Gender
Unity:
Annotated
Bibliography
By
Shortcake
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20lecturenotes409b.htm
For the last several
years psychology classes under the instruction of Leon James have been
completing analyses of various topics concerning men and women. These topics
have included such interests as: Driving Psychology, which examines the
differences in aggression and rage-like behavior associated with society and
the variance between the sexes; Rational and Mystical Spirituality in Thinking
and Behavior, which examines the thoughts and roles of men and women
specifically concerning the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg; and Cyber
Psychology, which refers to the availability of modern knowledge which allows
us to complete reports such as this and submit it online for the entire world
to see.
Examples of these various forms of Psychological Reports can be view at the following locations:
This report site
is an example of someone who spent a little more time, or they just knew a bit
more about how to build web pages, anyway…It is about the topic of driving.
Although the reports for this class have only been published on the web for the
last ten years, it is a topic that students of Dr. James have been
investigating since 1981.
This site is
another example of the differences in what is expected of the students in their
reporting processes of yesteryear compared to this year. After viewing many of
the past generations, I have noticed that the format of what is expected has
changed and will probably keep changing as the years progress and new topics
arise. This site is from a student in generation 9, from 1998. I see that they
had just as many computer problems back in the ‘old days’ as we do today.
This report
summarizes the possibilities of the current technology of the day. It is from
generation 1 and is about the weekly discussions that this generation had to
upload for their assignments. Most of the ‘journal’ entries are of the
amazement of the students that they are actually able to figure out this kind
of technology. I can definitely empathize with them because even now, ten years
later, this is my first whack at uploading anything on the Internet. I do have
to say though that technology sure has advanced tremendously over the last ten
years. While I have been consistently been in the e-mail and Internet world, I
have never gone to the extent of uploading anything… it’s pretty cool!
One thing I
noticed that distinguishes generation 20 from past generations is the
introduction of the Unity Model of the Three Fold Self. This model is a basic
structure of the belief of Dr. James and the influence of the writings of
Swedenborg for the process to finding, or better said reaching, perfect unity
between a man and a women, or more properly put a husband and a wife. Further
investigation into this report will discuss more aspects for wanting to reach
unity in a relationship. The chart below shows the steps for reaching unity,
but realistically the process of reaching unity in much more in depth than what
this chart perceives.
Chart
of the Three Models in Gender Relations
|
LEVEL OF UNITY |
NAME OF MODEL |
THREEFOLD SELF INVOLVED |
|
3 |
UNITY |
AFFECTIVE |
|
2 |
EQUITY |
COGNITIVE |
|
1 |
DOMINANCE |
SENSORIMOTOR |
Some of the word choice on this model has changed since the creation of this model to better suite the meaning the creator of the model is trying to get across to both of the sexes. The word “dominance” up until a few weeks ago was “traditional”, but the real point of the word “traditional” was that the man dominated the woman; hence, the wording was changed.
The topic of this
course is Gender and Discourse: How Men and Women Talk Differently. We are
focusing on the differences in the genders in their daily lives. This may
include at home or work, also in personal relationships and in social
situations. This topic is very interesting to me. I think it is very
interesting doing an analysis of the differences in the way that people act,
react and interact to and with each other. Not only does verbal talk play a
role in these actions and reactions but facial expressions and body language
also play very important roles in the way people interact. This may stem from a
habit I have had for some time now, which is ‘people watching’. Have you ever
gone out to a restaurant (or bar or other public place) by yourself and just watched
people? I have often done this and my mind wonders what type of people they are
by the actions that they make to each other.
C A T E G O R Y O N E
(5 articles)
1. In
reading in the book so far, I have found that Deborah Tannen has completed a
lot of research concerning the issues of conversation not only between men and
women, but also between demographics. Although this book is quite small, about
220 pages, she has included many examples of conversations with analyses of
each of them. The style of her writing is a bit difficult to understand at first,
but once you have read through a chapter or two, it does get easier to
understand the points she makes. Tannen’s main focus is the relativity of
Linguistic Strategies and the roles that power and solidarity play when people
are actively or inactively involved in conversation.
