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BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: John P Date: 17 Dec 00 - 10:10 AM I saw an article in the paper about the study that found that men listen with one side of the brain while women listen with both sides of the brain. The authors of the study were careful to point out that there was no evidence that women listened any better -- just that men and women do it differently. It must be obvious to everyone by now that men and women are wired differently from each other. Accepting these differences and giving them equal weight without attaching judgements to them is part of what makes men and women able to get along with each other. There are a lot of stereotypes that can be drawn along gender lines. Only benighted idiots think that all women or all men fall into all the stereotypes all the time. It is clear, however, that most men and most women will exhibit some the stereotypical behaviour some of the time. Applying these stereotypes to various situations can be a source of humor. One of the uses of stereotypes in humor is that you can express a lengthy explanation in one word or phrase. "A husband and wife were getting ready to go a party" tells all of us which set of stereotypes this joke is going to employ. The difference between jokes is whether or not they are actually funny. Look at dirty jokes -- some are clever plays on words, or employ actual funny situations. And some are just lame excuses to say something dirty (and usually derogatory). The same is true of gender jokes. Is the joke acutally funny, in a way that understands and accepts the humerous side of the fact that we are all living out some stereotype a lot of the time, or is it just a chance to say something nasty about a group of people? Of course, different people are going to have different limits about what is funny and what is gender-bashing, but it is usually easy to tell the basic orientation of the person telling the joke. My wife and I often make jokes at each other about how one or both of us will, because of a gender-based stereotype, respond to a situation. Our actual expectations are that we will both remain conscious of our choices in every situation. And if that choice is to follow the stereotype, we try to accept that as being a valid choice to make. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 16 Dec 00 - 07:17 PM That was good. The balance allows it to be funny without being destructive. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: MarkS Date: 16 Dec 00 - 04:05 PM Wonderful - Original and funny as all heck. Thanks, Greyeyes. Anybody who gets offended by that is beyond redemption by humor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Greyeyes Date: 16 Dec 00 - 01:10 PM Okay, either everybody or nobody should be offended by this. A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine. "House," in French, is feminine - "la maison." "Pencil," in French, is masculine "le crayon." One puzzled student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?" The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by gender and asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine noun. Both groups were required to give four reasons for their recommendation.The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computer"), because: 1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic; 2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else; 3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later retrieval; and 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it. The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("le computer"), because: 1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on; 2. They have a lot of data but they are still clueless; 3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Penny S. Date: 16 Dec 00 - 05:02 AM Wolfgang - 8th December, 6.37 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 15 Dec 00 - 05:17 AM Just one more, I think. My observation is that when women engage in gender bashing humor, we reinforce the stereo-type that women are shrill and strident. When men engage in gender bashing humor, they reinforce the stereo-type that men are pigs. So maybe when we engage in gender bashing humor, the gender we hurt is our own. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Wolfgang Date: 14 Dec 00 - 12:04 PM Penny, thanks for your post with many useful informations. The original research is neither very useful for male nor for female bashing. Thanks additionally for corroborating my memory that I had posted something about lateralization to this thread. When I reread the thread today I thought I was insane for imagining having written something which is definitely not here anymore. Curious. