There is a huge gap between those dwellers that once came from Mars (men), and those that used to live on Venus (women). Plenty of them are trying to close that gap, whether to seek equality or superiority. Personally, I don't agree with the theory that they are equals, neither will I say that one sex is superior to the other. They are just different. They have their own "manual", and their friends of similar gender will understand some things that their partner might never even grasp.
Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll find myself watching whatever TV the people in the room are watching. (If I happened to be at a location with a TV). There's this funny Dutch show, Boys vs Girls, with two teams (obviously) that quiz their way through statistics, facts, and overall silliness to reach a point where one of the two teams wins. (Fun fact: First season was a tie, 3 wins each. Second season girls won 4 times, boys 3. Third season the boys won 4 to 3. Season 4, another tie. Thank you Wikipedia)
I do admit though, that even I am a culprit in this stereotyping. I catch myself rolling my eyes and sighing "men...." or "boys will be boys.." more often than not. Obviously, usually around girlfriends. Maybe to find a bond/link or understanding with my own gender, rather than hating on the opposite one. Cause I don't. Hate men. At all.
So watching this episode tonight made me laugh out loud.
Hence, I thought I'd share.
Some of the things that were mentioned:
-- If women have to choose between living alone forever, or being in a relationship with a married man, they would go for the "single"option. Because men already have trouble relegating enough attention on their partner, it would be even worse having to share said attention.
(Maybe some men are better at spending attention than others, but in general, yes, agreed.)
-- Men gain more weight than women do after marriage. (Who knew, that was a tricky one.)
-- Women are so insecure about their own bodies, that 48% would hand in 5 years of their age to get the "perfect body". (Just imagine ageing 5 whole yea... who am I kidding? Yes please.)
-- Men come up/make more excuses than women do to get out from under the "bed fun". (Wait, what?)
-- Men's brains are highly specialized to use one hemisphere or the other to accomplish specific tasks. Women's brains use (big parts of) both hemispheres for every task.
-- Men think women can't drive. They think women sure as hell can't park. Women actually tend to agree. They did this research in the UK a while ago. Turns out women are better drivers than men. +cough+
-- Men have averagely five items in the bathroom (toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, soap, and a towel), women around 437 (Men can't identify most of these items).
-- Men can focus on narrow issues and completely block out unrelated information. Women naturally see every day things from a "big-picture" broader point of view. (Men can also focus on one specific task or activity for long periods of time, women are better at dividing their attention among multiple tasks or activities).
-- Women have a grocery list of things she needs, then goes out to the store and buys those things. Men wait till their fridge is empty but for something indistinguishable that's gone blue and furry, then goes out to buy everything that looks good, regardless of whether it will fit together in a meal. (I'm not good at this one. I should work on being more of a woman in this respect.)
-- Women will dress up to go basically anywhere, including (but not exclusively) shopping, to see their friends, putting out the trash, answering the phone, for a date, or reading a book. Men will dress up for weddings or funerals. ( A bit crude, this one. When women were given a choice though, between a man who spent too much time on his looks or a man who cared not at all, they chose for the vain-mirror-man. True story.)
-- Men have a dominant sense, which is vision. Women don't have one dominant sense, all of them work together, and all of a woman's senses are, in some respects, more finely tuned than those of a man.
-- Men are able to compartmentalize information, stimulus, emotions, relationships, etc, into seperate "cabins" or categories. Women tend to link everything together. (The fact that it's rainy outside and you just stubbed your toe against your bedside cabinet does little to improve your mood and therefore it must be karma conspiring against you when also your boyfriend leaves the toilet seat up. Amiright?)
Xx
The Gypsy
Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll find myself watching whatever TV the people in the room are watching. (If I happened to be at a location with a TV). There's this funny Dutch show, Boys vs Girls, with two teams (obviously) that quiz their way through statistics, facts, and overall silliness to reach a point where one of the two teams wins. (Fun fact: First season was a tie, 3 wins each. Second season girls won 4 times, boys 3. Third season the boys won 4 to 3. Season 4, another tie. Thank you Wikipedia)
I do admit though, that even I am a culprit in this stereotyping. I catch myself rolling my eyes and sighing "men...." or "boys will be boys.." more often than not. Obviously, usually around girlfriends. Maybe to find a bond/link or understanding with my own gender, rather than hating on the opposite one. Cause I don't. Hate men. At all.
So watching this episode tonight made me laugh out loud.
Hence, I thought I'd share.
-- If women have to choose between living alone forever, or being in a relationship with a married man, they would go for the "single"option. Because men already have trouble relegating enough attention on their partner, it would be even worse having to share said attention.
(Maybe some men are better at spending attention than others, but in general, yes, agreed.)
-- Men gain more weight than women do after marriage. (Who knew, that was a tricky one.)
-- Women are so insecure about their own bodies, that 48% would hand in 5 years of their age to get the "perfect body". (Just imagine ageing 5 whole yea... who am I kidding? Yes please.)
-- Men come up/make more excuses than women do to get out from under the "bed fun". (Wait, what?)
