It's a fact of life. It's the only significant differ-ence between men and women. I can't think of any others, can you? Men enjoy manly things like action movies, power tools, sports, fart jokes and Bruce Willis. Women enjoy girly things like clothes, soap operas, interior design, cleaning the house, preparing dinner and changing diapers. Alright, maybe those last three things haven't been true since 1960. Still, this gender-dividing phenomenon cannot be ignored. But just exactly how profound is it?
The self-proclaimed "Network for Men" is Spike TV. Even its name is masculine -- it triggers thoughts of barking rottweilers with spiked collars. Among its programming are shows like "Trucks!," "Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol" and "Ultimate Fighting Championship."
The latter involves two large, mean and usually heavily tattooed men fighting in a cage where almost anything goes. Unlike boxing, the fight is not stopped when one man hits the ground. Instead, fights frequently turn into wrestling matches as the fighter on top tries to pin the other fighter and punch him into submission. He can also try to get his opponent into a chokehold or arm or leg lock to get him to tap out before he passes out or breaks a bone. If that doesn't get your testosterone flowing, I don't know what will.
The female equivalent of Spike TV is probably TLC. Although TLC has not explicitly stated that it is directed towards a female audience, they make this pretty clear by only airing shows that focus on interior design, fashion or pregnancy 23 hours a day. I can't say 24 hours a day because they still occasionally air "Junkyard Wars," the only show left on TLC with any hair on its chest.
I have first-hand experience with TLC because it is the only thing my girlfriend ever watches on cable television. Although I can usually at least cut a deal to watch ESPN during commercial breaks, I've now watched enough TLC with her to last 1,000 male lifetimes. While I might be bored after five minutes of "Trading Spaces," my girlfriend has no problem sitting through the whole show -- even if she's already seen the episode three times. How can I explain this without going back to the gender issue?
What qualifies as manly and what does not is not entirely decided by human nature or by chance, however. American culture often promotes the notion that men should act like men and attempts to define what exactly this behavior is. Take the commercials for "Milwaukee's Best," for instance. If you've never seen them, each commercial shows a bunch of guys hanging out. Eventually, one of them does or says something that isn't manly and gets crushed by a giant can of beer falling from the sky. These non-manly things include: baby talking to a dog, calling a girlfriend, buying fruity beer, saying the giant can of beer is "heavy," saying the can might be "too big," etc. At the same time, the commercials tell the world that drinking beer, working on car engines and playing poker are manly things to do. Why should beer commercials get to define a gender?
Everyone has heard of the term "chick flick." Those are the movies that guys only watch reluctantly when they go on dates with girls. According to research by Richard Harris, a professor at Kansas State University, this may not be as true as most people think. On a seven point scale, men gave average ratings of 4.8 to romantic movies, not far behind the ratings women gave. When asked if other men would like any given romantic movie, all subjects agreed that they probably would not. It seems that the perception that men will automatically reject mushy stuff like romance movies is not as true as we think. When a guy does enjoy a chick flick, his rationale is that this is an exception to the rule, and not that the rule might be flawed.
What I think is that, while men and women might be predisposed to like different forms of entertainment, people should be more willing to try new things. In other words, for all you guys who avoided "Brokeback Mountain" like the plague last year, give it a chance before you reject it. I mean, even TLC has some shows that are interesting. It will all be worth your while -- just make sure to avoid any giant beer cans falling from the sky.
Daniel's column runs biweekly on Wednesdays. He can be reached at mcnally@cavalierdaily.com.
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