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:14 PM Well I'm male and I didn't think the original post was a bash at all. I'm not sure where the line is between humor and bashing, but this is safely on the humor side as far as I'm concerned. The whole thing is so terribly serious. Nobody is allowed to have fun anymore because somebody might get their widdo feewings hurt. Hopefully this is a phase society is passing through and we'll soon all develop thicker skins and not have a tiz fit every time somebody pokes fun at us. Alex |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Penny S. Date: 13 Dec 00 - 04:59 PM Wolfgang has raised a point that I started to post several times, but the computer ate unsubmitted. The work on strong lateralisation as an efficient means of organisation of the brain was done, I believe, some time ago, on a sample of volunteer male students at a university, I think in the US. (My sources, I am afraid, are long forgotten, but are probably New Scientist, with a second choice of Scientific American). It is possible that the sample was of a particular type of male - if mostly scientists, there would have been a higher proportion of autistic spectrum condition than in the normal populace (one suggestion for a cause of this has been a failure of communication between the two sides of the brain)- if mostly sportsmen, maybe another type of bias. These apparent irrelevancies may not be. The work discovered strong lateralisation, which was explained as a good way of working well, by locating resources close together. When work later extended to left-handed individuals, this correlated well with observed weaknesses in language development in the new sample. Unfortunately, when women's brains were studied (and this is not new work), it was found that the language areas were not strongly lateralised, and that both sides of the brain were involved in various parts of language processing, more like left-handers than the original male sample. But it was already known from other studies that females develop language earlier, and maintain greater skills with language throughout development, so that the original lateralisation argument was shown to be less convincing. It was then suggested that the differences between the two types of brain depended on the early development of language in the female, which allowed both sides of the brain to be used for language. By the time males started to develop these skills, they had already begun to develop spatial skills, using parts of the brain that the females had already used for language. As in a lot of the differences between men and women, apart from the obvious and crucial primary and secondary characteristics, there is a lot of variation within the sexes. It begins to look as if it is not differentiation within one brain that matters, but the variety of different styles of differentiation across the population at large that is important. To identify very distinct types of difference by gender, and then use them as characteristics to knock the other by (after discovering the way that women's brains are organised, it suddenly became appropriate to knock their spatial skills, rather than praise the language skills) is not worth the effort. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Angelia Date: 13 Dec 00 - 02:15 AM This thread started off in good fun, and all of a suddden turned serious. The divorce rates are not due to gender bashing. The war of the sexes has gone on for years, and is not about to end. Besides, there are people out there who find they have come closer because of the humour in their marriage, whereas there are others who use their "humour" to be more abusive - which is definitely wrong. The bottom line is Carol, I understand your plight, but there was no harm intended (I feel) when this thread was begun and responded to. Life is serious as it is without having to kill the little good humour that is left in life. Thanks Andrea, I have a good laugh with this one. Angel |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 13 Dec 00 - 01:35 AM Well, Alex, I don't think there's an easy answer to your question. To some men, the original post to this thread had the appearance of gender bashing. Several of them commented on it in their posts to this thread. I regard the original post as gender bashing. Guest, Andrea, has stated that she does not consider her original post to be about gender bashing. Maybe the thing to do is to try to be sensitive to the consequences of the things we say, even in jest, and try to learn from the kinds of effects our words have on others. If they cause hurt, maybe we should reconsider them. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 12 Dec 00 - 11:51 PM But what counts as gender bashing? When does a gender joke cross over the line into bashing? Are all jokes about absent-minded husbands or bad-driving wives gender bashing? Alex |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 12 Dec 00 - 09:44 PM I think it would be a good idea for me to make a clarification of my previous statements here. I have never used the term "gender jokes" in this thread. I have been using the term "gender bashing". Under what circumstances is gender bashing not cutting someone down? I don't thing it's a matter of fragility. I just see (even here in this thread) how quickly this kind of thing can escalate until there are a lot of bad feelings on both sides. What's the point of that? Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 12 Dec 00 - 02:45 PM sorry; most instances of telling of gender jokes are NOT by such people. