Archive for the ‘XX – XY’ category

Man, I Feel Like a Woman

May 3rd, 2010

ShaniaThe science may be sound, but the sociological implications are frightening.  British and German scientists have discovered that using a nasal spray containing the hormone oxytocin on a man will turn him into an empathetic bloke who temporarily exhibits the emotional  sensitivity levels typically only found in women.

Oxytocin, the so-called “cuddle hormone”, is naturally made in the body and involved in sex, sexual attraction, trust and confidence.  It is released into the blood during labor where it triggers the production of breast milk and floods the brain during breastfeeding, helping mother and baby bond.  It is also released during orgasm in both sexes fostering pair bonding and post coitus snuggling… which is when Mother Nature intended snuggling to occur, so stop messing with the natural order of things!

The nasal spray is apparently available over the Internet, so in theory, women could spike their macho mates whenever they wanted a little girl-talk time, a good group cry, or if they were just in the mood to nuzzle and huddle all night long.

But I have a better idea.  If your guy is way too macho for your tastes, get a different one.  If all guys are too macho for you, consider that you might be a lesbian.  And if every now and again you just really need the company of a woman, buy your guy a six-pack, sit him in the recliner, hand him the remote, and go meet one of your girlfriends.  He’ll be right where you left him when you get back.

Chicken to be Gay?

April 27th, 2010

Gay ChickenThis is another installment in what is apparently becoming my ongoing series about why politicians should avoid making scientific pronouncements.  Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, a place formerly only famous as the spot where Butch and Sundance were shot, announced that eating chicken can turn you gay.

It seems his concern is only about chicken infused with female hormones.  Although as the president of the Argentina Homosexual Community, Cesar Cigliutti, pointed out, “By following that reasoning, if we put male hormones in a chicken and we make a homosexual eat it he will transform into a heterosexual.”  Let’s hope no one in Uganda reads this or they will be injecting all their poultry with testosterone until giant mutant chickens result.  I’m thinking they will look a bit like Pro Wrestlers with wings.  And the last thing Uganda needs is muscle bound rage infused chickens running around the country bashing gays over the head with folding chairs.

It turns out that the practice of hormone lacing chicken, while still done in some countries, is no longer practiced in the US or Europe.  Pfeewww.  That’s a relief, because unless Buffalo sauce cuts the effect I’d be dancing in feather boas and assless chaps while  singing Carmen by now.

Oh yeah, and not content to stop there, Morales went on to proclaim that Chicken also makes you bald.  This man clearly has some deeply rooted poultry issues.

Did You Feel the Earth Move?

April 21st, 2010

BurkahIt seems that Iranians have the best sex.  That’s the only reasonable conclusion from a senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi’s claim:

“Many women who dress inappropriately … cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,”

Note that it is women who are the problem here.  Men are just the hapless victims of the temptresses strutting about with their uncovered hair and “bodily contours”.  And the next thing you know, the Earth starts a shakin’.

While I’m uncertain how the sex causes earthquakes, the cleric does have somewhat of a point.  It’s hard to get remotely interested in a woman wearing a burkah.  I suspect they are way more effective than flannel nightgowns at deterring the advances of hormonally fueled and totally not responsible or accountable men.

Ditto

April 14th, 2010

This week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory included a scene where Leonard said, “I love you” to Penny.  And she responded with those words everyone wants to hear, “Thank you.”  On the one hand, I was a little surprised to learn I was in possession of some old fashioned values.  After all, it seemed to me that such expressions of emotion usually came before all the schtupping.   But what do I know?  Kids these days… and get off my lawn!!

Anyway, the larger point was that it got me to thinking about what good responses to “I love you” might be.  There’s the tried and true, “I love you too.”  But that seems almost perfunctory.  Maybe not during the initial saying, but year after year, it can seem like you’re not really trying.  Sometimes I’ll try and dress it up by responding with something like, “And I you.”  It gets beyond the trite,but borders on the pretentious, which may not really help.

SwayzeThe other day, Kim responded to me with, “I know.”  Now had this been a first time exchange, that might have been as bad as “Thank you.”  However, after all these years, I think it’s a great response.  If she can still tell, then I must be doing something right.

