Quickies

Skepchick Quickies 10.4

Jen is busy training for the 2012 Olympic table tennis team, so I’ve taken over today’s Quickies. LET’S GO!

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

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31 Comments

  1. Suspension for tweezing their eyebrows? Seriously? How would they even keep track of something like that? I mean, obviously if you’ve got a brow like a muppet one day, and Angelina Jolie the next, someone will figure it out, but otherwise … do they take regular file photos? Check for follicle damage? They’re wearing veils!

  2. The death threat guy is wearing what looks like my mom’s coat and handbag. I can’t take him seriously in that get-up.

  3. We all know “drop bears” are responsible for bad Aussie husbands…and possibly that Islamic veil thing in England. Effin’ drop bears.

  4. I am the one who cropped and sent the photo to PZ after Tessa took it (I happened to have my laptop with me at the time).

    He was actually wearing a black trenchcoat and carrying a laptop bag. I suspect he was going for the “Matrix” or “School Shooter” look.

  5. Wow, that video gave me the heebie-jeebies. It’s like filmed workplace harassment. I could only watch it to the end in the hopes of the singers getting cuffed by police.

  6. Hmmm, men and women have disputes over housework chores. Women are the cause of these disputes and are responsible for negative outcomes in the domestic relationship because of their demanding and controlling ways. And this is a result of a scientific study. There’s a boiling sulfurous molten spot in the back of my brain that was heating up while I read that tripe.

    The lab boys seemed to be going for irony in support of women working in labs (am I giving them to much credit?), but I’m not sure they understood how creepy, slimy and shallow they came across.

  7. “Critics warned that the spectacle of burka-clad pupils entering and leaving the schools at the start and end of the day could damage relations between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. “

    I am shocked that this reason was mentioned before the freedom of the actual girls involved. Forcing girls to wear veils iswrong mostly because it opresses them, not just because it’s a PR nightmare.

  8. jrtadke: might be, but it seems all they did was transport it into a lab situation and over a whole day where they follow the “most beautiful girl” (number four at least), spy on her and get close to her.

    At least the Conchords video just showed a party situation and had the singer actually hit on the woman (not girl) – a context where some of the remarks about her looks at least make some sense in the form of pick-up talk.

  9. @Berandor: I think you’re missing the reason why we find it so amusing. The guys singing ARE losers, and the song is funny because it’s insulting.

    Maybe it helps to be a Conchords fan prior to seeing it…

  10. I’m a huge FotC fan so as soon as I saw the title I started laughing.

    It was just so full of win: the conical flask, the school of Pharmacy website, the centrifuge…

    “You’re so beautiful, you could be a sales rep”
    Tears streaming down my face from laughter!

  11. On the Aussie husbands story, since I only have 2 assignments due today and I totally have time to talk about my non-backed up opinion on Skepchick…

    I reckon it’s actually probably true that women tend to do more of the household chores to avoid arguments and because it’s just faster and done better that way. I know that’s why I do most of the housework.

    I think that Australian and New Zealand’s “bloke” culture has to take the blame here. No one expects the man of the house to be responsible for household chores. If someone ‘pops round for a cuppa’ and your house is a pigsty and your kids are running around with no pants on, no one judges him, only you. Men are judged on their beer drinking and BBQ’ing capabilities (which sucks for men who aren’t into those traditional ‘masculine’ roles, it really does).

    If women would stop competing and judging each other I think it would be better. We’d get to relax and let the men do some of the stuff, even if they do it ‘wrong’.

    Disclaimer: Just talking about general social trends here. I am in no way suggesting that all men are this way and all women are another way.

  12. @Advocatus Diaboli: I reckon it’s actually probably true that women tend to do more of the household chores to avoid arguments and because it’s just faster and done better that way. I know that’s why I do most of the housework.

    To me it is just what works for the relationship with no single solution working for every couple. I think we can leave gender out of this. If people date long enough to get past the “he/she is so dreamy” stage, and live together for a while you’ll quickly discover what you like or dislike about the other person and what sort of patterns the relationship falls into. If you’re happy with that pattern stay. If not, do something else.