2. Never
before reading this book did I ever think to analyze the actions and reactions
and ways that people talk. Sure I had noticed that the people from the East
Coast of the United States seem to have a more fast paced way of communicating
while those from the West Coast seem to be much more laid back. I had also
noticed that everyone I grew up with in Kansas seemed to always interrupt each
other all the time. From history classes I learned that different cultures act
and react differently as well, but I have found it amazing the depth that
Tannen goes in analyzing linguistics and have noticed myself reminiscing past
conversations between myself and others.
3. I
also found it interesting that as I read about the conversations between the
children, I kept thinking of my past experiences teaching preschool. I love to
find out the reasons that kids communicate the ways that they do. Tannen gives
great examples of conversations between children and the analyses of these. I
can’t wait to teach once again and witness these ‘understandings’ that child
create within their world in the ways that they communicate. Learning to pay
attention to the reason behind the way people talk is a task that many people
do not even put a lot of energy into, so I hope to focus more in this area in
the future.
4. Being
an Education Major up until recently, I have already had some experiences in
dealing with this topic. In past classes we watched videotapes on the study of
teachers and their ‘preference’ of the sexes. This article discusses the fact
that most classrooms are more hospitable to males than to females, which I can
say that the videos that I watched in the past also confirm this.
5. There
is an example of the way that a student perceives his own performance while
giving a class presentation. He takes it as though he failed due to the fact
that everyone was in agreement with him as a failure due. He thought this was
due to the fact that no one wanted to put forth energy in engaging in any sort
of debate. I can empathize with this student because I know I would feel much
better with any sort of feedback rather than none.
6. In
this article, Tannen also states that she has documented that genders prefer
groups of their own kind, especially in countries where there is a definite
difference in role domination such as the Japanese. As always, I refer new
knowledge to my own experiences and can say that I have noticed this preference
as well. However, I cannot say that this is true for myself because I have
always preferred the company of men over the company of women. I am still
trying to figure out if this is something that was instilled upon me from my
family or myself.
7. One
of the main points in this article is that for unity to be able to be reached
is for a husband to learn to follow a set of rules that are pretty much against
the way men were built to learn. There are various things a man can do to reach
his potential, but he must first learn to put his wife before himself in all
ways of thinking. I can’t say that I agree to this totally, but I do think that
men can learn to be more intuitive and therefore learn to sense what a woman
needs without her have to tell him.
8. Something
else that is very prevalent in this article is the foundation of the whole
Doctrine is from the Writings of Swedenborg. While I understand the basis for
this, I also feel that there are aspects within the Doctrine that could be
perceived or perhaps learned without the enforcement of the Writings. I feel
that a person with no beliefs in such writings could gain valuable insight into
their relationship through the basic ideas behind the Doctrine.
9. The
Doctrine of the Wife also relates closely to the Three Fold Self Model
mentioned above. Both of these
perspectives try to get the man, the husband, to reach unity with the woman,
the wife. On the surface, the three fold self model seems as though it can
relate to any relationship, but through the words of the instructor, it may
only be man and woman. The Doctrine also is in compliance of this rule, but it
does have a more specific spiritual approach and different terminology, but the
main goal is similar.
10. This article seems very scientific in the
definition of relationships. It thoroughly describes many aspects of
relationships using such words as “psycho-lexical”, ”psychodynamic”, “allegorical”, and “transactional”. I know
that part of learning about psychology is learning lots of technical jargon,
but I almost felt that I needed to get out the dictionary while I was reading
this article. Although I am quite capable in understanding what the article is
saying, the word choices in this article made it difficult for me to read
through it smoothly. I prefer for things to be simple and to the point when I
am learning about something new, but I do know that I can’t always have what I
want either!
11.
Getting past
all the psychobabble, this article discusses various aspects in relationships
such as the state of contact between people in a relationship. This deals with
location and sequencing. The structures of relationships. Meaning friends,
acquaintances, or strangers.
