Category: Gender
Boys Will Be Boys
The Washington School for Boys Drama Club, circa 1910. (via Shorpy)
Herrings Workers on Romance Covers
I don't think anyone will accuse Jane Liffen's article, published in a recent issue of Social Semiotics, of being overly broad in its focus. It's title is: “A very glamorized picture, that”: images of Scottish female herring workers on romance novel covers. Here's the abstract:This article analyses portrayals of Scottish female herring workers on the covers of romance novels and investigates how far these representations conform to, or subvert, the genre of romantic fiction. Covers are analysed to establish whether they accurately portray Scottish female herring workers at their labour. If romanticisation of the women's working role is evident, the ways in which this manifests itself and the possible reasons for this romanticisation are examined. Composition of images and the mise-en-scene of covers are analysed, as well as aspects concerning the narratives of the novels, and elements of herring processing work that are noticeably absent in the depictions are also considered. These elements excluded from the covers are examined through theory relating to the abject in an attempt to ascertain whether the covers potentially provide models of female empowerment for the reader.
And here are some of the romance novel covers in question.
I'll spare you the trouble of reading the article by summarizing its findings. Gutting herrings is smelly, dirty work. This is not accurately portrayed on romance covers. (Thanks to Dave Monroe!)
Male interest in visual cues of sperm competition
This study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior offers some interesting insights into male psychology:The Puzzle:
Pornography produced for men does seem to appeal to their evolved interests in sexual variety and multiple matings by depicting numerous women who are willing to engage in casual sex without investment. However, perhaps the most direct way in which pornography could cater to these aspects of male sexual psychology would be to depict situations in which a man gains sexual access to multiple women. By embodying male "harem fantasies," such material should tend to appeal to male interests in sequestering, and monopolizing sexual access to, numerous women. However, a cursory examination of commercially produced pornographic videos and photographs reveals that depictions of situations in which a man gains exclusive sexual access to multiple women are, in fact, relatively rare. Moreover, depictions of sexual activity involving a woman and several men appear to be much more common. In extreme forms, this type of orgiastic sexual activity can involve one woman and a very large number of men.
Bonus (It's not just humans):
The sexual performance of domesticated farm animals can be enhanced by allowing them to view other conspecific males engaged in copulatory behavior. After observing another male copulate with a female, bulls ejaculate more frequently and male goats show reduced latencies to mount and ejaculate. Similar improvements in sexual performance are seen in stallions that display a lack of sexual interest. Crucially, the stimulatory effects associated with viewing a female copulating with another male are greater than are those of watching a restrained cow by herself. Moreover, similar effects are seen in boars that have merely viewed another male mounting and ejaculating over a dummy sow.
The scientific explanation: Sperm Competition!
Sperm competition is the competition between the sperm of different males to fertilize a female's gamete(s). In a species with internal fertilization, it can occur whenever a female engages in "double mating" such that live sperm from two (or more) males are present within her reproductive tract...
If sperm competition has been an important selection pressure during human evolution, then sexual arousal may be an adaptive response to its occurrence since frequent copulation can be an effective method of paternity assurance. Consequently, although men should generally find mate sharing to be aversive, they may nevertheless find cues of increased sperm competition risk to be sexually arousing.
If sperm competition has been an important selection pressure during human evolution, then sexual arousal may be an adaptive response to its occurrence since frequent copulation can be an effective method of paternity assurance. Consequently, although men should generally find mate sharing to be aversive, they may nevertheless find cues of increased sperm competition risk to be sexually arousing.
Posted By: Alex | Date: Mon Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
Comments (5)
Category: Pornography, Science, Psychology, Gender, Men
Category: Pornography, Science, Psychology, Gender, Men
Makeup for Men
Makeup for Men is the hot new thing in the cosmetics industry. A few of the products available include:Sport & Sun Tone Enhancer, which "simulates the healthy glow that a faint sunburn and exercise create." When sold to women it's called blush.
Confidence Corrector to hide blemishes and tattoos. I think women call this foundation.
Double Stroke Cream Mascara "for men who want handsome looking lashes without a 'made-up' effect."