    My wife an I have an arrangement that works for us. The one thing we both agree on, fortunately, if something bugs you more than the other person this gives you the right to do something about it; it doesn’t give you the right to nag about it. We are anal about different things so this works out fairly well.

  13. @Berandor: Music videos such as this, as well as musical numbers in stage productions and movies, are used as an expression of the character or song writer’s feelings, not as a representation of the way they actually behave in real life.

  14. @davew:
    I’m sorry, but I can’t stop imagining a middle class couple having a polite tiff over who should empty the dishwasher.

  15. Rebecca: Maybe one has to be a fan (or even know) Flight of the Conchords, but for me it would have helped if the woman had somehow communicated the fact that these are losers, or if the video had included any other ironic break – instead, we have her twice looking to the side, an expression you could also interpret (and I did interpret) as caution or worry.

    But I don’t want to start an argument here. Sorry for disagreeing. ;)

    KeithLM: I don’t know what you’re trying to say, really. I know that’s not a documentary – but I also know that workplace harassment exists (for both sexes).

  16. @Rebecca Watson: Probably one of the most horrible songs ever is “Put Another Log on the Fire”. It is, however, hilarious because of that.

    @davew:
    My ex and I had a fairly simple system: I didn’t have to clean the bathroom, and she didn’t have to do the dishes. It wasn’t 100% (I sometimes cleaned bathrooms, she sometimes did significant dishes), but it worked for us. Upon me also devolved the duties of caring for her cat, because I could stand to hear her yowl in sadness when being given a bath.

  17. @davew:

    I think we can leave gender out of this.

    Well, you can, and some people do, but you can’t deny that gender roles and the expectations that come from them in society play a large role in how housework is divided up, even if you don’t realize it or aren’t conscious of it.

  18. @marilove: Well, you can, and some people do, but you can’t deny that gender roles and the expectations that come from them in society play a large role in how housework is divided up, even if you don’t realize it or aren’t conscious of it.

    Agree with me or just admit ignorance, eh? :-)

    The reason I said gender could be left out is that in my family typical gender roles don’t really fit all that well. At first we tried to divide things more or less equally and that didn’t work out at all. Friction was the order of the day. Over the years we just figured out that one of us cared more about somethings than others (me: kitchen and bathroom surfaces, she: carpets, sheets, and towels). Some things neither of us cared about and we just let those go. In the end, without thinking about gender or fairness, things just worked out.

    More importantly the relationships I see succeed don’t have any one pattern except both people agree that the division of labor works for them whether these are stereotypical gender roles or not.

  19. @davew: Well, I just wasn’t entirely sure if you were talking about YOURSELF or about couples as a whole. And even if you don’t realize it, gender roles still do affect you and your wife, even if not specifically to who cleans what. :)

  20. @Advocatus Diaboli:

    Men are judged on their beer drinking and BBQ’ing capabilities (which sucks for men who aren’t into those traditional ‘masculine’ roles, it really does).

    As a non-beer-drinking, non-BBQ’ing kiwi man (though I can bake a pretty good muffin, if I do say so myself), I can say yes it does suck. At least I live in Wellington, so that helps somewhat.

    I actually think that the backward expectations on men hurts when it comes to the division of domestic labour. So long as looking after the kids, or cleaning up around the house is seen as an unmanly thing to do, it will be nearly impossible to get most men to do it. The very last thing a man can afford to be seen as is effeminate. Men have been killed for it, and at the very least basically everyone you know will lose all respect for you.

  21. @Advocatus Diaboli:

    Agree with your assessment of the situation, but would like to add that a number of my Aussie male friends have admitted to intentionally doing a crap job on housework from early on in a relationship as they know their partner will stop asking them and just do it themselves.

    From my experience, Aussie women don’t realise they have power, so it does not occur to them to use it, thus they are not good negotiators. Maybe what we need to do is teach Aussie women to have more self-esteem and better negotiating/game-playing skills so they stop blinking first when dealing with their men?

    This is not to say that women are the problem – the lack of respect men still frequently display toward women here is the issue. Unfortunately, the fragile little Aussie male ego tends to be intimidated rather than turned-on by women who can not only give them a run for their money but win more than a round or two. Maybe it’s the fellahs who need the self-esteem classes…?

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