Female-male conversation is examined in detail in order to observe con
cretely its structure and process with respect to the gender of the co
nversants. Egalitarian in principle, woman-man exchange actually invol
ves many asymmetries. The concrete analysis of speaking time, conversa
tional practices and choice of discussion topics leads to the conclusi
on that the work required for interaction is unequally divided. We obs
erve in fact that it is mainly the women who produce the conversation,
while the men direct and control it. We show that female-male convers
ation contributes to the exclusion of women from communication and to
the building of hierarchical relations between women and men. We thus
see how actively men participate in the creation of a patriarchal real
ity.