He admits \3. but she confesses

Abstract

Confession is an expressive act in an expressive language. It implies moral culpability and punishment usually involves re-education of the self. In contrast to confession, admission recognizes only technical error involving at most a loss of trust. No reference to self-culpability is necessary when one admits.

In this paper, three models of confession are presented and contrasted to a model of admission. The argument is made that confession is a female mode of response, reflecting women's position in the private world of home, while admission is more typical of males reflecting their position in the public world of work. This theme is illustrated through an examination of popular confessional literature such as True Story and True Confession magazines.