Julia T. Wood

In a different mode: Masculine styles of communicating closeness

Abstract A number of contributors to Journal of Applied Communication Research have demonstrated communication research and theory can inform practical conduct in sundry situations. Less addressed has been the pragmatic potential of research to reform its own practice. Believing research is ideally self‐reflexive, we apply principles of scholarly inquiry to evaluate knowledge about gender and communication in close relationships. We document a prevalent bias that favors feminine styles of relating, characterized by verbal, emotional disclosure, and that devalues activity‐focused modes empirically more associated with masculinity. We then trace the presence of this bias in textbooks on gender and communication and interpersonal relationships, and we suggest teaching that relies on a non‐inclusive model of intimacy may misguide students’ communicative expectations and interpretations and may misdirect practical conduct in friendships and romantic relationships. Finally, we return to existing scholarship to ...

Communication and relational culture: Bases for the study of human relationships

This article elaborates two concepts centrally important in the study of human relationships: communication and relational culture. Communication is represented as a formative process which constitutes, defines and disassembles relationships. Arising out of communication is relational culture, a privately transacted system of discourse and definition that coordinates attitudes, actions, and identities of partners in a relationship. These two concepts are used to define states of relationship which represent both stages and types of human relationships. For each state, communicative processes and functions are identified and attention is devoted to the impact of communication in moving partners toward or away from a binding relational culture.

Paradox in the experiences of professional women

The recent surge of research on difficulties faced by professional women has not been complemented by the development of a synthetic framework which would facilitate conceptualization, analysis, and theory building. This article demonstrates the heuristic power of concepts of paradox, double‐bind and mystification as descriptive metaphors for understanding the experiences of professional women. These concepts are then used to analyze six empirically derived paradoxes faced by professional women and to critique alternative communication strategies by which women professionals may define and manage complex, potentially mystifying situations.

The Personal is Still Political: Embodied Politics in Third Wave Feminism

A close reading of essays by third wave feminists reveals that they privilege embodied politics, which are personal acts that aim to provoke change by exercising and resisting power in local sites. While respecting their emphasis on everyday politics, we note that third wavers seem naïve about the importance of juridical power and less than fully informed about connections between embodied politics and previous feminist movements, particularly the radical branch of second wave American feminism.

A critical response to John Gray's Mars and Venus portrayals of men and women

John Grays Mars and Venus portrayals of women and men are flawed both in terms of what they say and what they do not say. This article demonstrates that some of Grays key claims about womens and mens communication are inconsistent with the findings of credible, data‐based research. Gray also fails to address the socially constructed nature of differences between women and men and the consequential, material implications that result in inequitable opportunities and circumstances for the sexes. Finally, Gray errs in inviting individuals to abdicate personal responsibility for their attitudes and actions.

Strategies to enhance gender sensitivity in communication education

This essay “translates” research findings regarding gender inequities in education into pragmatic strategies for change. Strategies are described that administrators, academic support services, and faculty may use to pursue the goal of enhancing gender sensitivity in communication education.

Review essay: Dominant and muted discourses in popular representations of feminism

FIRE WITH FIRE: THE NEW FEMALE POWER AND HOW TO USE IT. By Naomi Wolf. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993; pp. xxix + 373; paper

Something old, something new, something borrowed: Themes in the voices of a new generation of feminists

12.00. THE MORNING AFTER: SEX, FEAR, AND FEMINISM. By Katie Roiphe. New York: Little Brown/Back Bay Books, 1993; pp. xxii + 180; paper

Sexists, racists, and other classes of classifiers: Form and function of “...Ist” accusations

8.95. WHO STOLE FEMINISM?: HOW WOMEN HAVE BETRAYED WOMEN. By Christina Hoff Sommers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994; pp. 320; paper

“We're Not Going to Have This Conversation, But You Get It”: Black Mother–Daughter Communication About Sexual Relations

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