Male/Female Stereotypes

[guywithashovel]

This could possibly be in "Things I Hate," but I think "hate" is a bit too strong of a word, so once again I'm thankful for this "Grab Bag" forum. This could be something that just makes me feel a tad bit discombobulated.

Whenever people talk about stereotypes pertaining to sex, I feel strange, because I find that many of them don't apply to me. For example, if someone says, "If this situation arises, a woman will typically look at it like this," and then they explain how this typical woman will view this situation, I'll often be thinking to myself, "Well, gee, that's probably how I would look at that situation."

Consider this stereotype as an example. I've heard it said that when men are traveling somewhere, they'll navigate based on road names, cardinal directions, and the like, while conversely, women will navigate based on landmarks. There was even an episode of Home Improvement that made light of this. I can't remember the exact story, but in the episode, Jill was giving directions to Tim, and her directions were something like, "Turn left at the McDonald's, then keep going until you get to the 7-11 and turn right." This frustrated Tim, who at one point exclaimed, "Does she realize these streets have names?!?"

Actually, when I'm out driving, I often find that I use landmarks quite a bit. For example, when I was in grad school, I found a back way to get to school that allowed me to avoid the highways during rush hour. I knew that back route by heart, and still do, but when someone asks me exactly what roads to turn on when taking that route, I'll sputter, because I can't remember. I just remembered what traffic lights and intersections I needed to turn at.

I know it's silly to feel this way, but when I hear these stereotypes, and they don't apply to me, I catch myself feeling strange, like maybe they should apply to me. It hasn't just happened with the directions thing I just described, but with other things, too. For example, stereotypes dictate that guys leave things lying around and don't clean up after themselves, while I usually keep my living space fairly neat. Don't get me wrong. I have some clutter, but I won't take a shower and leave my towels and dirty clothes in the middle of the floor. Though I have questioned how accurate this stereotype really is, because I've met several females who are pretty sloppy and leave things lying around. My sister is one of them. When she lived at home, Mom was always after her to clean her room, and when she went to college, Mom got to the point where she cringed before going to her dorm room.

[telecom_goddess]

I'm not very stereotypical either. Commercials drive me crazy cause they always imply that only guys would be interested in electronics and technology, and women are only interested in flowers, jewelry and makeup. I love technology and would much prefer a cool new gadget over fancy jewelry.

I like flowers and silver jewelry (no diamonds or gold they bore me) and nail polish and stuff but really do get way more excited over electronics.

[Andara Bledin]

I've heard it said that when men are traveling somewhere, they'll navigate based on road names, cardinal directions, and the like, while conversely, women will navigate based on landmarks.

I navigate using every available type of information I have. I'll start with street names and actual distances, because those are concrete. Then I'll use cardinal directions and landmarks as backups and mnemonics.

Most of these are based more on learned behavior than anything else. Because everybody's fathers and mothers all did certain things in certain ways as behaviors they learned from their own parents, they've passed it down to their children and most people don't have the intelligence to think beyond "that's how it is."

This gender behavior bias is why I want to smack anyone who uses the phrase "boys will be boys" and is being serious. Casual bigotry is so hard to stamp out, not least of which because most people refuse to consider it bigotry at all.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

I go only by street names and by cardinal directions (although I sometimes lose my sense of direction when I'm in a new place and it's cloudy.) My folks, being from a rural area, both tend to operate by landmarks, but that's just because most of the roads there don't have names. They have numbers, but those are fairly recent.

[XCashier]

I navigate using every available type of information I have. I'll start with street names and actual distances, because those are concrete. Then I'll use cardinal directions and landmarks as backups and mnemonics.

Street signs can be rather small or in difficult-to-see positions (my town is notorious for this, and it drives me batty!). A building that's been there for fifty years could be torn down tomorrow. So it's best to use every available type of information, as you said.

The thing that gets me about gender stereotypes is that some people insist that "girls can't do this/that!" Most of the time, those statements are pure misogynistic bullshit, and you can always name multiple examples of women who can, and has, done what the other person said they can't.

[Andara Bledin]

The thing that gets me about gender stereotypes is that some people insist that "girls can't do this/that!" Most of the time, those statements are pure misogynistic bullshit, and you can always name multiple examples of women who can, and has, done what the other person said they can't.

And more often than not, it's women saying that shit.

^-.-^

[Plaidman]

I too go by landmarks. If I got by streetnames, I'd get lost like crazy. I have no idea if Oak street comes before or after Raymond street. I just don't.

As for women? Women simply can do anything a man can and then some.

