Sideswipe
Myth-busting the stereotype of the Chatty Cathy
Women have always been stereotyped as the more talkative gender. People who talk too much are known as Chatty Cathys and there is no such thing as Talkative Tim. This stereotype of overly talkative, gossipy women mean women’s speech is perceived as more frivolous, compared to men — a “man of few words” is usually seen as a positive thing rather than stonewalling. Psychologist Victoria Brescoll says “institutional power encourages men but discourages women from talking more, as powerful women fear a backlash that is absent for men when taking on a greater share of the conversational floor”. This whole idea goes against the often trotted out fake-fact that women speak 20,000 words a day and men only 7000. Not true, this idea was spread by 70s evangelical Christian psychologist James Dobson, who theorised that because men come home from work they’ve used up their entire word budget for the day and their wives are just raring to go. In a huge analysis of all the studies on this, only two of 56 studies found women talk more than men and 34 of them said men talk more than women.
Before Trump and BoJo, there was Idi
The advantages of political buffoonery . . .
1. It leads opponents to underestimate the ability and intelligence of the buffoon.
2. It provides deniability — “it was only a joke”.
3. It appeals to core supporters (many Africans loved Amin’s teasing of the former colonial masters).
4. It serves as a distraction from the more serious, perhaps frightening or incompetent, actions of the leader, what we now call the “dead cat” tactic.
5. It leads to ambiguity (was it a joke or not?), producing confusion and uncertainty about how to respond. (by Mark Leopold, author of a biography on Ugandan dictator Idi Amin)
You know you’re old if . . .
1. “One way to find out if you’re old is to fall down in front of a lot of people. If they laugh, you’re still young. If they panic and start running to you, you’re old.”
2. “You remember when fame was a by-product of talent.”
3. “You refer to your knees as good or bad, as opposed to left and right.”
4. “6yo: What’s it like being a grown-up? Me: You know that feeling you get when you unwrap a present and it’s not the one you wanted?”
5. “Most victories of a fully grown adult involve matching socks, hiding empty lolly wrappers and beating random strangers to a parking space.”
6. “I thought I was just really tired but it’s been five years so I guess this is how I look now.”