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By Gerald Masterson
NEW YORK- A recent study at Penn State University revealed that men and women have very different conceptions of what it means to respect a member of the opposite sex. Women see respect as a principle that governs intellectual, emotional and interpersonal relationships while men are more prone to see respect as a means to a desired end. When asked to associate “respect” for the opposite sex with other words, women commonly responded with “understanding,” “equality,” and “honesty,” whereas men most often associated respect for women with “big boobs,” “long legs,” and “willing to experiment.”
The study, performed by Dr. Steven Goldblum and his associates, was intended to see of society’s perceptions of respect and gender square with realities in the home, the workplace, and in public at large. The study shows that female attitudes about respect have evolved to mirror the neo-liberal conception of social equality. As women have moved out of the home and into the workplace, male attitudes have regressed to a level commensurate with Neanderthal understandings of gender. The mid-20th century’s focus on child rearing and maintaining the home has been replaced with bare sexuality that exhibits the same type of survival and reproduction instincts most often found in jungle creates, dogs, and 14 year olds.
Dr. Goldblum explains that phenomenon goes beyond interpersonal relationships to the irrational projections of women that individual men do not even know. “The fact that men hold good looking women in higher regard in their personal lives is a sensible concept: we have been conditioned as human animals to be attracted to certain markers of fertility and general reproductive ability- such as a curvaceous body and good skin. Therefore, men attempt to curry good favor with this type of woman because they intuitively understand that it is a method of perpetuating their blood line,” Dr. Goldblum explained. “But men also project this attitude onto women who they no chance of ever meeting, let alone having sex with. Why would it matter if a TV news anchor was good looking? Men have collectively developed a bizarre delusion that they have to respect attractive women more than ugly ones.”
Goldblum went on to further explain the phenomenon by using a sports metaphor. He explained cited the baseball rule that a tie goes to a runner on plays at a base that are too close to call for the umpire. He said that men apply a similar idea in their analysis of women. If a woman is debatably intelligent, funny, or otherwise good at her job, they will default to a positive evaluation if and only if she is attractive. Goldblum points out that this logical fallacy breaks down in two places: first, that men make these calculations for women who they have no chance of ever meeting, so the positive opinion is pointless. Second, he points out that even if the man ever did encounter the woman, the fact that he had a positive opinion of her before they ever met would have no
bearing on whether she would want to have sex with him, so the tiebreaker as about as effective as a bicycle for a fish.
NEW YORK- A recent study at Penn State University revealed that men and women have very different conceptions of what it means to respect a member of the opposite sex. Women see respect as a principle that governs intellectual, emotional and interpersonal relationships while men are more prone to see respect as a means to a desired end. When asked to associate “respect” for the opposite sex with other words, women commonly responded with “understanding,” “equality,” and “honesty,” whereas men most often associated respect for women with “big boobs,” “long legs,” and “willing to experiment.”
The study, performed by Dr. Steven Goldblum and his associates, was intended to see of society’s perceptions of respect and gender square with realities in the home, the workplace, and in public at large. The study shows that female attitudes about respect have evolved to mirror the neo-liberal conception of social equality. As women have moved out of the home and into the workplace, male attitudes have regressed to a level commensurate with Neanderthal understandings of gender. The mid-20th century’s focus on child rearing and maintaining the home has been replaced with bare sexuality that exhibits the same type of survival and reproduction instincts most often found in jungle creates, dogs, and 14 year olds.
Dr. Goldblum explains that phenomenon goes beyond interpersonal relationships to the irrational projections of women that individual men do not even know. “The fact that men hold good looking women in higher regard in their personal lives is a sensible concept: we have been conditioned as human animals to be attracted to certain markers of fertility and general reproductive ability- such as a curvaceous body and good skin. Therefore, men attempt to curry good favor with this type of woman because they intuitively understand that it is a method of perpetuating their blood line,” Dr. Goldblum explained. “But men also project this attitude onto women who they no chance of ever meeting, let alone having sex with. Why would it matter if a TV news anchor was good looking? Men have collectively developed a bizarre delusion that they have to respect attractive women more than ugly ones.”
Goldblum went on to further explain the phenomenon by using a sports metaphor. He explained cited the baseball rule that a tie goes to a runner on plays at a base that are too close to call for the umpire. He said that men apply a similar idea in their analysis of women. If a woman is debatably intelligent, funny, or otherwise good at her job, they will default to a positive evaluation if and only if she is attractive. Goldblum points out that this logical fallacy breaks down in two places: first, that men make these calculations for women who they have no chance of ever meeting, so the positive opinion is pointless. Second, he points out that even if the man ever did encounter the woman, the fact that he had a positive opinion of her before they ever met would have no
bearing on whether she would want to have sex with him, so the tiebreaker as about as effective as a bicycle for a fish. [LEFT- Fans agree that Leggero's funniest performance is the one where she wore that really low cut shirt.]
Males’ fallacious evaluation of female value is apparent through several examples of popular celebrities. For instance, popular ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews enjoys wild popularity in her profession and as a sex symbol, even appearing on the show Dancing With the Stars. A survey of 100 male Erin Andrews fans showed that every fan said that Andrews rates as either “Above Average” or “Excellent” in her job performance, regardless of her performance. Nonetheless, not a single respondent could cite one piece of useful information she has ever expressed in one of her reports or sideline interviews, but several pointed out that they hate how Rick Sutcliffe always hits on her during her reports- you know, because if he’s going to have sex with her, then their chances of getting with her diminish from 0.00000000001% to some number slightly smaller than that.
