Deborah Tannen in her Essay, the “the Power of Talk” dissects how communication tells not only ideas, but the power structure of a conversation. Tannen looks at the fundamental differences within people to show how power can change in a conversation. Looking specifically at gender, culture, and job standings - Tannen can understand how those anthropological aspects affect conversation.
Within individual speech patterns, communication can be used to pinpoint the imbalance of power in a group setting. The different patterns within gender play the biggest role that contribute to power imbalance. Tannen writes, “Apologizing, mitigating criticism with praise, and exchanging compliments are rituals common among women that men often take literally. …show more content…
For example, while women are taught to be quieter and less direct in a conversation, men can see that as submissive, thus attempting to overpower the conversation. Also, In this observation about swearing between gender, it was noted that “The biggest distinction I noticed amongst gender, was the fact that men were more likely to swear around acquaintances or strangers, than women were. Where I had only heard women swear when I could tell they were very close to the other person they were having a conversation with” (Charny). In other words, women are more likely to keep more taboo linguistic patterns to themselves, and less in public environments. Because of this, they can be seen as the lesser in the …show more content…
For example, gender and social class can also create large differences within speech patterns that could make it easy for people to have a highly imbalanced conversation. Having a different job between two people doesn’t always elicit a over/underpowered conversation. For example, in the essay “Everyone Has An Accent but Me” by John Esling, he writes, “Some countries have one accent which is accepted as “standard” and which enjoys social prestige than any other.” Basically, a regional accent can also define a power structure within a conversation. Depending on accents, another person in the conversation can decide if it’s under or overpowered based on social norms, thus having a bigger linguistic clash than a job power
Within individual speech patterns, communication can be used to pinpoint the imbalance of power in a group setting. The different patterns within gender play the biggest role that contribute to power imbalance. Tannen writes, “Apologizing, mitigating criticism with praise, and exchanging compliments are rituals common among women that men often take literally. …show more content…
For example, while women are taught to be quieter and less direct in a conversation, men can see that as submissive, thus attempting to overpower the conversation. Also, In this observation about swearing between gender, it was noted that “The biggest distinction I noticed amongst gender, was the fact that men were more likely to swear around acquaintances or strangers, than women were. Where I had only heard women swear when I could tell they were very close to the other person they were having a conversation with” (Charny). In other words, women are more likely to keep more taboo linguistic patterns to themselves, and less in public environments. Because of this, they can be seen as the lesser in the …show more content…
For example, gender and social class can also create large differences within speech patterns that could make it easy for people to have a highly imbalanced conversation. Having a different job between two people doesn’t always elicit a over/underpowered conversation. For example, in the essay “Everyone Has An Accent but Me” by John Esling, he writes, “Some countries have one accent which is accepted as “standard” and which enjoys social prestige than any other.” Basically, a regional accent can also define a power structure within a conversation. Depending on accents, another person in the conversation can decide if it’s under or overpowered based on social norms, thus having a bigger linguistic clash than a job power