7/30/2019 JTC Essay - Final

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Edward 1

Ellen Edward

Professor Erin Mink Garvey

WRD 103 - 415

3rd October 2012

Its a well-known gender based stereotype that girls talk more than boys, but

do they really? Social linguists and researches over the years have looked into this

topic and found that there a lot more components that fit into this one question,

making the answer not so black and white. After reading the research article

Women Talk too Much written by linguist Janet Holmes, I took it upon myself to

find out if what Holmes claims, that it all depends, is true.

With pen and paper in hand, my research was about to begin. Sitting at the

Brownstones Caf looking on to person 1 (female) introducing herself to person 2

(male). Like any normal people who are just meeting for the same time, they both

awkwardly got the pleasantries out of the way. With person 2 taking the lead, it was

clear that he was going to take control of this entire conversation. With the majority

of the questions being asked by person 2, person 1 was left comfortably answering

all the questions and appreciating the fact that she can freely talk about herself,

which shows how comfortable person 2 is clearly making person 1 feel. This is an

example of when Holmes states that more talk is associated with higher social status

or power, therefore the boy in this situation may be asserting to claim a higher

status than girls. Throughout the conversation person 2 is clearly asking more

7/30/2019 JTC Essay - Final

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Edward 2

questions and talking more making person 1 contributing more agreeing and

supportive talk, just as Holmes suggests.

Like any good researcher I couldnt base my findings on just one observation.

The following day I began to observe another encounter. I had person 1 (female)

being the controlled variable and got a hold of a new person 2 (male), the dependent

variable. Looking on to my subjects I found myself seeing that person 1 is actually

the one taking the lead this time round. Person 1 talks about school and subjects

that is pertinent to the both of them, using a lot of humor. Person 2 then seems to

continue to laugh. I actually witnessed person 2 relax their shoulders as time passed

by. This made me realize that body language is in-fact a language of its own, and

thatyou miss so much when youre not from the outside looking in. Holmes

explanation that social confidence explains a greater contribution for women could

be a factor for why this observation was a complete 180 from observation 1.

As you finish reading Holmes social linguistic analysis she tells us that,

women do talk more than men and men do talk more than women, it simply all

depends. The three main factors you must always have in mind are; social context

in which the talk is taking place, the kind of talk involved, and the confidence of the

speakers (social roles). I found these factors to be very true in regards to my

research. And as someone who fights for truth in the world, I will now tell people

that both genders have as much to say as the other.