Gender and Communication

Over the past few days, I have been paying attention to how I communicate and interact with men and women. Not to my surprise, I observed that I act differently around women than I do around men. What did surprise me is the extent to which my communication varies when in the company of the opposing sexes. When speaking with men, I noticed that I act calm, reserved, maybe even a little guarded. I'm much more soft spoken and straight forward than I am when interacting with women. When speaking with women, I act more energetic, I am more open with my thoughts and feelings, and I am much more playful and "charming" in demeanor. Also, I am much more attentive and interested in the conversation when I am speaking with a woman. These differences in interaction seemed to apply when speaking with either close friend or strangers.

When it first became apparent that there are changes in my personality when associating with men and women, I was alarmed because I felt like these interactions weren't genuine, as if I was acting like a fake. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I wasn't being a phony, but rather women and men bring out different aspects of my personality that already exist within me. I was simply adapting to my surroundings rather than imposing something false upon them. There are definite differences in the way that men and women speak and communicate, and I was able to recognize these differences even before I was even aware of what these differences were. Subconsciously recognizing the ways in which men and women communicate is the reason why there were adjustments in my personality and behavior in the first place, but it took careful observation to be able to recognize them consciously.