If you’re Patrick Swayze, you can get away with saying “Ditto.”  For anyone else, this comes across as less imaginative than, “I love you too.”  Further, it reminds her that you are not Patrick Swayze, and that is not helping your case.

And in the event you’re inclined to counter that she’s no Demi Moore either, well, just don’t.  First rule of holes and all.  You might has well have responded, “That’s nice Honey. Now can you move? You’re blocking the TV.  And since you’re up, will you get me a beer?”

Which brings us to the audience participation part.  What do you think are particularly good or bad responses to hearing, “I love you”?

Sad but True

April 7th, 2010

The comic below shows the evolution of worship.  And maybe more importantly, the value of moderation.  Just sayin…

Worship

Truism

March 11th, 2010

Merriam Webster’s defines “truism” as—an undoubted or self-evident truth; especially : one too obvious for mention.  However, their definition page lacks an example.  I’m going to respectfully suggest they consider this:

Truism

Aural Lensing

February 26th, 2010

Not surprisingly, we all hear through our own lens that shapes the conversation.  Our brains try desperately to hear the things we most want to hear as well as the things we are most afraid to hear.   While this is sometimes amusing when applied to the differences in the sexes (especially if it’s about somebody else’s relationship), it’s not remotely a gender based phenomenon.
Said vs. HeardLately, we see this potently in politics where the far left, the far right, and whatever the Tea Partiers are make mountains of the opposition’s molehills.  Often the actual message is lost in the sea of sound bites and inflammatory opinion.

Perhaps Deborah Tannen’s advice for men and women might be applicable in our national discourse as well.  Her essential thesis was that we don’t lack the skills to express ourselves, we lack the skills to listen.  We need to hone our ability to hear the message the speaker intended rather than the message our lens was amplifying.  Much like in personal relationships, we may find that we have more common ground and shared goals than we think.

The Perfect Man

February 21st, 2010

George ClooneyKim doesn’t know it, at least consciously, but she prefers me to George Clooney and Toby Keith.  Oh sure, I know I’m not as smooth and good looking as George, and while Toby makes her swoon when he sings, I make her ears bleed.  But apparently none of that matters.

Toby KeithI know this because a poll of 2,500 women revealed that 91 per cent would actually prefer a guy who had a few flaws.  A spokesman for www.onepoll.com, which carried out the research, said: “Publically, girls will claim they want a muscly guy, who is hair free and manly enough not to show his emotional side.”  But their secret desires explain why the rest of us get dates from time to time anyway.

As a service to Kim, I’ve listed the most sought after qualities in a man and compared myself against my celebrity competition.  In fact, if rooting for my sons’ school teams counts as being passionate about a sports team then I’m a clean sweep.  She so wants me. Although I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I could sing to boot.

Kim's Perfect Man

Mr Good Enough

February 5th, 2010

There is a certain wisdom in encouraging both men and women to not spend their lives seeking some hyper-idealized mate. Mostly because they are usually fictional characters. But I find the advice of Lori Gottlieb, author of “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough,” to be a little discomforting.

However, I suspect I’m not nearly as uncomfortable as the husband of the woman who wrote the book review. He must be thrilled to know that while she loves him, her choice to marry him was motivated by the book’s advice to settle for practical stable relationships rather than ones that stir your passions.

Yes, many of us men recognize that we are not prime beef, and weren’t so even in our prime. There is an appeal to having a woman out of your league settle for you. When that happens, we do recognize that we are damned lucky. But we at least like to delude ourselves with the notion that there was some endearing quality about us that caused our major league babe to date in the minors. Something that, at least in her eyes, elevated us to her level. We got called up to play, maybe just in this game, but we will remember for the rest of our lives that we got the call.

Maybe you ladies are actually aware that you settled for a troll with a steady job, but fer cryin’ in yer beer, DON’T TELL US!!

Polyamory Is Wrong

January 29th, 2010

I’m sure Kim agrees with the T-shirt below… just for different reasons.

Manly Men

January 26th, 2010

Applebee’s has a new advertisement on the air showing a bunch of guys eating at one of their restaurants. Somebody asks what they are ordering and three of the guys respond with typical guy choices like ribs or steak. The last guy announces he’s having one of the new 550 calorie meals. There’s an uncomfortable moment of silence, then everyone laughs and the good times ensue.

