conversation

Conversation: Female to female conversation

1.Introduction

It is claimed that females do not converse with each other in the same pattern they do in cross-sex conversation. In female-female interaction, women tend to reveal different manipulations of the thematic and technical aspect of conversation.

2. Opinions about Female to Female Interaction

According to Chesler (cited in Thorne and Henley 1975 : 251) women, in female –female conversation , feel more comfortable and secure when they are talking to each other than in the presence of men. In a dialogue, Chesler notices that women seem mindless and senseless. They talk like reciting monologues to each other, with nobody listening or judging what the other is saying. But, throughout this process, they achieve a common kind of emotional resolution and comfort.
Stressing on the techniques, Hirschman (ibid 254) claims that, in a conversation together, women tend to interrupt and overlap each other more than the case of men or mixed sex pairs. This fact contradicts with female’s position in mixed-sex conversations where women have a hard time to get the floor. Zimmer and West (cited in Gumpers 1982 : 197: 8) sums up that women, in cross-sex conversation, are more likely to adopt the strategy of “silent position”.
Within the same context, Warhaugh (1986 : 316) remarks that when women talk to women. The talk focuses on events such as the self, feelings, affiliation with others, home and family.

3.Conclusion

Relying on these discussions, one notices that women’s contribution to conversation shows some differences between female-female conversation and cross-sex conversation. In other words, some techniques like “silence” which dominate women’s position in cross-sex conversation disappears in female-female interaction.

BY: MUSTAPHA KOURBANE