12. The most fascinating piece of information in
this article to me is the discussion about “textbookitis.” I have been a
student for most of my life and can really relate to what it says. I honestly
agree that it is true. The article says that now days we no longer read the
actual thoughts of the great thinkers of the past. We more often read what
others have interpreted. It seems that it is only when people decide to make it
a point to study the great thinkers of the past that they really read the
original works. I know that, even when I was in high school, I cannot remember
anything that was truly original that we had to read…everything was an
interpretation so that we were able to better understand the point that was
being made. This makes me wonder now, was that really what the author meant, or
was it what the interpreter wanted us to get from it?
13. One
of the neat things about this article is that it can be somewhat of an
interactive survey if you would like to participate. It is actually the results
of a survey that was administered and has the results already posted. However,
you can go to the questions and rate yourself and then compare yourself to the
outcome and see if you fall within the norms.
14. I
thought that some of the questions that were presented were quite interesting,
but found that the individual results from all of the survey questions did not
show much difference between the genders. At the same time the results while so
close in actual number, consistently showed an overall impact in differences.
15. There
was an article within this article. What I mean is that at the end of this
article there was an extensive list of questions in the area called “Seeing
Red, Feeling Blue.” There are also links at the end of the questions that allow
you to see the summary results. Some of the questions are pretty general, but
some of them get pretty deep. This article and questions include issues dealing
with what James and Nahl call the emotional spin cycle. See the report for more
details.
C A T E G O R Y T W O
(2 articles)
Generational Curriculum:
Students Reports on Gender and Driving
16. Cara
Lucy provides a very well written article on the differences in driving norms
between males and females. She relates the norms, stereotypes and expectations
that people today have about behavior other drivers and themselves. Some of
these so called norms are things such as men never stopping to ask for
directions, or a man is more apt to stop and help when a vehicle is broken
down, etc. I suggest reading her full report to get all the details.
17. I
have to agree with Lucy that there are definitely varying factors into the
attitudes people experience while they are behind the wheel of an automobile.
There are often times outside factors directly relating to a persons behavior
at this time as well. Outside factors could include things such as running
late, mood you are in before hand, or whether or not you are tired. All of
these factors play important roles in the behavior of people when they are in
the car.
18. Toward
the end of her article, Lucy related the affective, cognitive and sensory motor
relationships of driving to herself. I thought that this was an excellent way
of coming to an end and relating some very important psychological aspects to
the behavior of her own thoughts about driving. I think that it helps a person
when they are able to put their innermost thought into words through much
interior analysis of themselves.
19. Sheri
Lieberman also wrote about gender differences in driving norms but her report
is from a generation following Cara Lucy’s. As you will see, Lieberman also
makes reference to Lucy in her report as well as myself. I really liked the way
that this report was put together, but found that the flashing “back” buttons
drew my eyes away from the text constantly. I did like how there were large
print questions and then the answers were in boxes just below the questions.
Having the structure this way is a really good way to capture the reader’s
attention, and at the same allow the reader the freedom to skip around for
topics of interest if they choose.
20. Lieberman
seems to focus on the topic of aggression quite a bit. She thoroughly explains
the definition of aggression, then states the causes, then relates the
differences in gender when associated with aggression.
21. Instead
of having a link to the raw data collected for her experiment, Lieberman puts
the charts right into the article. While this does make the reader view or at
least browse through the results, I feel that it may have been better to put in
a link with the results posted. It is my opinion that articles with a lot of
graphics deflect attention of the wording within article or even make things
confusing to read or interpret.
C A T E G O R Y T H R E E (2 articles)
22. I
found this article to be quite informative. Already having knowledge that
Skinner and Chomsky were very important pioneers in the study of language and
discourse among people may have been helpful in interpreting what this article
is discussing, but I think that it is detailed enough even someone without
prior knowledge would understand it.
23. The
main ideas of Skinner and Chomsky vary greatly yet are interrelated when it
comes to discussing the analysis of language and discourse. The two parallel each
other in cognitive and affective states. Skinner is known for his scientific
assumption that behavior is lawful, and Chomsky is famously known for his
scientific study into the human language. Now days seeing both views in easy
partly because now we know that both sides are necessary when trying to figure
out all of the various behaviors.
