1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff Mom Never told you from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:21,159 Speaker 1: Kristen and I'm Caroline, and Caroline spring has sprung. It 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: is now April, and it's time for spring cleaning, right, Yeah, 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: I get all that pollen off your car. Do you 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: do the spring cleaning thing? It depends I if I'm bored. Yeah, 7 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: but I usually am too busy to think about it. 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: I do think about it. That's good. I don't tend 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: to do it though. Well, we're talking about whether women 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: are cleaner than men, and you have a male roommate, 11 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: your dude roommated roommate, and you talk to me about 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: how you guys do have some some differences in your 13 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: cleaning approach. Yeah, dude roommate is super neat. He gets 14 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: mad if I leave shoes or purses in the living room. 15 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: But he's not clean as in cleaning dishes, sprang down counters, vacuuming. 16 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: I I'm the opposite clutter. I'm naturally a bit of 17 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: a clutterbug, uh, which I can handle, but I can't 18 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: stomach a dirty kitchen for instance. Now with the wouldn't 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: that if he can see though a pile of dishes 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: in the sink? Is that not? Does that not mess 21 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: with his neatness? Well, see, the thing is due roommate 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: doesn't cook very much, so there's never quite a stack. 23 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: It'll be just like a pot that sits low in 24 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: the sinks, so it's not in his field of vision necessarily. 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: That makes a lot of sense. Um, well, we're gonna 26 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: get into more about the differences in how you know, 27 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: women and men are clean or not clean, And we're 28 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: looking mostly at hygiene kind of stuff, and I think 29 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: that we could agree that the general assumption is that 30 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: women are cleaner than men, right, Yeah, Men have the 31 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: whole thing like, oh, they're just messy guys. They're boys, 32 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: they're dirty, you know, in childhood there's a whole thing 33 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: about girls are made of sugar, spice and all things 34 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 1: nice boys or snip snails and puppy dog too. I 35 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: don't know that if you've ever been to a public restroom, 36 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: I don't think you could argue that women are necessarily 37 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: cleaner than them. That's true, But as far as the 38 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: standards of cleanliness, what people tend to expect clean wives 39 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: out of boys and girls. There was a study that 40 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: came out of Oregon State University by Sharon Klohe, who's 41 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: the philosopher UM and she talks about how the standards 42 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of cleanliness are generally hire for girls, even by the 43 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: age of five, and it has a lot to do 44 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: with differences such as girls being dressed in dresses whereas 45 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: boys are in more rough and tumble cargo shorts or 46 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: denom pants denom pan denom pants the gene um and 47 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: she talks about how these gendered norms of cleanliness go 48 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: back to nineteenth century US in British schoolyards, where physical 49 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,559 Speaker 1: cleanliness was really taught in school as a form of morality, 50 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: and for girls especially, that emphasis on physical hygiene extended 51 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,679 Speaker 1: to how they carry themselves and presented their bodies. The 52 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: whole cleanliness is next to godliness and the whole virtuous 53 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: woman thing checking themselves. So Chloe would say that from 54 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: the earliest age, girls are acculturated to be cleaner than boys. 55 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: I don't know if that would necessarily apply to me. 56 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: I don't know. The more the longer we do this 57 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: podcast together, the more I think my childhood was very 58 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: strange and atypical for girls. I did wear a lot 59 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: of dresses because my mother, like would still want to 60 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: dress me in smock dresses if she could, But so 61 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: I always need to change out of the dress and 62 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: go outside and play. But when my parents built their house, 63 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: they didn't finish off the backyard for years and years. 64 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: So it was just like this huge mound of Georgia 65 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: red clay, and I would slide down it on my 66 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: butt in my cute pink shorts, and my mother would 67 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: yell at me, and I'm like whatever, I like the mud, 68 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: sassy little Caroline and shaking my finger like whatever, Sally. Yeah, 69 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: I was a mix of both of those on the 70 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: one hand, wearing lots of dresses. But then as I 71 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: got a little bit older, I wanted to be more 72 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: tomboyish and play with my older brother and get messy 73 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: and stuff. So maybe it is more of an age thing. 