-- Men's brains are highly specialized to use one hemisphere or the other to accomplish specific tasks. Women's brains use (big parts of) both hemispheres for every task.
-- Men think women can't drive. They think women sure as hell can't park. Women actually tend to agree. They did this research in the UK a while ago. Turns out women are better drivers than men. +cough+
-- Men have averagely five items in the bathroom (toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, soap, and a towel), women around 437 (Men can't identify most of these items).
-- Men can focus on narrow issues and completely block out unrelated information. Women naturally see every day things from a "big-picture" broader point of view. (Men can also focus on one specific task or activity for long periods of time, women are better at dividing their attention among multiple tasks or activities).
-- Women have a grocery list of things she needs, then goes out to the store and buys those things. Men wait till their fridge is empty but for something indistinguishable that's gone blue and furry, then goes out to buy everything that looks good, regardless of whether it will fit together in a meal. (I'm not good at this one. I should work on being more of a woman in this respect.)
-- Women will dress up to go basically anywhere, including (but not exclusively) shopping, to see their friends, putting out the trash, answering the phone, for a date, or reading a book. Men will dress up for weddings or funerals. ( A bit crude, this one. When women were given a choice though, between a man who spent too much time on his looks or a man who cared not at all, they chose for the vain-mirror-man. True story.)
-- Men have a dominant sense, which is vision. Women don't have one dominant sense, all of them work together, and all of a woman's senses are, in some respects, more finely tuned than those of a man.
-- Men are able to compartmentalize information, stimulus, emotions, relationships, etc, into seperate "cabins" or categories. Women tend to link everything together. (The fact that it's rainy outside and you just stubbed your toe against your bedside cabinet does little to improve your mood and therefore it must be karma conspiring against you when also your boyfriend leaves the toilet seat up. Amiright?)
Xx
The Gypsy
I really hate gender stereotypes and I also hate all the facts that they lay down about the differences between men and women.
ReplyDeleteI have just my toothbrush in my bathroom, I don't dress up to go anywhere and I suck at multi-tasking, to break a few stereotypes.
I've faced sexism at school, at work and at hobbies and it's really not fun. Because I'm a woman "I must be like this". No wonder so many people feel more comfortable as genderfluid.
Worst things I've run into lately are GamerGate and Sad Puppies. One member of the latter said women should lose their voting rights because all women are fascist when it comes to their opinions, and posted facts about how women lie so much more than men.
Makes me see red.
It's funny that you wrote a post like this when I've been planning at some point to write a post about how gender really doesn't matter and that gender stereotypes can go to hell. x'D
Just because you don't fall under stereotypes, doesn't mean they don't exist for a reason. You fall only under the stereotype that falls under "" doesn't conform to stereotypes".
DeleteSadly, or fortunately (for ease of readability), plenty of people do fall under (part) of clichés out there.
Gender doesn't matter when you want to achieve something, or do something that makes you happy regardless of your gender.
Oh - happy birthday btw
DeleteOh sorry, totally missed this.
DeleteWhat exactly is the reason that they exist for?
I know that stereotypes exist in various areas of life, but they can be kind of hurtful. I choose to ignore gender and racial stereotypes because they are based on something that the person was born with and cannot easily change. Roles such as as "artist", "coder", "singer" and "politician" are something people can choose, whereas "male" and "female" you're stuck with. "You're such an artist" I see nothing wrong with, the person strives to be an artist. "You're such a girl" on the other hand simply states that they act like all the other female specimen on the planet, usually in negative light. Great. Thanks.
Sexism and racism affect a lot of people's lives negatively and in my observation highlighting stereotypes has often made it worse. At least I would like it if people stopped defining me as "woman" and expected me to own a lot of shoes/bags/jewelry/pink things, and instead called me a gamer or a writer or a Jedi or an adventurer.
Problem with "You're a girl" is that it should just be taken as a fact. Not a definition. It's nothing that can be helped. There shouldn't be a direct link between being female and owning pink things.
DeleteIt is a fact though, that men have different hormones from women. Different parts of their brain that are activated when they hit a problem or challenge. Different "thinking algorithms", if you can call it that.
It's partly nurture, for sure. A guy growing up in a whole-female house (with only sisters and mother to influence him) will act and think differently from a guy who grows up in a household with only 8 brothers.
But nature (DNA, hormones, the whole genetic make up) definitely plays 50% of a role, too.
Just like happiness in human beings in general, I read not too long ago. 50% is genetic make up (whether your body produces enough seratonin and dopamine and happiness hormones), 10% is situation (how much money you make or if things go the way you want them) and 40% is maleable (ie. your outlook on life. Half full vs half empty) -- But I digress..
I think with stereotypes, it works the other way around than how you're describing it. In my head at least. You're not "supposed" to own lots of jewelry and bags and shoes because you are a woman. But you might be a woman with lots of jewelry and bags and shoes. It's much more common than a man who collects those items plentifully and with love.
If a man can't multitask, you can jokingly say "... cause you're such a guy". You cannot (in my opinion) assume all men can't multitask.
It's not a definition. It's a stereotype which may or may not fit.
Same as all the definitions you feel more at home with.