[Don J.]

Why do women talk so much more than men?

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Name : Don J., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : cleburne, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Colleen]

Women talk for the same reason this forum was created: Shared experiences/feelings give us more knowledge about those around us. We learn from each other, find something in common and make a connection. Women feel sorry for men because they don’t seem to have that connectiveness – so we push you to talk.

Men don’t tend to want to talk about anything personal because they don’t want to be vulnerable. The less said, the better they are protected – but what a loss.

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Name : Colleen, Gender : F, Age : 38, City : Quantico, State : VA, Country : United States, 

[Tom-L24666]

I think the amount of talking depends on the individual, not the person’s sex. Of course, culture determines where and when a person feels invited to talk. But then, some people don’t need or wait for an invitation.

People talk for many reasons, only one of which is to communicate information. People talk to bond with another person – or to push another person away; to conceal nervousness – or just to fill up time.

Talking is the activity that more than any other defines us as humans. From that perspective, we can understand why women and men love to talk. When nobody else is around, we even talk to ourselves. As a species, we just can’t seem to stop talking.

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Name : Tom-L24666, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 55, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lara S.]

We women have a tendency to express things in our heart to one another. I understand that men are more geared to giving and receiving information when they talk. We women are more geared to heart -to-heart type of communication. It’s a type of bonding with each other.

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Name : Lara S., Gender : F, City : Ft. Worth, State : TX, Country : United States, 

[Nicole]

I find it interesting how many people still believe this stereotype. There is an article by linguist Dale Spender (“The Writing or the Sex: Why you don’t have to read women’s writing to know it’s no good”) in which she studied the misconception of the talkative woman. This was not the original purpose of her work, but her research showed a large descrepancy of equal talk time in conversations between male and female colleagues of equal position. None of the women spoke for more than 42 percent of the conversation, and in the groups where the women spoke for more than 38 percent, the men felt they had not had a fair share of the conversation. I would hardly say speaking for less than half of a conversation makes a woman “talkative,” but then, isn’t it all about our perceptions?

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Name : Nicole, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 30, City : Arlington, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Data management, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Marcia22193]

Verbal processing is associated with the frontal lobes of the brain, a feature further up on the evolutionary scale. Brain studies show that under emotional arousal, the verbal parts of women’s brains light up; we talk about it. The limbic (reptile) portion of the brain in males lights up; they tend to lash out physically. That said, I admire the fact that most men do not respond this way under (negative) emotional arousal, although they seem to be wired that way.

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Name : Marcia22193, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 45, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[May-Ling]

I think this question reveals a huge generalization placed on women. I suggest reading any text by Deborah Tannen, Ph.d., particularly You Just Don’t Understand. I’m halfway through it, and it is enlightening to read her research and observations on gender communication.

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Name : May-Ling, Gender : F, Age : 20, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Nicky]

This makes me think about the old chestnut that men don’t gossip. What word do you use? I guess it’s called gossip when women do it, so it sounds negative. I have watched many a man sit around spreading rumors and dissing someone with the best of them. Regarding the idea that women talk more than men, I think it’s because we’re taught to think with our emotions, whereas men aren’t allowed to show emotion, so all they are “allowed” to talk about is sports and business. Yuk!

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Name : Nicky, Gender : F, Religion : Pagan, Age : 46, City : Ft Worth, State : TX, Country : United States, 

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