Here’s the thing. I think Applebee’s wants you to believe that the laughter after the silence means all the guys are cool with their friend making a low-cal choice. But at this point in the commercial, I interpreted the situation as the last guy just yanking everyone’s chain. To me, the laughter is basically saying, “Yeah, I was kidding. I’ll have the wings and a side of loaded nachos.”

But no. In the last few seconds we see diet man enjoying his lite lunch and not only are his buds cool with it, they appear envious of his choice. This would not happen in the real world. This is a violation of guy-code and his friends would be obligated to ridicule and cajole the calorie conscious friend and possibly insist he pick up the check.

That’s not to say the guy couldn’t get away with not stuffing his pie hole while with his buddies. There’s always the possibility he had drinks and nibbles with his lady after work before meeting up with the guys and just isn’t that hungry. Maybe the Asiago Peppercorn Steak just looked good. No harm, no foul. But he would not, under any circumstances, announce to the group that yhe’s ordering a meal based on its low calorie count. Not unless he secretly longed to have his underwear pulled up over his head.

On the one hand, kudos to Applebee’s for tying to create healthier choices that appeal more to men. Especially since we are genetically incapable of ordering a salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side. They could maybe show a couple, where the woman is so proud of her man for not ordering the smothered chicken and cheese fries. But do not try to imply that guys night out is going to become limited to lite beer and diet entrees. Especially as we age, we increasingly find ourselves less able to treat our bodies like the toxic waste dumps we used them for in our youth. We will tell this to our ladies while cuddled on the couch watching NCIS. But dammit, we are not going to start admitting that to one another. Not gonna happen.

Oh, and just to be clear… this is still your target demographic.

Of Football and Efficiency

January 20th, 2010

The Wall Street Journal recently studied broadcast football (ostensibly because the economy is just too complicated) and came away with the staggering statistic that the average 2 hour and 54 minute game on TV contains just 11 minutes of actual football playing. This blistering level of excitement is bracketed by 17 minutes of replays, 3 seconds of cheerleaders, and about an hour of beer and truck commercials.

The bad news for weekend couch potatoes is that capturing the games on DVR should allow them to watch a full slate of Sunday football coverage in about an hour. This leaves ample time to pay attention to your kids and work on the Honey-do list, while alloting scant time to guzzle beer and munch chips.

On the other hand, wouldn’t it be cool if we could achieve those levels of efficiency elsewhere? What if other things you did only required you to put in 6.3% of the time allocated? I could mow my lawn in just under 4 minutes. The workday could be knocked off in just over half an hour. You could even get a Bachelor’s Degree in about 3 months. Of course sex would only last 28 seconds, so I suppose there’s a downside to all the efficiency as well…

The Ultimatum

January 8th, 2010

A 42-year old Scotsman married his Canadian sweetheart last year. But little did he know what lay in store. For secretly she hated the life-sized Orc that stood quietly in their home. And one day, able to bear it no more, she issued the ultimatum.

She asserted that one of them had to go. Either he ditched his beloved Orc statue or she was moving back to Canada without him. It would appear that without giving the choice a lot of serious consideration, he opted to give away the green guy and keep the blonde.

This opens up lots of questions. Was she really certain he would choose this way, or was she perhaps hoping he wouldn’t? And while all us men recognize that we are not the primary decorators of any shared domicile, are there limits to a woman’s veto power? Was there no man-space in their house which might have housed his beast?

I can understand her not wanting the Orc in the living room. It seems the sort of thing best delegated to “his room”. Although I might point out that placing it in the foyer would obviate the need for a home security system.

The key point being that every shared home should have some space, even if it’s the basement or garage, where the man is free to decorate in ways that make his woman cringe. It’s fine that this space has a door. It’s fine that proper company never sees this room. But there still should be some place where a man can wallow in his hideous tastes and eccentricities.

And a note to women… the ultimatum should be used sparingly. Acceptable uses include:

  • “It’s her or me.”
  • “It’s [insert appropriate 12-step program] or I’m outta here.”

Pretty much after that, we assume you’re just trying to get rid of us.