Politeness in Men vs Women

Interesting concept . . . to define politeness as a social function, which essentially plays into what seems to be a huge motivation for women, should assure that women would be considered generally more polite than men.  Perhaps this should be considered in a different context so that a more level playing field is established.



http://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/janet-holmes-politeness-in-mens-and-womens-conversation/

Holmes bases her research on Brown and Levinson’s idea of positive and negative face. She says that women use more positively orientated politeness and that men use more negatively orientated politeness.

Holmes suggests the reason for this is that women and men have different perceptions of what language is used for;

• Men use language as a tool to give and obtain information ( also referred to as the referential function of language )
• Women use language as a means of keeping in touch ( also known as the social function )
•  

As Holmes includes politeness, which is defined as “an expression of concern for the feelings of others”, with the social function, it seems that women are more polite then men.