Gender Theorists - Dominance

• 1975
• Recorded interruptions in conversation between men and women
• Found 96% of interruptions were by men
• Suggests men are more dominant in male-female conversations
• Reflects male dominance in society

• 1980
• Identified power within a male patriarchal order in society ( society is lead by men )
• States that language embodies structure that sustain male power
• Mr and Mrs, Boys and Girls

• Repeated Zimmerman and West's experiement and found that men and women interrupt almost as equally
• "The problem is that this man could be an anomolie, as he could be very dominant"
• "Or do interruptions reflect interest and not dominance"

What influnences dominance?

• topic
• environment / setting
• relationship
• ratio of men to women
• age
• status
• demand characteristics