As to the washing machine, for years on television the 'salesperson' would demonstrate its features and intricacies to the man. This was back in the day when no self-respecting, red-blooded macho man would have thought of stuffing dirty clothes into a machine, but somehow the TV moguls thought of the woman as being incapable of comprehension.

"If she asks 'does my bum look big in this?' it is not a test". Oh yes, it is. What we want at that point is reassurance that #1, it does not make it look big and #2, that if it does, you like it.

:)