November 19, 2001 New video spotlights gender differences in communication By Jennifer McNulty Communication problems send couples into therapy more than any other relationship issue. With both men and women feeling at times like their partners are from another planet, sociologist Dane Archer had plenty to work with when he took on his latest video project. "Gender differences in communication are everywhere. Once you start looking for them, you see them everywhere. That awareness is the first step toward change." --Dane Archer Gender and Communication: Male-Female Differences in Language & Nonverbal Behavior is the newest addition to a series of award-winning educational videotapes on communication that Archer has produced (available from the UC Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning in Berkeley). The 42-minute videotape explores "how gender affects us every time we communicate," said Archer, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Five years in the making, the video artfully tackles the pervasive--and sometimes entertaining--differences in verbal and nonverbal communication between men and women. "We wanted to produce a work that looks at the topic broadly and that captures, in an imaginative way, how gender scripts our interactions," said Archer. The result is a resource that taps the disciplines of sociology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and women's studies. The video blends commentary by communications experts with examples of gender-based differences in communication, movement, space, and touch. Little things, such as differences in the amount of space men and women take up on a couch, illustrate the pervasiveness of gender in our lives. Intended for college audiences, much of the video focuses on differences between men and women in conversational styles and the amount of "interaction work" that takes place, including things such as interruptions and "tag questions," which women frequently add to the end of sentences to engage their listeners. But nonverbal examples capitalize on the video format and have great impact, too. One segment showcases the role experience and practice play in the building of basic skills such as throwing a softball: A woman with little experience is shown throwing a ball, followed by a man whose form is much better. When asked to throw with his other arm, the man "throws like a girl." To drive the point home, the segment ends with footage of a veteran woman ballplayer demonstrating excellent form and a powerful pitch. A section on advertising illuminates the desensitizing effects of mass media. In the segment, men mimic the poses routinely struck by female fashion models in magazine layouts, draped awkwardly on furniture and perched in precarious positions. For viewers, seeing men in such awkward poses highlights the absurdity of the layouts. "It really points out the diminishing impact advertising has on women by turning them into decorative objects," noted Archer. In a lighthearted segment, the video illustrates the different vocabularies men and women have for describing colors: Asked to identify different shades between blue and purple, the women authoritatively identify periwinkle, plum, lavender, and sky blue. By contrast, the men run out of descriptors beyond blue and purple. "We wanted to produce a videotape that would promote discussion of how gender inequality is reproduced in daily life," said Archer. "Gender differences in communication are everywhere. Once you start looking for them, you see them everywhere. That awareness is the first step toward change."