Entry tags:

american obesity association, eating disorders, eating patterns, food, gender differences, gender stereotypes, housekeeping, hygiene, ohio state university, scripps survey research center, weight

The five second rule
An Ohio University poll (2006) examined behavioral differences between 1,010 men and women. One reported difference: "60 percent of male respondents said they would eat food that had fallen on the floor while less than half the women surveyed said they would do so."

While the actual meaning of the results is a matter of debate, it does call into question the differences between the eating habits of men and women. According to the American Obesity Association, while men are more likely to be overweight than women, women are more likely to be obese or severely obese than men. In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that 90% of people with eating disorders are women.

Can the female fastidiousness reported by the Ohio University poll shed any light on these differences? Are women more concerned with or aware of what they eat? Reporting errors seem like a more likely culprit. It seems reasonable to assume that (despite efforts to answer honestly) both men and women are likely to respond that their behavior conforms to their idealized norm of behavior.

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In my own experience, I have never found women to be tidier than men, but I have found both genders will repeat this stereotype over and over. I can't count how many times I've seen people walk into a messy apartment and remark "you can tell that guys live here," but walking into an apartment in a similar state inhabited by women, no remarks are made. Certainly the stereotype makes any comment on housekeeping a greater attack on a woman than on a man; you are not only calling into question her hygiene, but her worth as a woman as well. My own level of squalor has remained fairly constant throughout my transition. I have never been a good housekeeper. However, in terms of social pressures, it is actually my identity as a queer man that has made me feel most inadequate in how I keep my home. I constantly find myself making gender-stereotyped excuses -- saying that because I am bisexual, I am not required to live up to the "gay" standard. The degree to which I buy into this stereotype puzzles and intrigues me.