Who Talk Too Much
Riwen Zhang
Professor Robinson Thomas
Class 0711
September 23, 2013 Who Talk Too Much The essay “Women Talk Too Much” by Janet Holmes begins by showing many proverbs that point out that women are too talkative. She is trying to prove her points through the use of her research from talk show, seminars, and many other areas. Holmes does all she can to demonstrate that women in fact talk less than men. From most of her investigations, we can know that women do not talk too much, and it is men more than women who tend to insist other hear their opinions. But why would people actually care whether women are talking too much or not? This is hard for me to understand. Take as an example, when four girls hang out to have tea and speak more per hour than four boys being together might, why would the boys care since it has no impact on them? What matters most is not how much men and women talk, but such things as (a) what do they talk about, (b) how much men and women do talk when they are in mixed gender groups and who seems to focus more on making a better environment for everyone present, (c) what does talk mean to women. The classroom research Holmes mentions in the article is not comprehensive. “Talking in class is often perceived as ‘showing off,’ especially if it is girl-talk. Until recently, girls have preferred to keep a low profile rather than attract negative attention” (303). As a matter of fact, boys do not always dominate the class while girls may therefore be proactive during some issues they interested in. For instance, in math class, girls do not seem to talk less than boys. The teacher preferred to ask girls some calculating questions, as he believed that girls are quicker and more carefully at calculating than boys. But when it comes to some challenging problems in science classes, the boys, on the other hand, tend to doubt what the teacher is saying and explaining their point of view or ask questions. Therefore,
Professor Robinson Thomas
Class 0711
September 23, 2013 Who Talk Too Much The essay “Women Talk Too Much” by Janet Holmes begins by showing many proverbs that point out that women are too talkative. She is trying to prove her points through the use of her research from talk show, seminars, and many other areas. Holmes does all she can to demonstrate that women in fact talk less than men. From most of her investigations, we can know that women do not talk too much, and it is men more than women who tend to insist other hear their opinions. But why would people actually care whether women are talking too much or not? This is hard for me to understand. Take as an example, when four girls hang out to have tea and speak more per hour than four boys being together might, why would the boys care since it has no impact on them? What matters most is not how much men and women talk, but such things as (a) what do they talk about, (b) how much men and women do talk when they are in mixed gender groups and who seems to focus more on making a better environment for everyone present, (c) what does talk mean to women. The classroom research Holmes mentions in the article is not comprehensive. “Talking in class is often perceived as ‘showing off,’ especially if it is girl-talk. Until recently, girls have preferred to keep a low profile rather than attract negative attention” (303). As a matter of fact, boys do not always dominate the class while girls may therefore be proactive during some issues they interested in. For instance, in math class, girls do not seem to talk less than boys. The teacher preferred to ask girls some calculating questions, as he believed that girls are quicker and more carefully at calculating than boys. But when it comes to some challenging problems in science classes, the boys, on the other hand, tend to doubt what the teacher is saying and explaining their point of view or ask questions. Therefore,
Cited: Holmes, Janet. “Women Talk Too Much.” Exploring Language. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. 11th. ed. New York: Longman, 2007. 299-304. Print.