74 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: But the question of our you know, women clearer than men, 75 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: is looking more into our patterns of cleanliness in adulthood, 76 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: because for me, I have lived with guys and girls, 77 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: and I gotta tell you, Caroline, the guys have been cleaner. Overall. 78 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: Women can be very messy, we can be What's up 79 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,160 Speaker 1: with that? What is that? Maybe all of the things 80 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: that we have, which we'll talk about with like office spaces. Yeah, 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: we do have a lot of things. That's yeah, yeah, 82 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: that's that's why my closet is such a terrible disaster. 83 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: But um, Kloe, you know ties in her theories about 84 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: gender and cleanliness to the hygiene hypothesis. Kristen, do we 85 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 1: want to get into this this now? We don't want 86 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: to confuse anybody. It's kind of a long drawn out hypothesis, 87 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: but basically the general idea of the hygiene hypothesis is 88 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: that a lack of childhood exposure to germs could be 89 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: responsible for adult allergies and diseases. Basically, the idea that 90 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: if the immune system isn't busy fighting off germs, it 91 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: shifts to developing more allergic tendencies. So you know, your 92 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: immune system gets bored and it's like, what can I attack? 93 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: Let's go for peanuts. Yeah, And some researchers think that 94 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: this is responsible for increased rates and things like asthma, 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: um and essentially, you know, we hear about it a lot, 96 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: like the question of whether or not like children today 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: especially are so sanitized that we are leaving their immune 98 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: systems defenseless. Towards germs like let him go outside good dirty, yeah, 99 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: and solo closed. Theory uh in in her paper is 100 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: basically that girls have it worse because we are expected 101 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: from a young age to be cleaner and you know, 102 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: more prim and proper than boys are. That we are 103 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: exposed to fewer germs and fewer contaminants, and so we 104 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: end up growing up to be a whole mess of allergic, 105 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: asthmatic and autoimmune disorder. Written people, and may I please 106 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: briefly talk about cooties? Oh? Yeah, sure you do? You 107 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: have them? I don't know. I've got my circle circle 108 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: dot dot immunization a couple of years ago when I 109 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: got my tetanus, So I probably get your due for 110 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: a boost. I probably do need a booster. But in 111 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: close paper that she published in the journal Social Science 112 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: and Medicine, she cited how sociologists have actually studied the 113 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: cooties phenomenon and so called pollution rituals that take place 114 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: generally among kids between six and nine years old. So 115 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: we're getting a little bit older, and she talks about 116 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: how girls are far more likely than boys to be 117 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: associated with cooties and be ostracized as carriers of cooties 118 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: utie carriers. Well, and she links that to the whole 119 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: high giene hypothesis and the high the greater expectation for 120 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: girls to be clean because you know, we're from a 121 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: young age. We're told that, you know, we we might 122 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: even have this thing called cooties, and to stay away 123 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: because we're just covered and covered in girl germ. Did 124 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: you ever make the paper? Well, okay, see that's the thing. 125 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: Everybody calls them fortune tellers, but at my school, we 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: call them cootie catchers. The thing where the with the 127 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: flaps and you put your fingers in it. Yeah, I 128 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: would open it, and I wish people could see my hands. 129 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: Our hands are doing that some flapping, but we would 130 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: use them like a beak to pick cooties off of 131 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: our arms. Oh well, again there is a bit of 132 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: a socialization gap with my home school. Well, when I 133 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: tell people cootie schers, they think I'm weird, So don't 134 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: worry about it. I think most people call them fortune 135 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: tellers can be weird together. Great, Well, let's talk about 136 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: let's talk about physical cleanliness, so in adults, because I 137 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: think we've established that overall, least expectation wise, girls clearer 138 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: than boys. But as we grow up, what happens when 139 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: we're left to our own devices? Is it the same? Well? 140 