Why is there a large gender gap in verbal skills between men and women?

Strikester101 · 2020-02-21T18:00:17+00:00

It’s a combination of factors.

A recent study found that when given the same language task, girls brains behaved differently in processing, showing more focus on the areas associated with language encoding. The boys showed more focus on visual and spatial, suggesting that they paid more focus on how the exercise was portrayed or presented. So, there might very well be biological differences in our noggins.

But, I’ve also read a study that shows that girls are far more socially aware, at earlier ages, and are thus subject to peer pressure earlier, can parse more nuance in communication at earlier ages, etc. That greater social focus is almost inevitable in creating more language competence, because they simply use it more. We tend to get good at what we practice, and they practice communication.

Lethn · 2020-02-21T17:58:08+00:00

I love how you made this topic and didn't provide an ounce of research for those of us who have no idea what you're on about.

Strikester101 · 2020-02-21T17:47:04+00:00

i mean, I have a guess. i think the degree that boys lag behind girls in verbal skills probably tracks with their exposure to male speakers in their earliest years.

Children will imitate phrases, boys who mimic inappropriate phrases are often shamed, but appropriate examples are not in abundance.

If there is a conflict, i think you will find that by and large women and girls will tend to agree on what the key elements of that conflict are, while boys will often focus on a different aspect entirely - a male authority figure may be much more receptive to discussing this other point of view. He may be more willing to listen. Less dismissive. He may offer insights he has won through a lifetime of viewing such situations in exactly this way, and again, this perspective can often be one that does not interest the 'feminine consensus'.

throwlaca · 2020-02-21T18:44:05+00:00

Same reason we are stronger and we can actually do some work. We are born this way.

mgtowolf · 2020-02-21T22:26:42+00:00

Well, if said skills are anything like english class during school, it's pointless anyways, at least for me. All that fancy academic vocabulary, and proper grammar and all that bullshit means nothing to me. I don't need an extensive vocabulary, and 40 different ways to say the same thing. I speak so even a child can understand me, and I am fine with that. If anyone got a problem with it, then let's throw hands.

BornFreeWE · 2020-02-21T17:56:08+00:00

Can't answer this without being sexist ... women talk more ... ;-)

Boys/men read less, talk less, get stereotyped to have less verbal skills... In other words the gender role of men.

Strikester101 · 2020-02-22T10:46:52+00:00

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6509633/ (excerpts below, but feel free to read the whole thing)

Various studies tried to establish the connection between testosterone levels in amniotic fluid and the anatomy of language-related brain areas, as well as functional communication and language skills. Multiple studies reported a strong link between fetal or early postnatal sex hormones levels and communication and language development (16,45-53). Generally, estrogen was found to be correlated with enhanced social and verbal skills and to promote the growth of language centers and related areas in the brain, while testosterone had the opposite effect. Cambridge Child Development Study revealed that fetal testosterone was inversely associated with social development, language development, and empathy in children (16,46) and that elevated fetal testosterone levels were positively associated with autistic traits (47).

Friederici et al (48) showed the effect of testosterone on language organization in 4-week-olds – girls and boys with low testosterone levels showed phonological discrimination effect, while boys with high testosterone levels did not. Also, another study observed negative correlations between testosterone concentrations and babbling at 5 months (49).

A study targeting children aged 8-11 years found a correlation between increased levels of testosterone in amniotic fluid and reduced gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke’s area) and several additional language-related areas, such as a part of Broca’s area (45). Along with the anatomical changes induced by testosterone, increased prenatal exposure to testosterone in boys was also correlated with smaller vocabulary by the age of 2 (50). Testosterone was also suggested to be involved in sex-related hemispheric lateralization (51). Unlike testosterone, higher levels of estrogen measured in 5-month-old children were correlated with better language performance both in boys and girls at the age of 4-5 (52).

Neurogenetic markers of language skills have first been studied in FOXP2 gene. FOXP2 seems to enable the unique verbal communication in humans and is one of the most studied genes in language research (56). FOX2 gene exists in other mammals as well, but humans have a specific variation of the gene. However, even in rat pups, sex differences in ultrasonic vocalizations were eliminated by decreasing the amount of Foxp2 in their brain (57), which implies that this gene might be a component of the neurobiological basis for sex differences in mammal vocal communication. FOXP2 in humans, compared to other mammals, experienced two amino acids changes, and it is known that for the development of normal language skills, the human genome is required to have two functional copies of human-specific FOXP2 (58). Otherwise, certain FOXP2 mutations induce severe articulation difficulties and linguistic and grammatical impairment (59). Interestingly, in a small sample of 4-year-old children, the amount of FOXP2 protein in the left hemisphere was significantly lower in boys than in girls (57). Other genes that are known to be involved in language development often have a crucial role in modulating certain brain processes, including neuronal migration, cell adhesion, or axon guidance (ROBO1, ROBO2, KIAA0319, DYX1C1, CNTNAP2), as well as calcium homeostasis (ATP2C2) (60). Further studies are needed to investigate the possible sex differences in the expression of these (and other) genes, but some studies on gene expression in autism imply possible sexually dimorphic pathways (61).

LateralThinker13 · 2020-02-21T20:33:24+00:00

Biology, culture, and training. Can be improved by lots of training.

BellysideUp · 2020-02-21T23:18:10+00:00

Vagina > Penis sorry bro

Title	Why is there a large gender gap in verbal skills between men and women?
Author	Strikester101
Upvotes	7
Comments	31
Date	February 21, 2020 5:31 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/f7eh4b/why_is_there_a_large_gender_gap_in_verbal_skills/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/why-is-there-a-large-gender-gap-in-verbal-skills.1200443 https://theredarchive.com/post/1200443

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