Everything in the world that a man has done, a woman has also done.

Everything that a woman has done, a man has not done all.

No man can give birth after all.

Even a women can get someone else pregnet.

[Greenday]

Ugh, I hate directions that involve landmarks or specific buildings. Give me street names, "take the second left" or "make a right at the third light". Those are easy for me. Landmarks are terrible.

[HYHYBT]

Ah, but from the *giver's* point of view, if they have never thought to count the stoplights, even if they try to in their head before telling you they might well get it wrong. Same for "third street on the left;" unless you're in town, it's very easy for either of you to miss one. How confusing is, say, "turn left at the light where you cross the railroad tracks," assuming you're not on a road that does that repeatedly? Now, if you get directions like "turn at the pink house" when you don't know the area or that the "pink house" is white and has been for 20 years, but is still called that because it USED to be pink and everybody got used to using it to know where to turn, that's different. (Yes, there is exactly such a place in Madison County, GA.)

I rarely know which direction is which. That sort of thing is much more useful in places where streets are laid out in cardinal grids; here, they meander.

[XCashier]

And more often than not, it's women saying that shit.

Oh yes. Both genders can be guilty of misogyny. And when it's women saying it, they don't mean "women can't fix cars," they mean "I don't want to fix this car!"

[Ginger Tea]

Even though I told my taxi driver the house number and street I still said its by the 2nd bus stop on the right hand side when we got to my local and he was all set for pulling up at the left hand bus stop which is further away.

I rarely look at street names and when cycling look out for something I can see clearly in all weathers and lighting, I think my usage of landmarks stems from being a bus passenger, I wasn't driving so I just gazed out of the window in boredom for the trip from my old town to Manchester, I didn't need to know if we had passed this factory or that building, but it gave me an idea where I was in the dark slightly drunk or tired after a night out or working the late shift.

If I'm going somewhere new to me and someone says a landmark that I am unfamiliar with I will ask for a street name to find on my A-Z (or now google maps on my phone and let that do the work), sometimes though it turns out I know exactly where it is, I just don't notice the building listed as a land mark
Hint: don't use colleges outside of Kings they all get jumbled up with me.

When I first phoned up about working in a nightclub I had no idea where it was, so I asked them "just follow the crowd" she said which was their tag line, erm great that means I have to start work AFTER you are well into the shift as I am waiting for a crowd to follow.
was it too hard to say "were the one above Lion Yard?" Oh you mean "5th?" which used to be their old name (Filth for its more accurate description)

Although my now infrequent nightclub WAS hard to find, Before I moved I was down every 3rd month for a week or so. The one I knew of had closed and the pub I frequented at the time told me of their new location either as a street or "it's next to the corn exchange" next not being exact. I walked up and down that street for ages in daylight looking for signs of a nightclub, found out it was over a shop via a door with a discreet brass plaque.
Found it in the end, but meantioning the tea shop it was over would have been a bonus.

[Andara Bledin]

Most of the ones I run into have fully bought into the idea that they can't; that somehow their gender is somehow making it physically impossible for them to do so.

A WSJ article full of bad science regarding m/f differences as regards online activity.

A blog rebuttal to the book the article is about.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

What? They actually did a study? What a waste of time. Everyone knows there's no women on the internet.

[DrFaroohk]

As for the directions thing, I'm more a fan of the landmarks than the street names, cuz where I live street names are rather difficult. Ten years ago we didn't even have street names for a lot of stuff, and many names are just made up. different people had different names. Route 1, Old Town Road, The County Road, and 3 Hill Road were all the same roads for example. so was the Station Road, Midtown and Tibbetts Road. Same road.

Plus the signs are hard to see. My wife and I were trying to find a place once and the only directions we had was "Jefferson Street". In the middle of a smallish city, 4 lane roads, lights everywhere, middle of the night, it's hard to see a tiny little street sign, especially wherre's lots of "J-----son" roads. Jackson Johnson, etc...

Now, what all our guides failed to mention was there was a ginormous BURGER KING sign right next to this right. If they'd said "get, take the left at Burger King", we'd have had no problem.

e

[AdminAssistant]

My current town is pretty nicely laid out on a grid, except where the University is. Most of the east/west streets are numbered, and most of the north/south streets are states (in the order of admittance into the Union, which is really convenient for US history geeks). The biggest problem is that a few streets change names randomly. For example, you're on 19th street, you go straight through an intersection, and all of a sudden you're on John Doe Boulevard. Oh, and some of the streets in the really old section of town are still brick, which is really great on your car's suspension.