Today is the first day of my Gender Relations course for this term and I wanted to start with an ice-breaker. Here is what I came up with:
Concentric Circles Ice Breaker format: This exercise works great to open dialog. Works best with 20 or more. (Must be an even number). Have people count off by twos (1, 2, 1, 2...). Tell the ones to make an inner circle and the twos to make an outer circle. The inner circle should face outward and the outer circle should face inward, each person having a partner in the opposite circle. The facilitator instructs that she will ask a question and the outer circle is to talk for one minute as the inner circle listens. After the minute is up, the inner circle answers the same question. Then the outer circle moves clockwise two people over, so everyone has a new partner. A new question is asked of the outer, then inner, circles. When finished, the participants should talk in large group about what kinds of things came up. If it is a group that doesn't know one another, you can have them introduce themselves to their partners before they begin answering the question asked. You can ask any questions but I chose these ones from Kate Bornstein's Gender Aptitude Test in her book My Gender Workbook, Routledge New York (ISBN: 0-415-91673-9). 1. Are there things you can do in the world because of your gender that others can't do because of theirs? 2. Are there things you can't do in the world because of your gender that others can? 3. Has someone ever accused you of being not really a man, or not really a woman? 4. Has it ever happened that you've been in a group of people who are similarly gendered as you, and you find yourself behaving in a way that's gender inappropriate? 5. Have you ever been mistaken for being a member of a gender other than that which you think you are presenting? 6. Have you ever been discriminated against, harassed or attacked because of your gender presentation? 7. Is acceptance by or membership in some men's or women's organization important to you? 8. When was the last time you were aware of something about your gender that was holding you back in the world? 9. How many genders do you really think there are? 10. Has there been any time when you've felt you have no gender? Wish me luck with it! Erin Steuter Mount Allison University
