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Study: Men Better at Changing Diapers
Makers of a heartburn and indigestion treatment wanted to know what adults could accomplish in three minutes — the time it takes their product, Gaviscon, to start working.
So they hired analysts from the MindLab Institute to test 1,200 men and women on certain tasks. The results sort of turn gender stereotypes on their ears, if gender stereotypes weren’t so ridiculous in the first place.
The supposed shockers? Men are better at changing diapers. Women are better at changing tires and rewiring an outlet. By “better,” incidentally, the researchers appear to mean faster.
Yet women were found to be better at ironing shirts. Men, they said, excelled when they had to do something quickly and just good enough, not perfect.
Overall, results showed women were faster where eye-hand coordination was concerned and also verbal reasoning (women proved better at winning arguments in the allotted time). Men won in the spatial awareness — reading maps, assembly instructions, putting up a tent.
Women also seemed to be more confident than men in what they thought they could accomplish in three minutes — like sending a text message. But both sexes thought they could make dinner faster than their (0pposite sex?) partners.
I somehow doubt this study, commissioned for marketing purposes, will assist in any great cultural shifts, and certainly not where I live. My husband and I are both diaper changers, both map readers, he doesn’t camp so I’m the only one with tent experience. Women also performed better mopping floors, but I haven’t swept or mopped in years (my husband’s the floor guy). Do I win arguments? Sure. So does he. And I suspect I would be better at wiring but I’ve done it before and he hasn’t much.
Of course, the real shocker for me in this study is the fact that people still iron. Do people still iron? Why in the world are we still ironing?
Who wins arguments/assembles furniture in your house?
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Photo: lancaster.unl.edu
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13 Comments
[...] Study: Men Better at Diapers, Women at (Ugh) Ironing [...]
Michelle Obama Finally Goes After Food Makers | Strollerderby commented on Mar 17 10 at 1:06 pm[...] Strollerderby brought an interesting finding to light: men are better at changing diapers. Great, no more diapers for me! [...]
Required Reading: Must-Reads from Our Favorite Mom Blogs commented on Mar 19 10 at 6:03 pmpuke commented on Mar 16 10 at 3:57 pmwe are apparently anomolies…I don’t iron at all, even when I worked in an office I never did…my husband irons all his own clothes…I put together the things from IKEA and such and he takes 2-3 minutes to put on a DISPOSABLE diaper
Rebecca commented on Mar 16 10 at 6:07 pmI’m surprised that women are normally faster at changing tires. I know I’m not. Certainly I CAN change a tire if I must, but I would much prefer if my husband does it. When I change a tire I have to jump up and down on the wrench to loosen the nuts, whereas my husband can just turn it. :P
Manjari commented on Mar 16 10 at 8:29 pmWe never iron anything. I think it’s been about a year since I even used the iron.
PlumbLucky commented on Mar 17 10 at 8:09 amWhy do I still iron? Well, if someone could explain to me WHY my wrinklefree shirts are not, yet my husband’s wrinklefree shirts are in fact wrinklefree – I might be able to tell you!!!!
I’m amused by the correlation of “faster = better”.
Eric commented on Mar 17 10 at 9:38 amWell I’m just glad to hear there’s someone in the plumbing business who doesn’t equate faster with better! Rebecca, try pulling up the next time you change your tire. Lifting with your legs you should be able to apply more force than your body weight.
PlumbLucky commented on Mar 17 10 at 10:45 am@Eric – the next person who tries to tell me that PEX is better than copper because “its faster”, I may swat them.
Eric commented on Mar 17 10 at 11:38 amOh hell, I love PEX… because its cheap and so am I
PlumbLucky commented on Mar 17 10 at 1:22 pmI’m guessing you’re not using a residential type hot water boiler though (very different from a hot water heater). The fail temp of PEX is too close to the high water temp cutout for my comfort, and we’ve seen that equation end badly before, recently. It has its applications – but we don’t much with residential so its not something for which we find many appropriate applications.
Eric commented on Mar 17 10 at 6:31 pmYeah, I’ve never come close to over heating it. In the quasi-heated world of ag structures burst resistance comes in handy more often than I’d like.
Rebecca commented on Mar 20 10 at 1:17 pmI’ll try that, Eric, thanks!
Kyong Quitter commented on Oct 31 10 at 5:03 pmI’d come to engage with you one this subject. Which is not something I typically do! I really like reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to speak my mind!
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