"Two Monkeys One Panda" Listening is Gendered? YES.

Phil At Salon

So we have discussed the idea of gender roles, but what about gendered communication as a whole? As in, men and women listen and respond differently. Are you buying this? For those of you who are, you are not being duped. This is correct, men and woman DO listen and respond to to others differently. Women typically give responses that are supportive when dealing with another persons problem. Women tend to have more tact in their way of composing responses and tend to seek the same kind of response from their listener. Ah yes, now the male counterpart... you my friends, typically lack the same tact while being the listener. Men usually lack the same emotional support when dealing with a distressed party.

Now, you might be thinking that this sounds like some BS, but its in my textbook... so FACT! Ha.. no but in all seriousness take a look at this clip from Modern Family and see if you have a "Uh Hu" moment.

After seeing that clip notice how Phil was initially responding to Claire on the phone... "Honey you could do his, or you could do this" yadda yadda yadda. Only after the women in the salon ragged on him was he trying to change his way of communicating with her. Now what was the women's response to Phil's constant attempts at trying to "fix" things for Claire (which if you noticed only aggravated her further)? To listen and provide support. "I'm stuck in horrible traffic" the wrong response is "leave earlier". The salon women encourage for him to console and offer support. This way Phil would be providing Claire with the support to solve her own problem.

So women, the next time you come home complaining about your day and how you had the kids, and work, and school, and laundry, cooking, and cleaning... remember.... you are going to receive advice more than likely. So if your looking for the compassionate ear, call a friend. Of course then be ready to hear about her bad day as well...