Tannen says readers of The Argument Culture have told her they particularly like the chapter on "Gender and Opposition." That's probably because it's the least political and most reminiscent of her earlier books, in which she analyzed private exchanges, usually between two people. For example, to explain why there are so many violent action movies (which generally appeal more to men than to women), Tannen observes that in couples, "If he says he doesn't want to see a certain film, she's likely to drop the point. But if she says, 'I don't like movies like that, but I'll go if you really want to,' he's likely to say, 'Okay, then, let's go.' "