Talk:Difference theory

Alright, let's be serious for a minute here. The difference theory is probably the biggest academic cop out I've ever seen. To claim that language is utilized exactly the same for males and females would be to claim that males and fermales are exactly the same, and think exactly the same. Whether you are sexist or not this topic is simply common sense. Do males and females think exactly the same? No, of course not. So should it follow that they speak exactly the same way? Of course not. So what exaclty is Tannen trying to say here? Absolutely nothing. She simlply puts common knowledge in a formal context and fails to really make any sort of conclusion whatsoever as to what this theory means and how it affects our daily interactions. I think Tannen needs to grow some theoretical balls and follow this up.

A real woman128.163.243.168 00:10, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

What does this have to do with the article?

A real woman128.163.243.168 00:10, 4 April 2007 (UTC) commented that she disagrees with the theory presented in the book, but I am not sure why she feels that makes the article wrong. It appears that the article discusses the book, the theory, and summarizes the different points made in the book. I also fail to see why this article doesn't present a worldwide view.

Ptrask (talk) 17:55, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Difference_Theory"

Precisely.

Locuteh 22:04, 13 March 2008 (GMT)

This Article Needs a Lead Section!

Would someone who has a working knowledge of this topic (as well as access to reliable sources) please write a lead section for this article? The actual theory, such that it is, is never stated; nor is it discreetly and concisely described. This leaves the page in a state of dubious utility to the uninitiated user (which is what most of us are).73.37.37.3 (talk) 07:46, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I added a {{Lead missing}} tag to the article.TheCensorFencer (talk) 10:47, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

As a former women's professor, I am baffled by the content of this article. The difference in speech patterns, vocabulary, tone and content between men and women -- if you subscribe to the understanding of gender as strictly binary -- is a legitimate field of study in linguistics, but I understand the term "difference theory" differently -- as one of two positions of feminism's "difference vs. equality" debate of the 1980s and 1990s. Here's what I'm talking about (sorry it's so long; no time right now to edit).

Post-structuralist / third-wave feminists' identified a foundation distinction in the way that American and European feminists sought to redress gender-based injustice, especially in law and policy.

American feminists focused on the (very American) principle of equality embedded in the Declaration of Independence ("we hold these truths inevitable; that all men are created equal"); this argument is reflected in the name of the (as yet unpassed) Equal Rights Amendment. In choosing to focus on the principle of equality, the feminist movement drew upon the relatively new model of civil rights established in the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Ed, The Court's overturned the doctrine of "separate but equal" (which had been established by the Supreme Court in the1896 case, Plessy v. Ferguson as the legal basis for segregation). In Brown v. BoE, the Supreme Court concluded that "the doctrine of 'separate but equal' . . . [is] inherently unequal," and since the Constitution purports to inure equal protection under the law, "separate but equal" was unconstitutional.

Redressing gender-based injustice on the grounds that in gender, as in race, different rules for different citizens is inherently unequal has some disadvantages however: It worked well to bring women access to places they hadn't been able to go and policies and benefits (banking, government mortgages) they'd been ineligible for. But it doesn't address things like how women can avoid losing career advancement when they take time off for childbirth

Meanwhile, during the same time period, European feminists were making argues for law to redress gender-based bias by emphasizing, not the equality of the genders. but the "difference" between them. If I was teaching this debate now, I'd use the equity, not difference, but the word choice reflects American feminists' bafflement and horror, at the idea of laws passed based on difference between men and women (which, to be fair, had traditionally been used to suppress women's rights not expand them).

Here's the difference between the two approaches: Equality (gives everyone the same privileges, opportunities and resources; equity acknowledges difference, recognizes people are in different circumstances and gives everyone the privileges, resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

The success of this strategy is evident in many European countries. In France, women get as many as 26 weeks of maternity leave (a minimum of 16 weeks), and while they're on leave, they're paid whatever they were making before leave for up to 3 months. New parents in Sweden can take 480 days of leave at 80% of their normal pay -- on top of the minimum 18 weeks reserved just for mothers. All the countries in the EU are similar, and protect women in other ways -- they must be able to come back to exactly the same job they left, they can't be turned down for advancement on the basis of having taken leave and if they want to alter or reduce their hours, their employer must let them.

Out of 41 countries, only the U.S. does not have paid maternity leave, or any of the job accommodations and career protection they have in the EU and other place. That is the consequence of passing laws and creating policies based on gender equality rather then equity, although that's not the fault of the second wave feminists who drafted the ERA and worked toward other equality-based legislation, case law and policies. Americans by and large don't believe in using its resources equitably.

There's a good article about equality-versus-difference in the Reference part o the page on Third wave feminism:

Scott, Joan W (1988). "Deconstructing Equality-versus-Difference: Or, the Uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Feminism". Feminist Studies. 14 (1): 32–50. doi:10.2307/3177997. JSTOR 3177997.

So that's where my mind goes when think of "difference theory" in the category of Gender Studies, not linguistics. Is there any other sense of "difference theory" in gender studies that we're missing? Lilatovcocktail (talk) 00:10, 30 April 2023 (UTC)