Gender Language

First off, I have a qualm with the book in this area. I've studied a lot on gendered and cultural communication and it boggles my mind when people interchange "gender" and "sex," as the book did. Most of the time, with the exception to the area on masculine and feminine language traits, the book used "gender" instead of "sex." For those of you who do not know the difference: gender is what we perceive ourselves to be in relation to sexual orientation and communication styles (masculine or feminine); sex is our physical/biological attributes that tell us if we are male (penis and testicles) or female (vagina and ovaries). Henceforth, when I mention "men and women" I will be referring to the stereotypical SEX  portrayal of men and women, and all comments will be generalized.

Now, in regards to the question, yes I do believe that the men and women use language differently. I've read many studies (including Tannen who is mention in the book) about inflection, tone, proximity, social settings, non-verbal, and (of course) verbal differences between men and women. Most women tend to speak in inflections (raising of the voice at the end of a sentence) while men tend to lower their voice. The other day I was tried and helping my boyfriend pack for his camping trip with the guys and I told him that his phone was still in the bed room and to not forget it. Well, because I was so tired, I naturally added an inflection to the last word, and he actually had to ask me if I was asking him or telling him (I tend to have a more masculine style of speech so it confuses him when I ask questions sometimes).

Non-verbally, men tend to stand taller in a group and rarely face each other directly. Even if they are face to face, they are slightly turned out either with their shoulders or feet. Men are taught at a young age (from observing their fathers), close contact with someone of the same sex is not "manly" and that intimate boundaries should be shared with loved ones (I know, proximity is a whole other area). Women, on the other hand, need that close proximity to create a bond and show that they trust one another, hence the heads practically touching when they are leaned forward in conversation.