It is something one half of the population has long suspected – and the other half always vocally denied. Women really do talk more than men. In fact, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman chalking up 20,000 words in a day – 13,000 more than the average man.
Women also speak more quickly, devote more brainpower to chit-chat – and actually get a buzz out of hearing their own voices, a new book suggests. The book – written by a female psychiatrist – says that inherent differences between the male and female brain explain why women are naturally more talkative than men.
In The Female Mind, Dr Luan Brizendine says women devote more brain cells to talking than men. And, if that wasn’t enough, the simple act of talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high.
Okay, that is pretty funny. But before you men get too smug:
There are, however, advantages to being the strong, silent type. Dr Brizendine explains that testosterone also reduces the size of the section of the brain involved in hearing – allowing men to become “deaf” to the most logical of arguments put forward by their wives and girlfriends.
But what the male brain may lack in converstation and emotion, they more than make up with in their ability to think about sex. Dr Brizendine says the brain’s “sex processor” – the areas responsible for sexual thoughts – is twice as big as in men than in women, perhaps explaining why men are stereotyped as having sex on the mind.
Or, to put it another way, men have an international airport for dealing with thoughts about sex, “where women have an airfield nearby that lands small and private planes”.
I’d comment on this, but I’d only get myself in trouble…
Why would I kill the messenger? It’s not like using more words and talking more quickly and liking the sound of our own voices is a bad thing. I believe we also use a larger pool of words, not only more of them daily – which only goes to show that our brains are superior.
And who of us did not already know that men are, in fact, deaf to certain tones and words and subjects – the “where is our relationship going” conversation comes to mind, as does a baby’s cry in the middle of the night which the male honestly, and conveniently, does not hear.
With a husband and three sons I often feel like the unseen teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons – your lips are moving but I can’t understand you.
What? Were you just saying something?
I confess I never heard the baby crying, but I always felt my wife’s leg kicking me and heard her voice saying “It’s your turn.”
You could always say “Heh – indeedy”
<snark>
In my experience about 90% of people, regardless of sex, talk too much.
So many words, so little time.
The linguistics bloggers over at Language Log have thoroughly debunked the research of Dr Brizendine in a long series of posts. From this morning’s Regression to the mean in British journalism:
Some other Language Log posts on Brizendine here and here and here…
Probably the most common phrase uttered by a male.
“Yes dear, what ever you say.” 🙂
One of my female friends once told me that the best phrase a man can say to a woman is “I’m wrong and you’re sexy.” Covers all the bases.
One of my friends went in with his girlfriend to speak with his pastor before they got married. “Let me give you one piece of advice that will serve you in good stead the rest of your life,” he said. Then, pointing to the girlfriend, he said, “She’s always right.“
I can’t think of anything in that phrase to find fault with. Very disarming. 🙂
“I’d comment on this, but I’d only get myself in trouble… “
Ok Booman, now tell us all what was on your mind…;o) YOu are no different than most men…right??!!
I love y ou guys, but you must tell us all that you know, or else….and you know what that or else is…dont you!!?? <<wink, wink>> Anyhow, if I believed everything I heard or read, I would be the dumbest woman alive…hugs and have fun with this….
well actually I’m writing a spoken word piece called “STFU” aimed at the men I’ve worked for,worked with, dated, etc., who won’t/can’t shut up and wonder why we’re having a misunderstanding. I’m tired of nodding and saying “umhmm”, “‘zatso?”, “that’s interesting”, etc. and intend to replace those phrases with “that’s stupid”, “and you’re telling me this because…” and “too much information!”
What is this false dichotomy between the loquacity of the male and female of the species?
The real division of the species is between Bloggers and Homo Sapiens.
Bloggers will blog about anything, and they do. They get a rush similar to that experienced by a wino sampling speed whenever they get some QWERTY under their fingertips. Just commenting on someone else’s blog causes a rush of heedless creativity similar to a manic depressive’s “up” phase.
The portion of a bloggers brain associated with bemused enlightenment shows thirty times normal activity as soon as flannel pajamas touch the skin. The cerebellum, the seat of analysis and discrimination, is soon flooded with molecules of searing insight and soulful imagery, which soon break down into certitude and satisfaction, which are known to be highly addictive substances.
This is typically followed by feelings of magnanimity that inevitably lead to the act of blessing all mankind with fresh opinion through the exercise of the Post button. This self-reinforcing cycle can go on all night.
No studies exist comparing verbal output of Bloggers as against Homo Sapiens, since the two rarely interact except when Drinking Liberally, and what goes on there stays there, neither spoken of nor blogged about.