And Blo-Job Bronzing Powder, "An instant tan at the end of the brush."
via Sociological Images
She Doesn’t Have to Shave
Following up on Alex's "Couvade" post: here's a musical exegesis of the eternal tradeoff between daily facial shaving for men, and monthly menstruation for women.God, I miss Squeeze!
Posted By: Paul | Date: Thu Dec 04, 2008 | Permalink |
Comments (8)
Category: Music, Video, Gender, Men, Women, Body Fluids, 1990's, Facial Hair
Category: Music, Video, Gender, Men, Women, Body Fluids, 1990's, Facial Hair
Men’s Premium Brassiere
What I find odd is that the men in the ad don't seem to need a brassiere. So are these being marketed to cross-dressers? But wouldn't cross-dressers want genuine female clothing? (via Gizmodo)In case you want to buy one, they're available from Wish Room.
Follies of the Mad Men #39
The other day, watching that commercial of Lucky Strike cigarettes square-dancing, I speculated on how one could distinguish female from male cigarettes. Twenty years after that commercial, Madison Avenue had the answer! Female cigarettes are "pretty" and have decorative floral emblems on the filters!
Wasn't it wonderful that "women's lib" allowed tobacco companies to sell more cigarettes to a previously under-served population?
Posted By: Paul | Date: Sun Oct 19, 2008 | Permalink |
Comments (9)
Category: Addictions, Business, Advertising, Death, Fads, Gender, Women, 1970's
Category: Addictions, Business, Advertising, Death, Fads, Gender, Women, 1970's
Sex and the Single Armrest
For the next two weeks I'm going to be visiting relatives in Germany (with a brief stop in England). But thanks to the miracle of future-dating posts, I should be able to produce a trickle of posts while I'm gone. And, of course, I hope to be able to blog from Germany about all the weirdness I find there (I'm sure there'll be plenty of it).For my first future-dated post, I present you with "Sex and the Single Armrest" -- a 1982 study of "limited space and territorial behavior" during air travel (Psychological Reports, 51: 743-749). The question it posed was this: in a mixed-sex seating arrangement, who uses the common armrest more, men or women?
As you read this, I'm probably on a transatlantic flight, battling with someone for the armrest, so I thought it was an appropriate topic.
To find the answer, the researchers conducted "direct observation on 20 flights (occurring on a variety of weekdays, nights, and weekends) with a total of 852 people in mixed-sex seating arrangements."
The conclusion:
The over-all results of the observational study indicate that, even when controlling for size, males use the common airplane armrest three times more frequently than females do in mixed-sex seating arrangements. Conclusions are supported by information from interviews in which twice as many males said they used the armrest. The younger males and females indicated much stronger feelings toward armrest use than the older people interviewed, especially the younger-than-40 males. A stewardess indicated that she felt these findings were accurate. During many flights, she has observed that men become much more aggressive about seating than women do; she has even seen some near fist fights by men.
Doesn't surprise me at all.
Posted By: Alex | Date: Fri Oct 17, 2008 | Permalink |
Comments (8)
Category: Science, Psychology, Travel, Gender
Category: Science, Psychology, Travel, Gender
The Evolution of G.I. Joe
From the work of Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard psychiatrist, comes this illustration of the evolution of G.I. Joe dolls. On the left is the original G.I. Joe from 1964, with relatively normal body proportions. Over the years, the dolls grew progressively more muscular until finally, on the far right, we arrive at a recent version of the doll, "G.I. Joe Extreme." Pope is trying to establish a connection between the toys and an increase in "body-image disturbances" among men.
Men’s Pantyhose
e-MANcipate describes itself as "a project to accelerate the acceptance of male pantyhose as a regular clothing item."Why should guys wear pantyhose? "To improve athletic performance, energize and revitalize tired, aching leg muscles, and to stimulate circulation if they sit all day."
But what if you're shy and embarrassed about wearing pantyhose? "you can always show that you are wearing support pantyhose, and just give some reasons - your legs were tired or problematic in other ways. This is especially accepted if you need to stand or sit all day long, and for sports using your legs."
It all sounds quite reasonable to me.
Category: Photography and Photographers, Gender, 1910's