Communication

Self-Disclosure, Gender and Communication Ins. Grant Magnuson Com 200 Interpersonal Communication Nov 19, 2012 Self-Disclosure, Gender and Communication In the article “Can We Talk,” it talks about the communication between married couples and how we need to spend at least ten minutes of quality time talking about things other than the kids, bills, and other daily events. After I read this article I could not agree more with the whole article. I know this from my own marriage. My wife and I could talk about anything and everything over email, text and phone calls because when we were dating that is the only way we were able to communicate with each other due to the fact that I was in the Navy. Once we were finally together we had to learn to communicate with each other face to face it was much harder, and we had to learn how to read each other’s body language. I agree with the article that we need to self-disclose with our partner. We are always changing and our likes and dis-likes are always changing. What we liked last year is different than what we like this year or our taste in movies has changed. I think that when we talk with our partner about the things that interest us the most they are able to get a better understanding on who we are who they are. This is very hard to play out because we get so caught up in everyday life and forget to really communicate with our partner. I know for my wife and I this is something that we really have to work at. I work the grave yard shift and she cares for the children all day, by the time we are able to have our ten minutes to ourselves we are so tired that we just say good night. We are trying our best we are lucky to get five minutes, but when we do I can see a difference in my wife. As far as how men and women are different in the communication area I can see a difference. I notice that my wife needs to talk things through in order for her to feel better about the way things are going, me on the other hand it’s more right to the point and there is no well it could be this way or it could go that way. As a man I tend to have simple answers and I have noticed that my wife often answers or responds with much more detailed answer. As far as similarities between how each gender communicates, each gender communicates their needs and wants either through non-verbal or verbal communication. When we are talking with our partner we have to remember that not only do they listen differently and their way of communication is different than ours we may be able to better understand where they are coming from in the conversation. Reference Bradley, M. (n.d.). Communication-differences between men and women. Retrieved from healthguideance.org/communication—differencesbetweenmenandwomen Schoenberg, N. (2011, January 17). Can we talk' Researcher talks about the role of communication in happy marriages. McClatchy-Tribune News Service. Retrieved from ProQuest Newsstand. Document ID: 2240370261