In movies and TV, women are understandably tired of playing roles like the “Wife” or the “Girlfriend”. Nowadays we’re seeing more women in film and TV but has their role in the production really changed all that much? That’s what the “Bechdel test” is all about. It’s not a test per se but rather a few questions to help you … Read More
Ep 337: Why Do We Think Women Aren’t Funny?
Have you ever heard someone say that they don’t think that women can be funny? I have to admit that I didn’t hear that until recently, so I looked at some of the research on gender and perceptions of humor. I think you’ll be surprised. In this episode I summarize some of that research and I give you four jokes … Read More
Ep 336: Why is it Usually Men Who Commit Violent Acts?
Another violent act in America. Another man who committed it. Why do men in our society seem to always be the ones who carry out violent acts? Is it how we bring up boys? Or is there another influence – genes. I was lucky enough to get professor Steve Stewart-Williams, author of the book The Ape That Understood the Universe, … Read More
Ep 334: The Psychology of the Fantasticks
Have you seen the musical The Fantasticks? Not only does it have wonderful music but it also has pearls of wisdom. Oh yea, and gender issues. In this episode I talk about the psychology inside this great show. I also talk about how you know when something you read online is probably true (hint: if what you read is boring … Read More
Ep 329: Beauty and the Beast: Psychological Themes
Resources We are the Beast: On Toxic Masculinity and Social Responsibility in Disney’s Beauty and the BeastToxic Masculinity in “Beauty and the Beast”How to Fight Toxic MasculinityCats Do ScienceDog Spies
Ep 327: The Team Behind Q – World’s First Genderless Digital Voice
In the last episode I talked about the potential downside to having most of our digital assistants speak to us using a female voice. “Q” – will give us an option. Here’s my interview with Emil Rasmussen, who will give you some of the background behind Q and his hopes for the future of Q. Resources Genderless Voice Twitter feedThe … Read More
Ep 326: Giving Voice To Our Digital Assistants
Why do our digital assistants such as Alexa, Google Home, Siri and Cortana have “feminized” voices and what are the effects of this trend? That’s what I explore in this episode. Are there negative effects of using female voices in the devices we talk to and who talk to us? Are there alternatives? Turns out there is an alternative – … Read More
Ep 305: In the Movies, Why Does the Woman Always Have to Die? And Other Gender Stereotypes
What can we learn from an old, dusty book I found in the basement? Well, if that book is about gender role stereotypes then there’s a lot of things to uncover that explain why boys and girls act the way they do. In this episode we get an example of qualitative research by really diving into the book called “Those … Read More
Ep 304: Guess What? Testosterone Doesn’t Neccessarily Cause Men to be Aggressive
Most of us assume that one of the reasons men tend to act aggressively is that men have higher levels of testosterone. Let’s take a look at this “testosterone myth” because this isn’t always the case. In fact, in some cases, the higher levels of testosterone actually cause men to be MORE NICE than usual. Don’t believe it? Let’s take … Read More
Ep 292: Yes, Computers Can Guess Your Sexual Orientation
On this episode I talk about a several psych topics, including what computer programs look at when they try to guess your sexual orientation – and they are really accurate at doing so. Also: anxiety blankets and the musical Hairspray – what do we reveal about ourselves sometimes when we don’t even know it! Resources for this Episode The invention … Read More
