2. Breaking the Rules of Gendered Communication This exercise will increase your awareness of how socialization in gendered speech communities shapes your and others’ perceptions of verbal communication that is and is not appropriate for each sex.

a. Select a social prescription for how your sex is supposed to communicate verbally and deliberately violate that prescription in your interactions with others for one day. (Example:

Women might be very assertive or might interrupt others frequently; men might talk a lot about relationship issues and feelings.)

b. Describe how others responded to your violation of a gender prescription for verbal behavior.

c. Describe how you felt when you violated the prescription and when others responded to your violation.