sentences:  Tannen asserts that women, seeing the world as a network of connections and relationships, view intimacy as key to achieving consensus and avoiding the appearance of superiority, whereas men, who are more likely to view the world in terms of status, see independence as being key to establishing their status.Tannen also clarifies that while both men and women seek independence and intimacy, men tend to be focused on the former, while women tend to focus on the latter.General criticisms are that Tannen's observations are largely anecdotal and cannot be said for all conjugal conversations, let alone mixed-gender interactions as a whole.