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: Yes and no. I think men are cleaner in summer 141 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: guards and women are cleaner and others. Um. There was 142 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: a survey performed by Cuticura hand Wash in that showed 143 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: that men are becoming more obsessive about hygiene. That might 144 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: be strong. Language obsessive might be a little strong. But 145 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: basically the survey in the u K goes against what 146 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: a lot of other studies have said in recent years, 147 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: mainly that there's no big difference in how much we 148 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: wash our hands, brush our teeth, and clean our sheets. Uh. 149 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: The survey said that both men and women wash their 150 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: hands ten times a day and change their sheets every 151 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: three weeks through so, which makes me want to puke seriously, 152 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: every three weeks? Am I the only one who changes 153 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: my sheets every week? I don't change my sheets every week? Well, 154 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,680 Speaker 1: I'm not sleeping ever any time saying it's fine. Well, 155 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: there's a well, some surveys even find that men might 156 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: wash their hair more than women. But I'm gonna go 157 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: ahead and say that is not a hygiene thing. That 158 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: is a hairstyling thing. Because we're women are told to 159 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: not it's it's actually better for your hair. Do not 160 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: wash your hair. Spoiler. I color my hair and red 161 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: faith the fastest, so I don't want to. I only 162 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: wash my hair like once or twice a week. But 163 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: you do, you change your sheets more than you wash 164 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: your hair about the same. That's a great step. Um. Yeah. 165 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: There was another UK survey among a thousand college students 166 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: looking at that whole changing of the sheets thing, and 167 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: it also indicated that that male students might be changing 168 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: their sheets more of them change your sheets at least 169 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: once a month, with more than washing them once a week, 170 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: meeting the Caroline standard, whereas the female students wash your 171 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: sheets about every two months, which is surprising. I would, 172 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,439 Speaker 1: I would say, ladies, what's wrong? But I remember, I 173 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,599 Speaker 1: mean freshman year of college, I barely changed my sheets 174 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: either maybe once a month, maybe once a month. I 175 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: was there with the guys changing my sheets. Yeah. But 176 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: with the whole underwear thing, no big surprise here that 177 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: women change their underwear more often than men do. Yeah. 178 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: Forty two. This is back to the Cuticura survey of 179 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: men admitted to wearing the same pair of undepens more 180 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: than once without washing them, and this was often for women. 181 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: This was just and I would like to take this 182 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: time to point out that according to a Keeping It 183 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: Clean That's k l E. In infographic that Christen and 184 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: I found that's great comparing cleanliness and hygiene between the genders, 185 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: they said that poop just does that come off people. 186 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: You need to like really sterilize that if you're going 187 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: to be wearing you can get up to a gram 188 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: of poop in your underwear if you don't wash them. Yeah. 189 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: I was so excited slash disgusted by that fact that 190 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: I tweeted it oh well once I ran across it, 191 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: And I also texted it out of context to my boyfriend, 192 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: who was then very confused and asked if everything was okay. Well, okay, 193 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: so it's not just underwear and sheets that we have 194 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: to worry about. Let's talk about our actual physical selves. Uh. 195 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: An American Society of Microbiology study in two thousand five 196 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: found that women's hands tend to be cleaner than men's. 197 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: And how did they find this? Did they did they 198 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 1: go up to people and swipe their hands. No, they 199 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: just they just plain all spied on them in the bathroom. Yeah, 200 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: Harris Interactive Pulling watched over six thousand adults, six thousand, 201 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: twenty eight adults to be precise, just lingering in bathrooms 202 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: waiting to see if you're gonna wash it on tower 203 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: for nine hours. And they found that women wash your 204 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: hands a lot more often than men. And this is 205 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: in public restrooms and Caroline. The worst hygiene, unfortunately, was 206 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: found for both men and women at Atlanta's Turner Field 207 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: Home of the Braves in our hometown. Thirty seven percent 208 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: