Constructing and Reconstructing Gender

The Links Among Communication, Language, and Gender

Edited by Linda A. M. Perry, Lynn H. Turner, and Helen M. Sterk

Subjects: Postmodernism
Series: SUNY series in Feminist Criticism and Theory
Paperback : 9780791410103, 310 pages, July 1992
Hardcover : 9780791410097, 310 pages, July 1992

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Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Section I: Constructing Gender
Unit I: Defining Gender

Introduction

1. The Possibility of a Liberating Narrative: Woman on the Edge of Time as Radical, Mythic, Moral Argument
Dana L. Cloud

2. Gender Orientation Scales: An Empirical Assessment of Content Validity
T. Joan Fecteau, Jullane Kackson, and Kathryn Dindia

3. Gender, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Oral Interpretation
Lisa Merrill

4. Rhetoric and Women: The Private and the Public Spheres
Lesley Di Mare

Unit II: Learning Gender

Introduction

5. Women Negotiating: Assertiveness and Relatedness
Steven Hartwell, Roger C. Pace, and Renata Hutak

6. Discourse in Women's Bodies: Advertising in the 1920s
Margaret A. Hawkins and Thomas K. Nakayama

7. Mind, Body, and Language: When a Woman Notices Her Humanity
Margret S. Crowdes

Unit III: Expressing Gender

Introduction

8. Rhythm, Gender, and Poetic Language
Elizabeth Fay

9. Six Readers Reading Six Photographs
Rebecca Bryant Lockridge

10. Speaking Metaphorically: A Cultural Enactment of Community Among Women
Denice A. Yanni

11. Genderlect, Powerlect, and Politeness
Nancy Hoar

12. A Comparison of Male-Female Interaction Norms Regarding New Ideas
Marjorie A. Jaasma

Section II: Reconstructing Gender
Unit IV: Interacting with Power

Introduction

13. The Tu/Vous Dilemma: Gender, Power, and Solidarity
Alice H. Deakins

14. Power and Subordinate Evaluations of Male and Female Leaders
Belle Rose Ragins

15. Sex, Romance, and Organizational Taboos
Patrice M. Buzzanell

16. Teasing and Sexual Harassment: Double-Bind Communication in the Workplace
J. K. Alberts

17. Men Communicating with Women: Self-Esteem and Power
Mary Monedas

Unit V: Interacting with Culture

Introduction

18. Writing in the Borderlands: The Poetic Prose of Gloria Anzaldua and Susan Griffin
Diane P. Freedman

19. Gender in Communication: Within and Across Cultures
Margaret Riley

20. An Investigation of Gender Differences in Brazilian versus American Managers' Perceptions of Organizational Stressors
Ana Rossi, William R. Todd-Mancillas, and Barbara Apps

Unit VI: Interacting with Audience

Introduction

21. Conflict Scripts of Men and Women
Judi Beinstein Miller

22. Competition and Collaboration: Male and Female Communication Patterns During Dyadic Interactions
Mary-Jeaneette Smythe and Bill Huddleston

23. Enacting Feminism in the Teaching of Communication
Judith K. Bowker and Pamela Regan Dunkin

24. God's Wife: Some Gender Reflections on the Bible and Biblical Interpretation
John J. Schmitt

25. Effecting Labor Reform Through Stories: The Narrative Rhetorical Style of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
Mari Boor Tonn

Appendix: Avoiding Sexism in Communication Research: Guidelines for Gender/Sex Research and Publication

Index

A multifaceted analysis of gender.

Description

Constructing and Reconstructing Gender is an excellent compendium of current research, and will be appealing and useful to those interested in gender issues in a wide variety of disciplines. This book cuts across disciplines and scholarly methods, drawing from many backgrounds, including Communication, Linguistics, English, Business, Law, and Psychology. The interweaving of rhetorical, critical, phenomenological, and statistical methods gives readers a multifaceted analysis of gender.

At the same time that this book shows the value of gender research in provoking new currents of thought, it also brings into focus two aspects of gender that are often confused: how gender operates as a cultural category that affects communication behavior, and how communication and language function to create gender categories.

Linda A. M. Perry is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at The University of San Diego. Lynn H. Turner and Helen M. Sterk are Assistant Professors at Marquette University's Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies.

Reviews

"I especially like that many of the chapters are on very contemporary topics with wide appeal. I like the number of different research methodologies, which make this a valuable resource for someone who needs to learn about research models. " — Cynthia Berryman-Fink, University of Cincinnati

"It is a very rich resource, a book a great many people will want to have. " — Darlene Hantzis, Indiana State University, Terre Haute