How Do Writing Styles of Men and Women Differ?

Do Writing Styles Differ?

Many people think, “Well, writing is writing; we all write the same way.” For most, the thought that writing styles of men differ from that of women is something their mind hasn’t entertained. But studies by researchers give us insights into this.

On the surface level, though, an ordinary reader may not be able to discern any significant difference between man and woman in how they write. In fact, even the most significant studies into this have relied on the use of computers and algorithms. The software extrapolates data from texts written by men and women and compare the results to identify possible differences. Perhaps the application of such software might help check for plagiarism instances in some way. But for now, we’ll see how the results corroborate claims of differences in male and female writing styles.

How do Writing Styles Differ?

1. Firstly, men have been observed to use more determiners and qualifiers than women. On the other hand, women tend to use more ‘relationship’ words and more pronouns than men, particularly the pronoun ‘she’. This has been a subject of feminist discourse for a while now, as the fact that the pronoun ‘she’ appears less in texts by men may have sexist undertones and is related to the use of a generic ‘he’ too. But that’s beside other points.

2. Because of the frequency of classes of words used by men and women, researchers link it to the purpose and general outlook of their writing styles. Generally, women are perceived to be more interactive in their writing style, hence, the use of personal pronouns. However, males seem to write simply to convey information.

3. Also, the focus of men’s writing style results in averagely shorter and more concise texts. Even in texting, men are more likely to favor abbreviations and summaries. Women have been found to want to express themselves and their ideas fully and use as many words as possible. Since men simply want to convey information, they only use as many words as is absolutely necessary. On the other hand, women love to explore a given topic fully.

4. From the above points, we can deduce that men’s writing style is something like, “this is what I’m saying, and here’s why I’m saying so.” As a result of men only focusing on points to back up their claims, they do better in argumentative essays, where it is naturally necessary. However, women tend to do better with imaginative writing having to do with a lot of reflection rather than a mere presentation of facts.

What about Academic Writing?

The differences that have been explored are mostly on a general scale. But how do these differences manifest in academic essays?

Dana Waskita was able to show this in his research into differences between ESL academic writing of men and women at the University of Melbourne. He explained that women tend to do better in academic essays than men. This is partly because such involves more complexity, and they are able to successfully integrate such into their texts. It has been mentioned above already that women love to explore given subjects fully rather than opting for summaries.

Also, women do better with paraphrasing information from cited sources. This can be really helpful in avoiding accusations of plagiarism, even though online plagiarism checker software such as https://phdessay.com/online-plagiarism-checker/ has now become quite common. Another critical factor is that women pay more attention to the structure of their works and therefore write better-organized texts than men.

Do These Differences Matter?

The aim of this article is to merely state facts recorded about the differences how men and women write and not to offer any judgment on which is better. On either side of the divide, there are advantages to be adopted by any writer.

For example, a good writer should learn to write concisely yet be able to build points fully in a logical manner while staying plagiarism free. It isn’t just summarizing every and any information and is also not in the use of any and every available word. One must always seek a balance in whatever material is being written (even academic texts.)

Thanks to A. Moren