of men and sixteen percent of women left the bathroom 209 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: without washing. Yeah, but what about all the catchup and 210 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: mustard from hot dogs? Hey, these people are maybe they're 211 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: during a couple of expensive beers and they want to 212 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: get back out there to their expensive seats with their 213 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: expensive hot dogs, watching the expensive game. The biggest gender 214 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: disparity was at New York's Penn Station, where sixty percent 215 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: of men and of women wash their hands. Best hygiene 216 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: What up San Francisco in Chicago. San Francisco's Ferry Terminal, 217 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: Farmers Market in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, and 218 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: Shut Aquarium It's a long name were places where only 219 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 1: twelve of people left the restroom without washing their hands. 220 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: But when it comes to self reporting, also not so surprisingly. 221 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: When Harris Interactive went back and just called a sample 222 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: of a thousand adults, they reported washing their hands far 223 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: more often than the numbers would imply of the of 224 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: the people who were, you know, scouting out actual handwashing instances. 225 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: But the good news is hand washing is getting better. 226 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: And it might seem like, oh, this is handwashing doesn't 227 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: really make that big of a difference. Yes, it does 228 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: make a massive difference in terms of disease prevention, just 229 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: basically washing your hands. And I mean I've heard people argue. 230 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: When I say people, I mean boys. I've heard boys 231 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: argue that, well, it's not like I mean, I'm touching 232 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: a whole lot of stuff in the bathroom when I'm 233 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: in there. They're getting and I'm like, no, think about 234 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: all the stuff you're touching before you go to the bathroom. 235 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 1: You want to wash all that stuff off anyway. Yeah, 236 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: so you know, we're not perfect, but we're getting better. 237 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: And the American Society of Microbiology UH followed up and 238 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: in two they went back to the same places. Kristen 239 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: Turner Field was still the dirtiest, except for the women 240 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: percent of the women, it was still the worst for men. 241 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: Yeah sorry sorry. Thirty five percent of men at Turner 242 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: Field in Atlanta did not wash their hands, but percent 243 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: of the women observed did. That is commitment because those 244 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: lines can get crazy, can But um, the most likely 245 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: place for men to wash their hands still the Chicago 246 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: Museum mentioned eighty eight percent of men. Maybe intellectual types 247 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: pay better attention to hand hygiene. Yeah, yeah, I don't know, 248 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: but they were very happy to report and I'm happy 249 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: to read it that the study found that about eight 250 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: percent of people all together wash their hands, which is 251 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: a jump from seventy seven percent in two thousand seven 252 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: and sixty eight percent. And I bet that does have 253 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: to do with more public health awareness in terms of 254 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: washing your hands, the benefits of washing your hands and 255 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: disease prevention, because we've had a couple of animal related 256 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: flues that have sur reculated swine flu, bird flu, zebra flu, 257 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: giraffe flew all over the place. Um, but when we 258 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: do wash there some researchers think that our motivations and 259 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: by army men versus women might differ. And this is 260 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: coming out of the American Journal of Public Health in 261 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: October of two thousand nine. And what the researchers did 262 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: was put up these flashing pro hand washing messages in 263 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: front of in a public restroom, in front of the 264 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: soap dispenser, and it would change every time to see, 265 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: you know, for a different tack. So some of them. 266 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: Some of the messages were more discussed oriented, such as 267 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: don't take the loo with you, wash with soap or 268 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: soap it off all eated light. Yeah. Uh. There were 269 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: other ones that were related purely to being informative, which 270 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: was water doesn't kill germs, soap does. Uh. They found 271 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: that that men really responded to the disgusted messages, whereas 272 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: women were more likely to wash their hands that they 273 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: were armed with knowledge. One that performed well for both. 274 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: I'm gonna let Kristen read it is one tied to 275 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: social norms. Is the Poston next to you washing with 276 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: soap that was just solid up talk right there? Uh 277 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: had that um And that makes sense because you know 278 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: it is calling you out. It's a little bit of 279 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: a public shaming if you're not washing your hands. But 280 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: the thing is, though, in post interviews, when the researchers 281 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: would wait outside the bathroom and say, hey, gal, did 282 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: you wash your hands? Yeah? Did you see that message? 