, you can see if the person is the same or different than you.

If the person you’re communicating with isn’t aware of the differences, maybe pointing them out will help the conversation.

I’m constantly telling my boyfriend things about what feminine speech is like, and he just doesn’t understand because his masculine speech is so different.

It may take time but so does learning any language. You’d never expect a person who only speaks German to be able to communicate with someone who only speaks Korean. So how is that any different between gendered languages? The best communication is knowing what you’re saying AND what the other person is saying.

Brittany McClintock can be reached at [email protected] or @B_McClintock17 on Twitter.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Brittany Mcclintock, Staff Writer

Comments (0)

All The Orion Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *