30.12.06

The gender gap circa 2006: the pop culture version

I've spent the last couple of weeks thoroughly immersed in the world of Veronica Mars, watching seasons 1 and 2 practically nonstop. While this has had all sorts of interesting side effects on my social life, manner of speaking and dreams, the most unexpected corollary has been unearthing another indicator of the gender gap.

In short: The women love Logan Echolls (link contains season 3 spoilers). The men don't, at all, and, furthermore, they don't understand why we find him attractive.

Ah, the impossibility of explaining the appeal of the Bad Boy ...

Maybe the Bad Boy works because he's safely dreamy in whatever TV universe he lives in and has little, if any, opportunity to screw around with our lives (although our heroine, of course, remains deliciously in peril of it). Maybe we want to live on the edge a little, while still (fairly) certain that the Bad Boy will not only lead us to that edge but pull us back in time. Maybe we just all want to piss off our parents, so that for at least fifteen panicked seconds, they're entertaining the notion we might actually want to marry one of these Bad Boys.

Maybe we just want to land a Bad Boy just to prove that we can --- without necessarily wanting to be landed forever with the responsibility of bailing him out of jail or whatever other expensive or inconvenient circumstances he winds up in.

Do nice boys finish last? Discuss.

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5 Comments:

At 12/31/2006 1:39 am , Blogger I.V.Y. said...

Nice guys may or may not finish up last. But that's not the point.

Nice guys end up with good girls. Like yourself.

Alright, so I don’t know anything about your and your partner but you have already expressed your implicit leanings towards the nice guy—ultimately.

The ‘I wanna have that bad guy’ fantasy is a product of media socialization. The media tends to sensationalize the thrill and tremendous sense of ‘self satisfaction’ derived from taming a wild stud. And since the audience is generally naïve, it would be safe to say, a good proportion of the female population do lap up this fallacy with relish. I have seen some girls who remain in toxic relationships for this crap load of Bulls*#t.

Nah. Smart girls don’t take bad guys for real. You know it yourself.

(Love reading your blog. Am an avid fan. You write well.)

 
At 12/31/2006 3:30 am , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I spent the December holidays watching V. Mars too. Though I had to re-watch several episodes especially season 2 as I was stoned from too many episodes. I practically watched it from morning till dusk.

Not all guys don't get Logan. While holidaying in Laos, I actually bought a similar neck-chain thingy and wore it everyday ala Logan. Hee!

 
At 12/31/2006 3:52 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey hey... Happy New Year cousin!

hmmm... I dunno... I like the bad boys, but only on TV. In real life, they usually bore me and I like me some laughs and good cuddles... so yes... I go after the eternal comedian in real life, though on TV I can swoon over the bad boy's one-liners and stormy looks.

But, also depends on the bad boy... do you mean the brat that's a bit of a provocateur at the party or the brooder who storms off and breaks shit randomly? I'm actually friends with the first type of guy (but never date because they're headcases) and avoid the second.

 
At 1/01/2007 12:11 am , Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the short run, yes.

 
At 1/01/2007 12:04 pm , Blogger Agagooga said...

It's not socialization, it's genetic.

What women say they want, what women think they want and what women really want aren't always the same.

 

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