283 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: Not really, so they weren't really sure whether or not 284 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: it just happened to be a discussed, a pro discussed message. Yeah, 285 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: maybe it was something more subliminal. And I did a 286 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: little bit more digging on this whole discussed aspect of hygiene, 287 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: because there is a ton of research out there on 288 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: the emotion of disgust, how it differs for men and women, 289 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: are sensitivity to that, and how it's linked to things 290 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: like not only hygiene, but also morality, sexuality, etcetera. And 291 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: there are some studies that would suggest that discuss sensitivity 292 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: it's higher among women, which would contradict this this study 293 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: finding that don't take the loo with you is more 294 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: effective for men. But I don't know either way. I 295 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: think um, I would I would buy the whole thing 296 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: that the social norm thing of hey, you know you're 297 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: you're gross if you're not washing your hands because everybody 298 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: else is doing it would be effective. Now, what about teeth? I, 299 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: for one, I'm a bad flosser. I'm gonna go ahead 300 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 1: and admit that I feel like I'm in a safe 301 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: space to talk about it, and I'm a bad flosser too. 302 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 1: I I try, but really it's mainly just after I 303 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: eat popcorn. Um. An American Dental Association study in two 304 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: thousand four found that more Americans are saying now that 305 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: they brush their teeth after every meal, but women still 306 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: outpaced men. A quarter of respondents in this survey that 307 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,479 Speaker 1: they brush their teeth after every meal, more than twice 308 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,360 Speaker 1: the number reported six years earlier. So we're making strides. 309 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: Congratulations everyone. Yeah, and women, though, are still more likely 310 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: to have a regular dentist get their checkups more often. 311 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: Men will tend to go years between dental checkups. Women 312 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: are also more likely to brush twice a day, so 313 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: there's a bit of an oral hygiene gender gaps still there. 314 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: What's up? What's up with people who only brush their 315 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: teeth once a day? Uh? Maybe it is a time thing. 316 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm really not sure. Just like I 317 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: changed my teets once a week, Kristen, I washed my 318 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: air brush my teeth twice a day. I'm looking at 319 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: all of you very disappointed. But let's take it to 320 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:59,479 Speaker 1: the workplace, because you know what place is teeming with 321 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: your your desk? Oh? Yes, um Clorox Company has sponsored 322 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: a number of studies. Not so surprisingly, I feel like 323 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 1: I've said not so surprisingly like twenty five times in 324 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: this podcast. By the way, not so surprisingly, I know. 325 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:22,160 Speaker 1: But Clorox sponsored a number of studies on germs and 326 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 1: our cleaning habits. And one of these studies, which was 327 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: conducted by University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba in two 328 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: thousand seven, it found that women's desks harbor three to 329 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: four times the number of bacteria than men's desks, and 330 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: this was looking at more than one hundred offices around 331 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, d C, Oregon, and 332 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: the University of Arizona campus. And Gerba attributes this to 333 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: women having more interactions with small children, keeping food and 334 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: makeup at the desk as well. And even though our 335 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: desks might be neater, they are dirtier, largely because of 336 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: the food in the makeup. Yeah, cosmetics, handlesitions and food 337 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: are microorganism magnets um. The worst offender overall, though, was 338 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: men's wallets, because they're in that warm back pocket that 339 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: just serves as an incubator for bacteria. But not so fast, ladies, 340 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: you're not off the hook either. Most handbags have tens 341 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: of thousands of bacteria on them, just just to let 342 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: you know. Bacteria levels of two hundred are considered safe. 343 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: But don't worry men's wallets or four times dirtier than that. 344 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and say that 345 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: maybe I have very low discuss sensitivity with the in 346 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: terms of pathogen disgust because it doesn't bother me. Our 347 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: bodies are teeming with bacteria. Sure, but just don't put 348 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: your purse down on the bathroom floor or anything. That 349 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: is a good point, but one thing to keep in mind. 350 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: I mean, it's not hopeless, don't worry. Fewer bacteria were 351 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: found on desktops that were regularly sanitized, So keep those 352 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: antibacterial wipes around or sprays whatever you feel like using. 