Life and Letters

I had a rather interesting conversation with a friend last night which ended up in him pointing out that we can stereotype gender too easily without offending people etc. This probably is somewhat true except that we were talking about gay couples and it's really hard to imagine Sylvester Stallone type of guy as the female side of a gay couple.

Anyway, while I couldn't get to sleep in the wee hours of the night, I started to search for articles on the internet pertaining to gender stereotyping just to quench my curiosity.

So I found this list on a Guardian Observer article and wondered if all of it is really that true.

Only women

· Have headaches without telling anybody
· Re-use cotton wool
· Grow up fantasising about horses
· (And still do occasionally)
· Plan their weddings from an early age
· Plan their weddings when they're actually about to get married
· Say the opposite of what they think
· Quote from Dirty Dancing
· Ask for advice when they have no intention of taking it
· ' I carried a watermelon ?'
· Tell their boss that the reason they're not going to work is because they want to watch Wimbledon. (Of course it needs to be a female boss for this to result in continued employment)
· Flirt with traffic wardens
· Can say the words 'interior designer' without laughing
· 'Nobody puts Baby in a corner.'
· Toss their clothes to the floor in the heat of passion, then pause to hang them up because, in the end, nothing is more important than avoiding ironing
· Worry about the Cold Feet characters even when the series is not actually on
· Immediately know the calorific content of a food item, even if it's something they've never seen before
· Want to talk about everything
· Have close and long-standing friendships with people they don't like
· Remember arguments verbatim
· Can say they've been 'doing some internet shopping' without it being a euphemism
· Understand what Diana saw in Dodi. (She needed someone passionate who'd take her on holiday. Men just think he was a greasy foreign gigolo)
· Run without moving their thighs
· Deliberately wear uncomfortable pants
· Believe that they can complete several important two-hour tasks before leaving to catch that plane
· Do not think Sinéad O'Connor would look better with hair and a tit job


Only men

· Get excited about military hardware
· Take milk out of the fridge, sniff it, make a face and then put it back
· Watch Get Carter more than once
· Or The Italian Job
· Or Alfie
· Or Zulu
· Dream about being Michael Caine
· Make all the conversation for an entire evening with somebody who remains silent, then conclude 'what an interesting dinner guest she is'
· Have their own signature spaghetti sauce
· Say: 'Can't we discuss this in the morning?'
· Tailgate drivers who overtake them, flashing and hooting
· Think about what they would do if they ever met a dinosaur while carrying a shotgun
· Understand why Kate Hudson is sexy
· Cry at the end of Rocky
· Can go to sleep after an argument. Or during one
· Keep track of whose round it is
· Tell jokes they found on the Internet
· Argue that kissing somebody while drunk 'doesn't count as infidelity'
· Think that two pairs of shorts, a pair of sandals and a T-shirt are sufficient for a fortnight's holiday in Cyprus
· Look over your shoulder at parties
· Subconsciously fancy their mums. (Oh yes you do - it's subconscious)
· Can finish a whole can of Coke
· Or a whole Mars bar
· Make lists for no real reason