When a guy feels his masculinity is being undermined, he may want to punch something. That, in any case, is the implication of a new study by two psychology researchers at the University of South Florida. As the press release for the study explains:
In several studies, [the researchers] used [the] task [of braiding hair] to force men to behave in a “feminine” manner, and recorded what happened. In one study, some men braided hair; others did the more masculine—or gender-neutral—task of braiding rope. Given the options afterwards of punching a bag or doing a puzzle, the hair-braiders overwhelmingly chose the former. When one group of men braided hair and others did not, and all punched the bag, the hair-braiders punched harder. When they all braided hair and only some got to punch, the non-punchers evinced more anxiety on a subsequent test.
Aggression, write the authors, is a “manhood-restoring tactic.”
As is the case with most experimental psychology studies, it’s not clear to what degree this result applies to the real world, rather than to a specific set of people asked to perform a specific task in a lab setting. (There are a lot of bullshit experimental studies out there.) But the logic behind this study makes perfect sense, and I’m inclined to give it some credibility. I imagine the logic applies equally well to a range of supposedly “emasculating” tasks, like holding a woman’s purse, buying tampons, or, I dunno, watching “The View.”
Of course, with the first two examples, there is an alternative solution to the problem: to not actually give a shit about idiotic masculine stereotypes. What on earth is the big deal about buying tampons, or braiding hair? I find holding a purse annoying, but I’d be equally annoyed to hold a male friend’s wallet. (I just don’t like shopping with other people.)
In the case of The View, I can’t see a solution. Pretty much any exposure to that show makes me want to punch the television. Of course, I have female friends who feel the same way. As Zach Galifianakis once put it:
I have to stop crying when I watch “The View.” It’s not because of the topics at hand, I just feel sorry for that couch.
I think we all do.
Hey, my father loves The View WAY more than my mother does.
Dad has always been my role model for “guys what do not give a fuck about people calling their masculinity into question” though. Watching him was a good way to really get it through my head that what anyone else thinks of your gender performance has nothing to do with your actual gender.
That explains it. I braid my hair and then I practice shooting things.
Wait… if I don’t braid my hair first it gets between my shoulder and the rifle, then it get pulled (hard) and I cry.
Maybe I don’t understand it after all.
Even worse than The View, the View ripoff on CBS called “The Talk.” (Even the name is derivative.) I was exposed to an entire episode one day recently while waiting to see if I would have to serve on a jury. I think even Gandhi would start punching things if he were forced to watch that show.
I’m not quite sure how it manages to be so awful. Sharon Osbourne is on it, and I sort of love all the Osbournes. I think she must have made some sort of deal with the devil.
I have a similar reaction – after I braid my fiance’s hair I have an intense desire to strip him naked and throw him down on the bed… oh is that not what they’re talking about? ‘Cause men in braids are HOTTT 🙂
I take it from the set-up of this study that solving puzzles (presumably = using logic and brainpower) is not considered manly now? :S
I used to like watching The View, but I think that was when Rosie was on. She didn’t give a fuck, which was fun when she would give Ms. Survivor a good smackdown.
But The Talk? Dreadful. Just a bunch of women backpatting themselves for breeding. It was on in the student center a couple of times I was in there and made me want to hurl. It was followed by Rachel Ray, which was even more painful.
As for holding purses, really, is it so awful? I used to ask my brother to do it while I put my coat on and he would hold it at arm’s length between thumb and forefinger. Like his balls would drop off if he held it in a SAFE way. But lemme tell you, if someone had yoinked it due to his idiocy, he’d have to worry about more than just balls …
Men need to stop fearing tampons and other menstruation paraphernalia. Look at it this way: she’s having her period, which means she’s not pregnant! Yay! Isn’t in nicer to buy a $6 box of tampons than a $600 abortion or 18 years worth of child support? Hooray for tampons!
I think people are exaggerating, I am sure men do these things without any real issues. We aren’t 7… We can buy these things without feeling embarrassed.
My ex is one of the few men I know who will cheerfully go to the store to pick up pads/tampons if asked. He also has long hair, which he sometimes braids, and he braided my hair (beautifully!) for our wedding. And manly? He’s ripped and extremely smart, a whiz at computers, math, logic, gadgets, and more. He always has several women (and men!) crushing on him.
So which is he? Alpha or omega? Ahhh! The Greek system fails to convey his particular brand of awesomeness. (Btw, we are exes because we have different goals in life; he respects my desire to pursue more education and I respect his desire to build a forge and work on his blacksmithing, but those two goals aren’t compatible.) And yes. He is a blacksmith. That’s pretty damn manly as well.
Am I the only one who suspects this study was only done on white guys? Cause I doubt black guys who wear their hair in cornrows or regularly see other black guys in cornrows have such psychological issues with braids.
Also, braiding hair is obviously another cause of Shriveled Dick Syndrome.
Amnesia pretty much expressed my thoughts.
Though, as a black guy, I’m not into wearing cornrows.
I’ve never sent one of my boyfriends to the store for menstrual products. Oh dear, I was missing a great opportunity to emasculate test them!
I don’t expect to be doing so anytime soon though – I only use reuseables these days. (cup and washable cloth pads).
Dave,
Related or not:
I miss the wall paper from the previous location of your blog. The black on gray fleur de lys (sp? Français, etc!) looking stuff was a groovy pattern.
I would never punch a wall papered with that.
Imagine being a little girl who gets her day organized by a daddy who punches the wall after giving her Laura Ingalls braids before school every morning!
Bummer.
Oh, rats, I failed to notice that the tag for strikethrough is [strike] here, not [s]. That was supposed to read:
Oh dear, I was missing a great opportunity to
emasculatetest them!So… what they’re saying is that douchebags, when unobserved, may actually treat women like real human beings?
They’re more likely to be assholes when socially pressure to be assholes?
Evo-psych is BS?
How is social pressure = EvPsych?
Speaking of social pressure-one of the local papers is reprinting things from the year AZ became a state…including this gem about jurors not wearing formal gear during a trial. *swoons from the horrified shock*
@ Pecunium: I think cynickal didn’t mean that social pressure is evo-psych, but the “science” of evolutionary psychology is trying to prove that gender differences are innate and evolved over time based on the different roles of men and women in human history.
That, indeed, is BS. Major BS.
@Pecunium , I appologize if my short hand flippancy of Evo-Psych is inaccurate. Lydia correctly points out what I intended to convey in just a few words.
I think I jumped far beyond the scope of the study summary and created a strawman argument before any of the MGTOW or MRA’s could jump in and claim that “It’s science!!!”
“It’s science!!!”
Things involving Satoshi Kanazawa CANNOT, by definition, be science.
DUH! See, I knew I’d mess it up. KanEzawa, of course. Kanazawa is a city.
ah… I misread you then; it seemed an endorsement of evpsych. I apologise.
Here is an EvoPsych bingo (with a highly readable link to a piece by said Kanezawa below it), though the trolls here don’t seem to be that fond of EvoPsych, if you don’t count that ß-system.
http://boingboing.net/2010/04/07/evolutionary-psychol-1.html
Berries in a forest is why women like pink sometimes? Really?
@ Elizabeth: Some time ago, someone mentioned on this blog that in the past, pink was actually a colour for boys, the “little red”. So, yeah.
BTW: Anyone speak German here and keen on some lulz?