Comedienne Natasha Leggero, a judge on the show Last Comic Standing, is another germane example. A recent market analysis indicated that Leggero had more male fans than there are males who have ever seen her perform live, watched her on television, or heard her tell jokes in some other medium. Furthermore, none of her self-identified fans could recall any of her jokes, or even what her general style of comedy is.
Dr. Goldblum also points out that the most dangerous application of this principle is in politics. He notes that Republicans have recently come to understand that they can win seats by nominating attractive women to run for office, with the most notable example being Sarah Palin. "Most people don't care about politicians' beliefs anyway, so when there is a nice smile or cleavage staring back at them from the ballot, men are exceptionally
prone to saying 'good enough' to a candidate who is anything but," Goldblum said.
Males’ fallacious evaluation of female value is apparent through several examples of popular celebrities. For instance, popular ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews enjoys wild popularity in her profession and as a sex symbol, even appearing on the show Dancing With the Stars. A survey of 100 male Erin Andrews fans showed that every fan said that Andrews rates as either “Above Average” or “Excellent” in her job performance, regardless of her performance. Nonetheless, not a single respondent could cite one piece of useful information she has ever expressed in one of her reports or sideline interviews, but several pointed out that they hate how Rick Sutcliffe always hits on her during her reports- you know, because if he’s going to have sex with her, then their chances of getting with her diminish from 0.00000000001% to some number slightly smaller than that.
Comedienne Natasha Leggero, a judge on the show Last Comic Standing, is another germane example. A recent market analysis indicated that Leggero had more male fans than there are males who have ever seen her perform live, watched her on television, or heard her tell jokes in some other medium. Furthermore, none of her self-identified fans could recall any of her jokes, or even what her general style of comedy is.
Dr. Goldblum also points out that the most dangerous application of this principle is in politics. He notes that Republicans have recently come to understand that they can win seats by nominating attractive women to run for office, with the most notable example being Sarah Palin. "Most people don't care about politicians' beliefs anyway, so when there is a nice smile or cleavage staring back at them from the ballot, men are exceptionally
prone to saying 'good enough' to a candidate who is anything but," Goldblum said. [RIGHT- WWE Diva Maryse doesn't artificially benefit in her profession becaues of her appearance because her appearance is the only item in the job description.]
One instance in which the “tie goes to the hot chick” rule falls through is in sports, where there is an objective method of performance evaluation. Whereas fans can appreciate Andrews and Legerro without having to demonstrate that their performance is in any way useful or positive, fans of attractive female athletes have to cope with the reality that their heroines are wildly unsuccessful. Danica Patrick’s protestations to her dedication and competitive spirit in her commercials, there is a record book that shows that she has never finished above 30th out of 43 cars in her career as a minor league NASCAR driver. Before Patrick, Anna Kournikova experienced a similar downfall. Despite a string of years as the most popular player in women’s tennis, she never won a singles tournament, and her success seemed to wane has her popularity waxed. Eventually, she was out of the sport entirely, leaving fans to realize that when she wasn’t a hot tennis player, she was just a somewhat hot normal woman.
The one profession that has successfully negotiated the relationship between sexuality and success is professional wrestling. Since the WWE scripts its results, fans can cheer for the hottest looking female wrestler, and the writers can script her to win every match. Therefore, there is no disconnect between attractiveness and performance. In fact, there is a record of objective results that seem to demonstrate that the better looking woman is actually more successful. Dr. Goldblum cites wrestling as the most efficient expression of male respect for women, as the schism between the woman being good at something and the opinion of wanting to have sex with her does not exist. Nonetheless, Goldblum points out that wrestling fans are even less likely than the population at large of ever meeting or having sex with the women they idolize, so the enterprise remains mental (and literal) masturbation.
One instance in which the “tie goes to the hot chick” rule falls through is in sports, where there is an objective method of performance evaluation. Whereas fans can appreciate Andrews and Legerro without having to demonstrate that their performance is in any way useful or positive, fans of attractive female athletes have to cope with the reality that their heroines are wildly unsuccessful. Danica Patrick’s protestations to her dedication and competitive spirit in her commercials, there is a record book that shows that she has never finished above 30th out of 43 cars in her career as a minor league NASCAR driver. Before Patrick, Anna Kournikova experienced a similar downfall. Despite a string of years as the most popular player in women’s tennis, she never won a singles tournament, and her success seemed to wane has her popularity waxed. Eventually, she was out of the sport entirely, leaving fans to realize that when she wasn’t a hot tennis player, she was just a somewhat hot normal woman.
The one profession that has successfully negotiated the relationship between sexuality and success is professional wrestling. Since the WWE scripts its results, fans can cheer for the hottest looking female wrestler, and the writers can script her to win every match. Therefore, there is no disconnect between attractiveness and performance. In fact, there is a record of objective results that seem to demonstrate that the better looking woman is actually more successful. Dr. Goldblum cites wrestling as the most efficient expression of male respect for women, as the schism between the woman being good at something and the opinion of wanting to have sex with her does not exist. Nonetheless, Goldblum points out that wrestling fans are even less likely than the population at large of ever meeting or having sex with the women they idolize, so the enterprise remains mental (and literal) masturbation.
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