A few friends of mine were locked in a "men vs. women" type of conversation, discussing the differences amongst the genders, specifically, how each handles competition, and a theory was postulated: men are prone to fight things out and get it all over with, but women let their battles linger and drag out their grievances, and are constantly in competition with each other--without acknowledging there is a contest going on. This is totally a generalization, but
I suggested this happens because, in childhood, boys are expected to play sports, and they learn how to compete with each other, but girls aren't encouraged to learn how to face off against their adversaries. Kids learn from playing on a team and working together to move a ball down a court. Win or lose, teams must shake each others' hands and leave the game on the playing field; there is a valuable lesson in learning what it feels like to lose and realize the world is not going to end, or to win and not be an ass about it in front of everyone.
This is evident in Disney movies, where the best villains are women. They are conniving, vindictive, and intelligent in the ways they try to conquer their foes; even male villains, like Jafar in "Alladin" or Scar in "The Lion King" are somewhat...what's the best way to describe them?...they're bitchy. Too thin and limp-wristed to win with physical strength, they learned how to manipulate their way into power.
So I wrote an article for Huffington Post (click here: Dan Renzi) about this idea, but I kept it simple. (Click "full screen" and the text on the side of the video player will be easier to read.) I asked the opinions of various pop culture junkies I know around the country to name the nastiest villains in TV competition shows, and compiled their votes; surprise surprise, the worst people have been either women, or gay men. We included they guy from "The Amazing Race" who shoved his wife, just because that was a total bitch thing to do and he sucks.
Men will play the game nasty, especially when that is part of what's expected--you can't go on "Survivor" or "Big Brother" and expect to win by making friends--and guys like Jonny Fairplay and Russell Hantz were shocking, but in those games forming "alliances" and double-crossing people is necessary if you want to be the last person standing. They were there to win. That's different from screaming at someone and trying to keep them out of the competition, by saying s/he doesn't have the right to be there at all.
Machiavelli 2.0, loved it. Grats on getting on HuffPo!
Posted by: Shauna | April 26, 2012 at 06:02 AM