24. This
article states the three levels of verbal behavior as the sensorimotor, the
cognitive, and the affective. If you will remember, these also relate to the three
fold self model mentioned at the beginning of this report. It has already been
made clear through reading articles for this course that these three areas
affect us in more that just verbal ways. I think that further analyses into
areas of these three levels will be a
topic of interest to many psychologists for many more years to come.
25. While
many article discuss the analysis of a conversation, this article focuses
mainly on how discussions or conversations are brought to an end. If you have
ever had a speech class, or have spoken in a public situation, you may already
realize the importance of this aspect in dialect of humans. However, if you
have not had these occurrences or experiences yourself, you may find it
difficult to understand this importance.
26. I
found that within this article there were very good examples of common ways of
ending conversation with or among friends, but found that it lacked reference
to what I believe to be more important, which is the public speaking endings. I
did find this article easy to read and thought that it had good examples of
normal ‘everyday’ types of closures of conversations.
27. I
liked the fact that examples of conversations face-to face were compared to
other conversations such as those over the phone. I would have liked to know
more about different cultural differences in these situations as well. I think
that this is a good article because it makes my mind get stirred up and want to
know more about this topic.
C A T E G O R Y F O U R
(1 article)
Generational Curriculum:
Student Reports on Analysis of Talk
28. Let
it be known that this link is basically just a conversation amongst friends
while having dinner with each other. There is not much background information
provided, but enough to let you know who is involved in the conversation and
where they are having dinner.
29. I
think it was very clear through the way that the people spoke to each other to
tell that they are all pretty close friends. There were many instance when
there was overlapping conversation, even times when they finished each others
sentences. There is a lot of inference to past events in the conversation when
the whole description is not needed for the others to get their point across.
This is a sign that the people have probably been friends for some time.
30. I
feel that without having read any of Tannen’s analyses of conversations that it
may be difficult to describe technically what is happening in this
conversation, such as overlapping talk.
Most people who have experienced having dinner with a group of friends
would probably be able to read this conversation and realize that it is a group
of friends having dinner together, not just people who had just met.
I feel that
through the process of completing this report I have been subjected to topics that
I would not have sought out on my own. In fact, if I had known that there were
strong ties to ‘religious’ aspects, I probably would not have enrolled in this
class. I have had to push myself to see past those aspects and to see the
possibilities that are within. Having no background into the Writings of
Swedenborg or the beliefs of the genre, I have found some of the information
quite confusing. I do believe though, that somewhere in all this confusion
there is a point that could be made to anyone, not just those with the assumed
beliefs.
Being raised with
a modern outlook on life and an acceptance of all types of people, it is my
personal opinion that this class topic has the potential to become a great one,
however, I feel that too many modern concerns are left out or prejudiced
against. With this statement I should probably explain myself. In today’s times
there are many differences among relationships, for example, gay relationships
and non-married yet long term relationships. This really hit home with one of
my fellow students whom one of her parents was gay. When I say ‘in modern times’
I mean it to include these kinds of relations.
While it seems
that these types of relations are only in recent years being more and more
accepted, they have in fact been with us throughout history. Just ask any
history teacher and they can give you many examples. I personally think that
there may possibly be a concept such as the unity model that could be developed
for circumstances such as this. Who are we to judge other people in their
happiness and tell them that they will never be able to reach a unity with
their loved one. I feel that we must open our minds up and allow for the
possibility that it could happen.
First of all, I
would have to advise future generations that although this class may seem
overwhelming and controversial at first, it is really quite interesting and
that they should stick with it. Secondly, even though frustrations can occur
when it comes to learning something new with your computer, just think how
proud you will be when you figure it out! Lastly, so far as the topics are
concerned…it seems clear at first that this class is based on gender relations,
yet I have found that this class in particular has a lot of influence from the
spirituality class. Not so much in the textbook that we study, but in the
reading articles that are required readings.
MY HOME PAGE:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bs2004/shortcake/home.htm
G20 CLASS HOMEPAGE:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20classhome.html