User:Lnavsariwala12/sandbox

Education
Fishman attended the University of California as a doctoral student in Sociology.

Overview
Pamela fishman’s research focused into the connection between language and gender, but more specifically focused on the expectations of speakers and how they perform in accordance to it. Fishman’s extensive experiment and analysis explored the different styles of conversational interactions in relations to different genders and age. Fishman carried out an experiment directing attention to the cause of women’s particular tone and specific conversational maxims in comparison to a mans to confirm the divide and notion to conform to the hierarchical status placed on society. Fishman’s research began when she analysed the conversations of male and females on tape and collected data on the different conversational strategies used by both sexes whilst comparing the females input to the males. She drew out any noticeable differences in the tone and style of speaking that may interfere in the way a person is expected to conform to.

Language and Gender
Pamela Fishman’s research began with the conversational maxim of tag questions being her main focus of the experiment. Fishman’s book ‘Interaction: The Work Women Do’ outlines the purpose of the experiment is to support the statement that ‘Women do more conversational work than men’. Fishman conducted her research by listening to 52 hours of pre-recorded conversations between young, white, middle-class American couples between the ages of 25 and 35. As stated in her book (Interaction: TWWD), fishman evaluated the control of the conversation and found concrete strategies that are used by both men and women. Fishman had found that females tend to use tag questions as an effective method of starting and maintaining conversations with males. [|Linguist Lakoff] argued that the use of tag questions represented uncertainty, however Fishman counteracted this in Conversational Insecurity (1990) as she claimed that the purpose of tag questions where used to start conversations and not because of their ‘personality weakness’. Fishman argued that men are do not always respond to declarative sentences or respond minimally and as a result, women use this as an opportunity to gain power over the conversation. Her most infamous words used to classify this act by women was ‘conversational shitwork’ (1977) but relates this to the dominant model. The most common tag question used was ‘you know?’ which is seen as females resorting to attention-getting devices when faced with male silence or grunts, and an example of ‘conversational shitwork’. Fishman describes certain features of conversational styles like, gender, pace and tone as factors that contribute to the fail or success of an interaction and so according to her theory, men are less concerned to carry a conversation.

Dominance Theory
The dominance theory claims that men being dominant and controlling in their interactions has caused the power imbalance between men and women. Some theorists have researched into this and found that it was not down to the inferiority of women, rather the dominant approach males held, some theorists even suggested that in comparison to females, men tend to talk for longer and interrupt as they attempt to control the language system.

Fishman highlighted the concern of the ‘growing oppression of women in society in academic life’ and alluded this behaviour as a result of male dominance. Successful interactions are dependent on the work of the included participants as explained by Fishman, however her analysis of her research carried out claims that females use more styles of conversational maxims than males. Thus, stating that males are encouraged to be laid back due to the concept that expectations contours the relationship a person of a particular gender has in order to behave. Fishman calls this the ‘interactional manifestation of power relations'. Fishman also accepts that the divide is down to male dominance, as she claims men are reluctant to carry out any ‘shitwork’ due to their dominant role. As seen in history, males have previously claimed the status of higher position and so tend to carry out actions that implement this title. Females on other hand attempt to use tag questions to gain power during conversations to assert dominance and so Fishman’s theory insinuates that the way women talk is collaboratively and may appear to some as stereotypical.