353 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: I I have a huge, like industrial size canister of 354 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 1: of wipes because I feel like people get to all 355 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: the time at work. Well, that is sick building syndrome 356 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: is a thing, and researchers have attributed to bad habits 357 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: like people not cleaning their desks and and speaking of 358 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: women and food in the desk. Charles Gerba, that University 359 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: of Arizona professor, said something along the lines of uh 360 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: if the apocalypse ever happened, he would immediately just rush 361 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,479 Speaker 1: to a women's workspace because of the amount of food 362 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: that we keep stowed away in our desk. I don't 363 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: have any food at the moment. I usually keep some 364 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: granola bars, but those are sealed up. Yeah, I don't 365 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: have anything. Which when you're hungry, the most oppressing thing 366 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: to do is open your drawer and only see utensils 367 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: that could be for food that's not there, your imaginary 368 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: hook food back when they had the in in the 369 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: movie Hook anyway, uh So, but the opposite was true. 370 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, in a plus one study may performed by 371 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,640 Speaker 1: Scott Kelly, who's a biology professor at San Diego State University. 372 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 1: He looked at ninety offices in New York, San Francisco, 373 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: and Tucson and found that men's offices, not women, had 374 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: up more bacteria. So basically, just be aware people that 375 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: your workspaces gross, particularly if you eat at your desk. 376 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 1: You want to just clean that sucker off maybe once 377 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,680 Speaker 1: a week or once every other week. Yeah, that's San 378 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: Diego State University study got a ton of press and 379 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: like thinking about all the stuff of you know, like, oh, well, 380 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,479 Speaker 1: men have more oh, but handbags are so gross. All 381 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: the stuff, I feel like it all kind of comes 382 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: out in the wash pun there because I don't know. 383 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: I don't know that the jet that kind of jet 384 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: or difference matters that much. It's more of an overall 385 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: message of saying, you know, I just maybe we should 386 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: keep our spaces a little bit cleaner. Um. But once 387 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: we leave work finally and we go home, who is 388 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: doing a majority of that housework? We've talked about it 389 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: in podcast Divorce. We're not going to spend a ton 390 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: of time on it, but it's the women. Yeah, we 391 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 1: we as women are more likely to do more housework 392 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: more often. Well, we should say that is in a 393 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: male female combo household. Yes, and that's also in the 394 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: caroline and du roommate household. Also, not that we fight 395 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: about it or anything dot dot dot, but yeah, so 396 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: we reference that keeping it Clean info graphic earlier. According 397 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: to the research they did for that, men are less 398 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: likely to do some housework every day, not in general, 399 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: just every day, and that's of men versus of women. 400 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: But when they do in the house, it's more thorough. Yeah, 401 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: And the whole thing about men maybe waiting longer to 402 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: clean the house. But when they do it, they do 403 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: it really, really, really well. Um reminded me of a 404 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: recent article that was published in the Atlantic by Alexandra Brander, 405 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: who's a philosophy professor out at the University of Kentucky, 406 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: and she was talking about reasons why potential reasons why 407 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: men might do less housework than women in heterosexual marriages, 408 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: and she highlighted three major theories. One is the epistemic hypothesis, 409 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: which is basically, men didn't see their dad's modeling this 410 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 1: household clean behavior, so they're not gonna do it. Uh. 411 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 1: Motivational hypothesis, which would be house