Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture – 13th edition by Julia T. Wood

I’m reviewing a textbook, and I don’t even care. In the many, many long years I’ve been in college (no, I’m not Tommy Boy-ing it, I went for an associates in business [boooo] and then decided to go back and get a bachelor’s in English/Writing [yaaaay]) I’ve had to read a lot of heinously expensive, dry and boring textbooks. This was one but not the other. 

It was a very interesting book, and I feel like I learned a lot, but do I feel like I learned $175 worth of information from it that I absolutely couldn’t have learned elsewhere (cuz I just looked at my order receipt, and that’s how much I paid for it. ugggggggghhhhhhhh.)? Fuckin’ nope. 

When I originally reviewed this book on Goodreads, I gave it 4 stars. Now that I re-discovered the price I paid for it via my school’s B&N bookstore, I want to burn everything. College is tantamount to highway robbery where the vagabonds teach you a few things before they rob you of every penny you have, have had, or ever will have. 

Now I’m mad. And I hope I can still find it in me to give an unbiased review, because seriously, that price is nonsense. This is a paperback, 376 page book that cost me a substantial percentage of a 2-week paycheck. 

But, all of that aside, here goes. Unbiased AF.I’ve got this.

I really do feel like there was a lot of great information here about how gendered socialization affects communication, and because of it, men and women typically have styles of verbal and non-verbal communication that seems designed to put them at odds. To me, it reads like communication practices are informed by our patriarchal society, and by resigning ourselves to the tiny communication-practices boxes that we have been placed in since birth, we are only serving to reinforce the patriarchy. Which, duh. 

Aside from that, which was my personal main takeaway, there’s also good info on gender pronouns, differences between communication in hetero, gay, and lesbian relationships, and even a bit on how gendered communication is constantly queered by people of all orientations and presentations, because just like in any other circumstance, the binary is silly – in reality few things are so cut and dried as being one thing or the other.

I don’t know, y’all. I feel conflicted. It was a good book, with great info, but for $175, I feel like I got cheated a little. All the times during my reading of the book that I thought to myself, “I wish there would have been more information about x,” are currently feeling a lot more glaring. But, I’m not changing my rating, because a) IDK if the price is due to some sort of premium applied by a for-profit institution partnering with a for-profit business to provide textbooks, and b) I sincerely doubt the author has any say in the price-point, therefore, not her fault that the amount she wrote feels sparse in comparison to the price I paid to read it. Also, what is the going rate for knowledge? Because I really did learn some stuff.

4 out of 5 arbitrary items of rating.