Issue 5

Are our communication styles biologically determined at birth or does socialization lead us to communicate in certain ways? Brizendine argues that our communication style is decided at birth, that because of biological differences men and women will talk differently. She says that male and female genetic coding is almost 100 percent the same, however the difference lies within the size of the brain. Males and females brains are distinguished at 8 weeks old when males experience a testosterone surge that kills of some cells in the communication centers and growing more cells in the sex and aggression centers. Whereas female brains grow more connections in the communication centers and areas that process emotion.

This biological difference can explain why communication styles are different, women are so affected by emotions that it can shape their realities, it leads them to be more caring, vulnerable and interested in building relationships. Whereas boys tend to use language to command others and get things done, they are task oriented, however biology can't be the only reason men and woman's communication styles are different, socialization is also to blame.

Social identity are aspects of a person's self image derived from the social categories to which an individual perceives themselves as belonging. These social worlds are divided into groups and then interpreted back to them within those social contexts. So we learn to communicate differently depending on what group we are in. Like Brizendine argues, Allen agrees that these differing communication styles begins at birth. What Allen says is that depending on your sex at birth you are given an identity which is reinforced over and over again and that typically leads to how one identifies themselves. I agree that we learn our communication styles based on social interactions within varying groups and we communicate with other people based on how that socialization has shaped us. So through interactions with others within a variety of social contexts, we become who we are and communication follows.

With these two arguments I can't say that I agree with one more than the other. I believe that our culture and our socialization are a huge part of who we are and it plays a role in many many aspects of our lives, however you can't ignore the biological facts. There is a reason why men and women are different and those reasons are due to many things. To pinpoint it to one category would be ignorant. Biology and socialization can help explain who we are and why we are the why we are, but it can't be limited to just that. We are a complex people and so should understanding and explaining it should be.

Q1) At what stage during pregnancy or birth do we start to see differences in males and females?
Q2) What other reasons are there to explain our communication styles?