ssumes that females have a separate world. This view says that by nature, women are different and experience a different reality. The focus is on women's caring and peaceful attributes. The other paradigm denies this assumption. It instead focuses on the social construction of individuals involving language, symbols, and meaning.At a societal level, "patriarchy is characterized by a historic discrimination and injustice," (Birkhoff, 1). Patriarchy, controls reality. This theory states that churches, families and other institutions reaffirm these norms of oppression that women have experienced. This system helps contribute to conflict. This is comparable to saying that we live in a man's world. Times are changing, but it can not be argued that for so many years, men have been and remain to be the dominant force behind society.At an interactional level studies have been performed by Patricia Gwartney Gibbs. She studies how gender surfaces in the workplace. According to Gibbs, both men and women experience problems in the workplace. This is due to interpersonal relationships. "Women reported more personality conflicts and men appeared to be more sensitive to them. The problem arose when the stereotype was not directly related to the job," Birkhoff, 1). There are many perplexities found in studying how gender affects conflict. Many of them all lead up to the way that men and women communicate. Despite the gender paradigms and levels, men and women must live and communicate with one another. Following this segment is one that explains the different communication styles that have emerged from gender differences. By understanding these styles we can begin to understand one another.III. Conversational Style DifferencesA Balancing ActThere are two worlds, one of intimacy and one of independence. Where individuals are trying to minimize differences, reach a consensus and avoid superiority, intimacy is a major issue. Where status...
