Book
Tannen D. You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. New York: William Morrow; 1990. 330 p.
Why we cite it
Provides the linguistic framework for understanding how gendered communication styles can create misunderstandings in relationships — relevant to the project because dietary changes often involve negotiation with partners and family members. Tannen’s distinction between “rapport-talk” (connection-seeking) and “report-talk” (information/status-seeking) helps explain why conversations about food choices can go wrong even when both parties have good intentions.
About the author
Deborah Tannen, PhD, is Distinguished University Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She holds a BA in English Literature from Harpur College (now Binghamton University), an MA in English Literature from Wayne State University, and an MA and PhD in Linguistics from UC Berkeley (1979). She has received five honorary doctorates, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, served as McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton, and was a two-time Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. She is the author of 16 scholarly books and over 100 scholarly articles. You Just Don’t Understand spent nearly four years on the NYT bestseller list, including eight months at #1, and has been translated into 31 languages.
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