Sex differences also fascinated Ray Birdwhistell, one of the founding fathers of nonverbal communication research. His inquiry began with a focus on biological features of men and women. He pointed out that, beyond distinctive reproductive structures, the bodies of men and women are not that different. Consequently, men and women must “necessarily organize much of gender display and recognition at the level of position, movement, and expression.”
To investigate gender display in relation to these nonverbal factors, Birdwhistell worked with native informants from seven different societies including Asian, Euro-American, and indigenous groups. He found that his informants could easily distinguish male movement from female movement.
Birdwhistell’s findings get even more interesting. He discovered that each culture had stereotypes “which could be acted out or roughly described.” However, his informants could not “make a complete and explicit list of ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ behavior.”
Seemingly, our perceptions and social expectations are geared toward
distinguishing men and women. But how such distinctions are made is another
matter. Indeed, contemporary research on “biological motion” corroborates the
ease with which male and female movers can be discerned. Find out more in the
next blog.