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 12 Dec 00 - 02:43 PM There's the joke about the blonde couple who froze to death at the drive-in theatre; they were waiting for the showing of "Closed for Winter" to start. You are right, however, that most blonde jokes star women. But most blonde jokes are really generic jokes that could have been Italian jokes or Polack jokes or moron jokes any other thing. But you can't make ethnic jokes anymore unless the ethnicity is northern European, hence the rise of blonde jokes. Are women really so fragile (or men either) that laughing at them crushes them to the ground? All humor is laughing AT someone. The differences between men and women (yes, NOW Magazine, there are differences between men and women!) are such that they give rise to humor. Men find women funny, because they are different, and women find men funny, because they are different. Yet they manage to fall in love and get married with these funny-and-different people. So any comparison between gender jokes and racist jokes is flawed. Neither is using the jokes to be nasty (well, maybe some are, but this is rare -- people who have come through ugly divorces or something like that might have a grudge against all members of the opposite sex for a time (maybe even permanently), but these people are in the minority and most instances of telling of gender jokes are by such people). We may have to agree to disagree. alex |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: bobbybuzz Date: 12 Dec 00 - 01:39 PM Hi mousethief...extremes are never cool...laughter is such good medicine, unless it's at the expense of someone else. It's always good to ask the question "is EVERYBODY having fun?" Having a sense of humor depends on having the sense to know the difference between laughing at and laughing with. Just a thought...are there any "dumb blonde jokes" about men? Or are "dumb blonde jokes" really just "dumb women jokes"? Peace and laughter bb |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 11 Dec 00 - 08:40 PM Hi mousethief, I think you know that there are many kinds of laughter. Some kinds heal, and others hurt. I'm proposing that this kind causes more hurt than healing. Best wishes, Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 11 Dec 00 - 01:32 PM Surely the way to heal the world is to stop people from laughing. Yes, that ought to do it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: GUEST,bobbybuzz Date: 11 Dec 00 - 01:27 PM Carol makes so much sense...I know a lot of Mudcatters have been here a long time and know each other thru this forum, so much of this is HOPEFULLY meant in fun...but there's nothing wrong with injecting a little seriousness once in a while, and Carol is right on the money with her comments Peace bb |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 08 Dec 00 - 07:42 PM mousethief, I wish I could agree with you. Humor is very important to me. But I'm afraid I can't. There are too many casualties of this war for it to be funny. Look at the divorce rate. People are procreating, but kids are growing up in single parent homes in ever increasing numbers. We need to work to heal the wounds on both sides. Gender bashing humor is no different, in my opinion, than racist humor. They both increase the amount of hurt in the world. That's not what humor is for. Respectfully, Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 08 Dec 00 - 01:19 PM Lighten up, folks! THe "war between the sexes" has been going on for millenia, and getting your panties knotted isn't going to stop it! Nevertheless enough people find members of the opposite sex to procreate with that the race keeps going, and presumably some of them even LIKE each other. A little humor in the right dose is a wonderful thing. Alex |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Bert Date: 08 Dec 00 - 01:15 PM Ooops, Carol, it's just in fun. Tree was sitting there laughing at me when I posted. |
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Subject: Re: Bernard's puzzle From: Wolfgang Date: 08 Dec 00 - 06:37 AM Bernard, everybody can alter the subject line , most people don't. In physiology, strong lateralization (using one brain hemisphere more than the other in a certain task; or even exclusively) is usually seen as an advantage in information processing, not as a disadvantage. The author of the press article cited in the first post obviously has no knowledge of that. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 07 Dec 00 - 07:59 PM Hey guys, Maybe this is a good opportunity to practice rising above it all. (There is NO pun embedded in that statement.) Of all of the posts that (as far as I could tell) could be construed as gender bashing, two are from women, and six are from men. I congratulate kendall for practicing self restraint in this context. He probably could have had a field day with it if he wanted to. I just don't see what purpose gender bashing serves other than to cause hurt. We're all people. We are all imperfect. I really don't think gender has anything to do with whatever it is about us that isn't perfect. Maybe we need to spend more time trying to understand one another rather than cutting each other down. Carol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Bernard Date: 07 Dec 00 - 07:26 PM BTW - has anyone noticed anything a little odd about this thread? The first posting has a different subject! Subject: Men only use half their brains - it's official! From: GUEST,Andrea Date: 28-Nov-00 - 02:58 PM Yet the rest of the thread is BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies ...or has Joe been in and fixed it in the meantime!?
-Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Bernard Date: 07 Dec 00 - 07:21 PM Karen... When a thread starts with BS: it indicates that it is likely to be a non-music thread. But let's not start all that again... Y'see, some musicians have a life outside of music, too! ;O) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Naemanson Date: 07 Dec 00 - 06:54 PM Huh? What? Did someone say something? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: kimmers Date: 07 Dec 00 - 03:35 PM In our house, it's usually the other way 'round. My husband gabs at me and I only catch every other word. I think I use up my daily listening allotment at the office and need to withdraw a bit by the time I come home. Expanding upon this, I would suggest that the reason we think of women as gabbers and men as 'strong silent types' who listen poorly may have more to do with the traditional man-as-breadwinner model. The spouse who spends all day hearing others' problems and requests and putting out fires ain't gonna feel talkative when he or she comes home. This also has a lot to do with whether or not one is an introvert or an extrovert. Introverts withdraw into themselves to recharge; extroverts want company when they're tired or blue. Sorry for such a serious answer to a silly thread. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: catspaw49 Date: 07 Dec 00 - 03:05 PM Also, men are more prone to hearing defects than women. In a study of over 500 married men, it was found that certain areas of their hearing centers in the brain became impaired to significant degrees after 3 years of marriage. This is usually quite localized the problem is centered more on the spouse. It appears that after 3 years of marriage, men have heard everything of import their wives have to say. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Irish sergeant Date: 07 Dec 00 - 09:32 AM Both Sides of the Brain Neil K. MacMillan Women listen with both side of the brain they say, Looking out the window I don't know what to say. Can't let this information get me down or make me blue, Gonna ask my honey if it's really true. Goes a long way to explaining don't you know, the phone, the computer and the Jerry Springer Show. I'm gonna end this before I become a real bore, DAmn if it don't explain why men start War! No parody just a little pre-first cup of coffee humor. Kindest reguards, Neil |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Jim Krause Date: 06 Dec 00 - 04:24 PM Women can listen to two conversations at once? Try telling that to The Missus. And she's hates going to parties for that very reason. Jim |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Andrea Date: 05 Dec 00 - 05:42 PM Wow. And I was really just looking for parody opportunites, not starting a bash thread. Bless those of you who took it the way it was intended. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: CarolC Date: 30 Nov 00 - 02:51 AM Well, however many sides you use, we love you anyway. Carol (who's not sure if she even has the full amount on either side) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: LR Mole Date: 29 Nov 00 - 08:29 AM Oh, I don't know...seems around here one side frets and the other side picks. Without both there's just a wierd sort of rattling. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Troll Date: 29 Nov 00 - 07:57 AM It says some guys are in big trouble and the rest of us used our half-a-brain to realize that discretion is the better part of valor. I ain't sleepin' on the couch tonight! troll |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: karen jonason Date: 29 Nov 00 - 07:55 AM I was under the impression the forum was about folk music |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Naemanson Date: 29 Nov 00 - 07:52 AM Note: Original poster and second poster are the only two women on this thread. What does this say about us? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Dave (the ancient mariner) Date: 29 Nov 00 - 07:36 AM Quality of thought, and speech, is more important than quantity. (male or female) Yours, Aye. Dave |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: MudGuard Date: 29 Nov 00 - 07:29 AM Cited from above: men when listening mostly used the left sides of their brains Women in the study, however, used both sides. Of Nothing! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Banjer Date: 29 Nov 00 - 02:01 AM Was it Henny Youngman who first said what we all feel occasionaly: "Take my wife, PLEASE" Some of us more occasionaly than others.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Banjer Date: 29 Nov 00 - 01:58 AM Not only can they handle two conversations at once, ie:my wife talks on the phone and to someone in the same room simultaneously, they have also developed a way to talk between words. Into the phone: Did you see what she was wearing? To the other person in the same room: Dinner won't be for about twenty minutes. It comes out sounding something like: Did dinner you won't see for what she was twenty minutes wearing. Is it any wonder we only half listen???? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Bert Date: 28 Nov 00 - 05:17 PM Women 'can handle..two conversations at once'. Of course, thats all they do all the bloody time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: kendall Date: 28 Nov 00 - 04:24 PM This could take a nasty turn! Think I'll stick around, but, I'm not going to add to it. There is at least one thin skin out there! :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: mousethief Date: 28 Nov 00 - 03:31 PM If women ever said anything worth listening to, we might start using the other side. (that's just a joke! Sheesh! put down that knife!) Alex |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Naemanson Date: 28 Nov 00 - 03:30 PM Ouch! A man bashing thread! Run for cover! LOL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Another Opportunity for Parodies From: Magpie Date: 28 Nov 00 - 03:18 PM Another reason may be that, according to Robin Williams, God gave men two grreat gifts: a brain and a penis. Unfortunately, he didn't give them enough blood to run both at the same time. Magpie |
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Subject: Men only use half their brains - it's official! From: GUEST,Andrea Date: 28 Nov 00 - 02:58 PM Study: Men listen with only half their brain Tuesday, November 28, 2000 By LINDSEY TANNER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO -- Score one for exasperated women: New research suggests men really do listen with just half their brains. In a study of 20 men and 20 women, brain scans showed that men when listening mostly used the left sides of their brains, the region long associated with understanding language. Women in the study, however, used both sides. Other studies have suggested that women "can handle listening to two conversations at once," said Dr. Joseph T. Lurito, an assistant radiology professor at Indiana University School of Medicine. "One of the reasons may be that they have more brain devoted to it." |