Man Vs. Woman

No, that's not some ultimate fight that I'm advocating; it's just a silly game on the morning talk show on WOLX. Perhaps silly is the wrong word; I do enjoy listening to it. But the premise is just rather "off" to me.

The whole point of the show is to ask the female contestant traditionally "male" questions, and the male contestant gets traditionally "female" questions. (The funny thing is, I usually am able to answer them both equally. Go figure.)

What makes this "odd" to me is that it just reinforces outdated gender stereotypes, because face it, anyone can be talented at something, regardless of their gender. One of the questions asked to a male a week or so ago was, "How many tabs are on disposable diapers?" The guy actually asked the DJ to make it into a multiple choice question! Hello?!? First of all, common sense would tell you two (one for each side, right?) Secondly, is our society still so behind the times that men change so few of their children's diapers that they don't know how many tabs are on them? Thirdly, knowing how many tabs are on a diaper isn't some inherent talent known only to those with XX chromosomes; it's something you learn, preferably by doing it. So the fact that this guy didn't know right off the bat (even though he had said he had kids) is a sign that household duties and childrearing responsibilities (while worthwhile pursuits and very important to a happy home life) are unfairly divided between the sexes, and that needs to change.

I asked my husband the question about diaper tabs, and he looked at me and said without hesitation, "Two." Hmmm, how'd he know that? Because he is a man who's not afraid to take on "traditional" female duties, and he's changed more of our goddaughter's diapers than he cares to count. Why, oh why, aren't we raising more men to be like that?

Likewise, they asked the female contestant who the current commissioner of major league baseball is. She had no idea.... but I did: Bud Selig (granted, it might help that one of my publications is a sports magazine, but still). The funny thing is, I asked Dan that, and he had no idea. So here's my husband, who is by no means a "wimpy, girly" man, and yet he knows waaay more about diapers than he does about baseball. The funny part is, he likes it like that.

They also tend to ask female contestants cooking-related questions, and most of the time, I'm sitting there in my car muttering, "I don't know. Roux? Brew? What? I don't even know what they're saying. Where's my cell; I'm calling Dan." Then I ask Dan, and he's so quick on the uptake. "Roux? Oh, that's a base you use to make fondue, usually with some sort of flour and liquid." It's hilarious to us, because so often, we totally do not fit the stereotype about what men and women "should" like (although to be fair, we often do. I hate working on cars, which is what he loves, and he's not exactly a huge fan of shopping, which, if I had more money, I'd be doing all the time). However, I still maintain that women and men, while there are some differences between us, are more alike than we are different. So why do inane game shows assume that "all" men know one thing, and "all" women know another?

I know, I know; it's just for fun. And like I said, I enjoy listening to it. But when you take it at more than face value, and really dig into the premise behind it, it is kind of strange that we still assume that men and women (and their interests) are so vastly different. Especially when you consider that the perceived difference between these interests and talents is used as justification for unfairly sharing household duties and other things along that line.