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Research Paper: Conflict and Gender

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Research Paper: Conflict and Gender
THE DIFFERENCES IN HOW MEN AND WOMEN DEAL WITH CONFLICT

While men and women can solve problems equally well, their approach and process is quiet different. Many times, those differences make cross gender communication difficult. Traditional gender socialization creates challenges for men and women as they seek to constructively revolve their daily conflicts. In my analysis paper I am going to explore the differences that exists in how men and women deal with conflicts. In this paper I will explain the differences of communication styles between the genders when a conflict does arise. Because of these differences, I will talk about the different conflict management styles that men and women use, affecting how they communicate with one another. I will also explore the power struggle that exists between the genders, proving that power and conflict have a close relationship to one another. My hopes by the end of this paper are to have a greater understanding of how men and women deal with conflicts. Hopefully, this will help me deal with future conflicts with both the men and the women in my personal and interpersonal life. Immediately after birth, we begin a lifelong process of gender socialization, learning what it means personally and interpersonally to be male and female. Women are taught feminine behaviors, discovering the most important aspects of the feminine self. These are the sensitivity to one’s emotions and other’s emotions, nurturance and compassion for others. Men are taught masculine behaviors and learn that the most important aspects of the masculine self are assertiveness, competitiveness and independence from others. Women use words to connect themselves emotionally, to express feelings and to build rapport with people. They feel closer and validated through communication, dialogue and intimate sharing or experience, emotional content and personal perspectives. A women tends to be verbally expressive while a man expresses his

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