Girls Might Like ‘Men Crush Mars, Women Attack Venus’
A research team at Interval, a Silicon Valley think tank, studied why the video games that captivate boys don’t appeal to girls, despite efforts to make the games gender-neutral. The researchers concluded that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the reason girls aren’t attracted to most video games isn’t that the games are too violent, but that they’re too boring.
“In most games, you just do the same idiotic thing over and over,” says research team leader Brenda Laurel. Boys are interested in beating the clock, in beating each other, in seeing their initials on the high-scorers list of an arcade console. Girls want covert competition, narrative complexity and characters they can relate to. (From: Feb. 23/March 2 New Yorker)
Quote of the week: Detroit Pistons player Brian Williams on the NBA’s decision to use female referees: “I am for equal rights, I am for the National Organization for Women, I am for equal pay, and I have read Camille Paglia and Anais Nin. But this is utter bull. What happens when I run into one of them and break her head open?” Well, probably the same thing that would happen if he ran into a male ref and broke his head open. Did someone say hospital? Which last we knew, treated folks of both genders. (From: Feb. 16 Sports Illustrated)
A nod to the past: We’re kind of liking the tone set in a Minnesota anti-VD ad campaign that dates back two decades: “Clap. In Minnesota, It’s Not Applause.”
That, and other gems from advertising are detailed in a new book, “Sex, American Style: An Illustrated Romp Through the Golden Age of Heterosexuality” by Jack Boulware. (From: March Esquire)
This fashion tip just in: The hot new jewelry item is called a breastee. Uh huh, just like it sounds. It’s a pendant on a 4-inch stem designed to be tucked into one’s cleavage. The creator, designer Maybelline Williams, says they require a size C-cup or larger, or a body-enhancer such as a Wonderbra. Otherwise, just put on a necklace instead. (From: Feb. 16 Newsweek)
If that’s all, we’re there: The definition of being “in shape” according to Dr. Barry Franklin, the director of cardiac rehabilitation at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., is “being able to do your normal daily activities as well as activities that require extraordinary efforts, such as running to catch a bus, with a minimal degree of disruption of physiologic processes or stress to the cardiovascular or musculoskeletal systems.” (From: March Men’s Journal)
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MEMO: Susan English is the Weekend Editor at The Spokesman-Review, contact her by mail at 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201; by e-mail at susane@spokesman.com or by phone at 459-5488.