Differences That Make a Difference: Examining the Assumptions in Gender Research

Joining the debate on gender differences, this book presents a cross-section of current research in communication, language, and gender studies. The first part presents studies that ask how women and men differ on a range of communication variables and suggest reasons for these differences. The second part offers a variety of critiques of masculine cultural hegemony. The third part envisions how gender differences may be reconceptualized in order to open key cultural institutions to honor both women and men. Taken as a whole, the chapters inform one another in a creative, dialectical tension. Examining what researchers mean by gender differences and values implicit in the term is critical to understanding current trends in gender studies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Examining "Difference" by Lynn H. Turner and Helen M. Sterk Explaining Gender Relations Communication Competencies of Women Employees: A Comparison of Self Ratings with Other Ratings by Cynthia Berryman-Fink Gender Differences and the Use of Conflict Strategies by Barbara Mae Gayle, Raymond W. Preiss, and Mike Allen Gender Differences in Critical Incidents Reported by Elderly Health Care Consumers: A Narrative Analysis by Gary L. Kreps Developmental Differences in M.B.A. Students: An Examination of Life Stories and Career Histories by Susan Schick Case and Lorraine Thompson On the Origin of Gender-Linked Language Differences: Individual and Contextual Explanations by Mary-Jeanette Smythe and Jasna Meyer Effects of Sex Composition and Task Structure on Perceptions of Gender-Linked Role Differentiation in Small Groups by Edward A. Mabry and Carolyn Sorgel A Meta-Analysis of Gender Research in Managerial Influence by Kathleen Krone, Mike Allen, and John Ludlum Sex, Schemata, and Social Status: TV Character Identification and Occupational Aspirations Among Adolescents by Robert J. Griffin, Shaikat Sen, and Rhonda Plotkin Interruptions and the Construction of Reality by Sara Hayden Evaluating Gender Relations The Image of Stepmothers in Children's Literature 1980-1991 by Pamela J. Cooper Women's Magazines: Confusing Differences by Bren Ortega Murphy Sport Sex: Toward a Theory of Sexual Aggression by Sean Michael Gilmore Courtroom Uses of Linguistic Analysis to Demonstrate a Hostile Work Environment for Women by Susan Shick Case, with Julie Wolfram Cox "And if We Lose Our Name, Then What about Our Land?" or, What Price Development? by M.J. Hardman Language Choice and Use: Influences of Setting and Gender by Kathryn A. Remlinger Expanding Gender Relations Gender, Media, and Militarism by Lisa Merrill and Denise Quirk Difference, Dominance, and Dialectics: A Call for Change by Linda A.M. Perry Visionary Language: The Voice of Mary Robinson by Kathleen B. Watters Constructing a Postmodernist Ethic: The Feminist Quest for a New Politics by Patricia A. Sullivan and Steven R. Goldzwig Gender, Communication, and Community by Helen M. Sterk and Lynn H. Turner Index