cleaning or running errands 412 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: is an unjustifiable time cost, so which reminds me of like, 413 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: you know, they might not do it every day, when 414 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,400 Speaker 1: they do it, they're gonna do it really really well 415 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: to make it worth it. And one of the reasons 416 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: why the motivational hypothesis is compelling is because sometimes women 417 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,239 Speaker 1: and I've been guilty of this as well, not just 418 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: with male but also female roommates. Um, women will come 419 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: behind and sort of sweep up behind them or even 420 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: redo what they did. For instance, with me, I'm a 421 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,399 Speaker 1: stickler about dishwashers. Yes you are. I am, I have 422 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: I'm very good at loading it, and I feel like 423 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: you should not waste space. And I have been known 424 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: much two roommates chagrin to come behind them and reload 425 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: the Dishwah, I do that behind dude, roommate all the time? 426 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: Are you kidding? What? I just I imagine you might 427 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: have the same thought when you open the dishwasher after 428 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: a roommate, boyfriend whoever, has loaded it. You look at 429 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 1: it and you're like, in what way did this make 430 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: sense in your brain? Because things are like spread out 431 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: over the entire dishwasher and you're like, no, no, no, no, no. 432 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: The plates go here, spoons are over here, cups are 433 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: obviously on the hop to the right. Yeah. And and 434 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: it ties totally into that motivational hypothesis because man or woman, 435 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: if that's going on, you would say, you know what, 436 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: you're going to do the dishes because you're just gonna 437 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: do them anyway, whether I load the dishwasher or not. 438 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: And interestingly, that's something that Facebook CEO Sherl Sandberg has 439 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: brought up for you know, women who are married to men, saying, 440 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,320 Speaker 1: you know what, if you want to split the household 441 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 1: chores fifty fifty. You need to let them do that 442 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: fifty because I think women sometimes unnecessarily kind of buy 443 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: into the whole acculturation of women being the chore doers, 444 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: the maids essentially around the house, and whether we are 445 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: conscious of it or not, and take on more than 446 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,159 Speaker 1: we really have to, and it kind of continues that 447 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: whole epistemic thing, the motivational thing. And then there's also 448 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: the third uh the hypothesis brand under highlighted at The 449 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: Atlantic is the structural hypothesis, saying that basically the modern 450 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,239 Speaker 1: workplace doesn't afford men the time to do it like 451 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: if they would if they could, which which I don't. 452 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: I don't think again, I feel like that though, you know, 453 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: like I guess what can be frustrating about my roommate 454 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 1: being such a neat freak is that I'll get home 455 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,439 Speaker 1: and he'll resent me for throwing my purse on the 456 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: floor something like that, but neither one of us has 457 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: time to deal with it, so we end up, over 458 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,120 Speaker 1: the course of the week building up these teeny tiny resentments. 459 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: So one of us finally cleans because we're both busy, 460 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: we both work, but as we pointed out too in 461 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: other podcasts, this issue of the division of the household 462 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: chores not such a divisive issue with same sex couples 463 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,399 Speaker 1: because there aren't those, you know, those gendered norms of 464 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: you know, women clean and men yeah uh where you know, 465 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,360 Speaker 1: it's kind of like you, you find your strength and 466 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: you stick to it. Like for you and I, we 467 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: should probably do the dishes, whereas if someone wants to 468 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: do the laundry, have at it. That is not my 469 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: favorite thing in the world to do. I feel like 470 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: laundry is such instant gratification. But I really won't get 471 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: into all of that because I really, I mean, I 472 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: could talk about yours. But once we circle back around though, 473 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 1: to the household cleanliness, you start to see that a 474 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: lot of the patterns that we have an adulthood do 475 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: trace back to those childhood gendered norms that start out 476 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: with the assumption that you know, a girls you need 477 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: to be cleaner than boys. You don't in appearance wise, 478 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: down to neatness and cleanness. So the question of whether 479 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: