Dialect coach Erik singer debunks the myth that women talk more than men.
The stereotype that women are more talkative than men is pervasive across many cultures and generations. Professional dialect coach Erik Singer recently argued that this widely held belief doesn’t have the evidence to back it up…and he brought receipts.
It’s safe to say that Singer, who has dedicated over 20 years to deeply understanding dialects and accents, helped actors pull off career-changing accent work, and produced countless viral videos meticulously breaking down various accent mechanics, knows a thing or two about talking.
Singer's latest video took a slightly different direction than his usual content. In it, he explained how the often-cited statistic that women on average talk three times more than men (or 20,000 words a day vs. 7,000) is, essentially, “made up out of thin air.”
Originally, it came from a 2006 book titled The Female Brain, written by neuroscientist Louann Brizendine, M.D. The source for that stat was a self-help book called Talk Language: How to Use Conversation for Profit and Pleasure, which originated in Love for a Lifetime, a marriage advice book based on Christian principles, which were made up by the author, James C. Dobson. A great example of why one should always check their sources, folks.
Singer then showed an actual study from 1988 titled "Gender differences in Verbal Ability: a Meta-Analysis,” which found that the difference was only one-tenth of one standard deviation. Or, as Singer put it, “zip, nothing.”
Following that, Singer cited Deborah Tannen’s "Understanding Gender Differences in Amount of Talk: a Critical Review of Research," which showed that not only is this belief not supported, but that actual studies showed there was either no difference between men and women in the amount of talk, or that men, in fact, talked more than women.
And yet, this belief might seem like it’s true simply because it’s so deeply ingrained into our collective psyche. Just take a look at some of these proverbs that Singer effortlessly rattled off:
Irish- “Wherever there are women, there’s talking. Wherever there’s geese, there’s cackling.”
Romanian- “Where there are women and geese, there wants no noise.”
American- “When both husband and wife wear pants, it is not difficult to tell them apart. He is the one who is listening.”
Singer even noted how the word “noisy” is made from placing the word “women” three times together in a triangle in an archaic Japanese proverb.
The truth is, as Singer noted, that how often someone speaks depends far more on individual circumstances (whether a person works alone at home versus interacting with clients all day, for example) rather than gender. Breaking down unfounded tropes like these might help us all engage less in unnecessary division and start seeing things more objectively.
It certainly makes you wonder: what other stats about men vs women are completely made up?
Should this automatically be considered "noisy?" Really?Photo credit: Canva
For more interesting accent and dialect content, give Singer a follow on Instagram.
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