Before the I read the "Language and Gender in Congressional Speech," article and listening to Mr. Robertson's speech concerning gender and language, I had never realized the differences in language between men and women. Prior to reading this I assumed that these differences among language between men and women would die out after a certain age. It is clear that some women use a lack of assertion when they talk which made a lot more sense to me after hearing Mr. Robertson speak about how girls are raised to speak and act. A lot of females are raised to speak "like a lady," which essentially means without assertion. For some reason a lot of women have been taught to be the peacekeepers to conversations held by men.

The article about the differences in language between genders in congress did a great job of providing specific examples and studies that actually prove and show the differences in how women and men speak."Female legislators also used fewer articles and more emotion words, which is consistent with stereotypical feminine language characteristics." (pg. 130)  It was very surprising to me that even in a political setting, where assertion and conviction in speeches is vital, that these differences in language still take place. The article claimed that a main reason for why there are these differences in language between the two genders is because, "speech correlates to language style differences between a 'powerless' group and 'powerful' group." I think that before women and men start to use language with same conviction and assertion, women have to be treated as an equally powerful gender and then the language will evolve naturally. Some more specific evidence that the article used to show the difference in language was how, "men have been found to use more articles, nouns, long words, swear words, and numbers, while women have been found to use more personal pronouns, verbs and emotion words." I think that this comes back to how each gender is raised and taught to act growing up. A lot of women are raised to be proper and respectful with their speaking, when a lot of men are taught to use conviction but also to not show emotion because it shows weakness.

I thought that Mr. Robertson's speech on the gender differences concerning language was very interesting and left me with a better understanding of the differences exist. He emphasized how each gender is raised and how that has an affect on these differences. A specific example was how many girls are taught to "act and speak like a lady," which essentially means to be careful with the language and respectful. Many boys are taught to not show emotion because it shows weakness. I also thought it was interesting how many boys and girls clearly write differently which clearly shows how these difference clearly start to take place at a young age. I think that if people want these differences to be eradicated then a good place to start is to change how the common family teaches specific genders to speak.

I think that thee article we read and Mr. Robertson's speech have a direct correlation with each other. The reason that grown educated women speak with less conviction and use more emotional words then men, is because they are raised to and they are treated as a less powerful gender. It is clear that there are differences in how men and women use the language. In order to change this I think two things need to happen. One is to change the way that most families raise children. If parents stop teaching little girls to restrain their opinion and to "speak like a lady," then it is more likely that they won't. The same goes for parents teaching boys to hold back emotions. The second step to eradicate these differences is for men to treat women as an equally powerful gender. If this happens then men will stop overpowering women with language and interrupting or cutting them off. In all I learned a lot from the article and speech, and it really made me analyze how I use the language.