or not women are cleaner than men, I think the 480 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: answer is no, because there might be expectations, but you 481 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: and I both have plenty of clean, clean men, and 482 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: I know plenty of dirty women, like I have had 483 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: some female roommates whom I love dearly, But spaghetti bowls 484 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: were kept in bedside tables. Oh yeah. I won't even 485 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: get into any stories about women that I have lived 486 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: with who have destroyed spaces that we've shared anyway, So 487 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: maybe it would be a good thing for all of 488 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: us if we abandoned that that gendered notion that women 489 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: are the cleaner sex and just all start pitching in 490 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: and everybody wash your hands. And I'm really never going 491 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: to touch a male wallet again because those things are jeremy, 492 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: a male wallet, a male wallet. Uh. So I will 493 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: be curious soo to hear from listeners on this one, 494 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: especially folks with roommates out there, because cleanliness is such 495 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: a such a big factor I think for room I mean, 496 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: the number one thing I can think of with having roommates, 497 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: Like whenever fights would come up, it was about cleanliness, Yeah, 498 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: and that was it. It was about the dishwasher. Yeah. 499 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: Only if I could just live by myself in a silent, 500 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: uh cluttery, but apartment with a nice dishwasher, I'd be 501 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: happy paradise. Yeah, it does sound pretty nice. Well, listeners, 502 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: let us know your thoughts on whether men or women 503 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: are cleaner. I know you've got them. Send them our way. 504 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,959 Speaker 1: Mom Stuff at Discovery dot Com is our email address. 505 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: You can also hit us up on Facebook as well. 506 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: And now back to our letters. I have one to 507 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: hear Kristen from Jenna. This is about our pole dancing episode. 508 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: She says, you talked about pole dancing in the latest episode, 509 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: and I just wanted to say that. I think it's 510 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: a very empowered thing to do, to tell those who 511 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: would scoffy your independence and strength as a woman that 512 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: they're wrong. So all the double standards and morality aside, 513 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: I think that means a lot. It's very admirable. I 514 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: look up to strong women like that personally, so thank 515 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: you for the perspective. Jenna. Well, I've got an email 516 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: here from Tina and it's about her daughter, who's five 517 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: years old and she's the youngest of four. She has 518 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:03,479 Speaker 1: three older brothers, ages nine, thirteen, and sixteen, and she writes, 519 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: my daughter, since she could speak, has described herself as 520 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,600 Speaker 1: quote a girl and a boy, and will explain that 521 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: she likes girrel stuff and boy stuff. She's as comfortable 522 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: in the two day old clothes, playing in the dirt 523 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: as she is in a princess dress with lipstick and 524 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,920 Speaker 1: a tia. It's a nerving to some people, such as 525 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: my mom when she calls herself a boy and a girl, 526 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: even though they have no issue with her acting like 527 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: quote unquote one of the boys, and they try to 528 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: encourage her to you the word tomboy instead. My husband 529 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: and I have always let her describe herself however she wants, 530 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: and we tell her that she can be whatever she wants, 531 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: whenever she wants, and to try not to draw attention 532 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: to the labels. She starts kindergarten this year, and I'm 533 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: curious to see if the new pressures will change the 534 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: way she describes herself. And she does note that her 535 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: daughter has been in daycare, so it's even with that 536 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: kind of socialization, she still does see I'm a girl 537 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: and a boy. Yeah, so I thought that was kind 538 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: of interesting. So thanks to Tina and everybody else, we're 539 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: writing into mom stuff at the scuy rate dot com. 540 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: You can also, of course find us on Facebook, where 541 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: we do lots of fun things during the week. You 542 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,719 Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter at mom stuff podcast and 543 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 1: on Tumbler as well. It's stuff Mom Never told You 544 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: dot tumbler dot com. And as always, if you'd like 545 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: to get smarter this week, you can head to our 546 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: website it's how stuff Works dot com for more on 547 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff 548 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: works dot com