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The case for gender separation on Super Bowl Sunday
Jewish World Review ^ | 2/7/05 | Mitch Albom

Posted on 02/07/2005 3:22:49 PM PST by rhema

Some things in life are not meant to be shared by men and women. Hair curlers. The Three Stooges. Picking a prom dress.

The Super Bowl.

Oh, I know it's fashionable to make the Super Bowl a coed experience. It is also wrong. The annual overhyped NFL championship game, which is played tonight, should be one of those times when a woman looks lovingly into her man's eyes, lets her voice drop to a sexy whisper, and says, "Go downstairs."

Now, don't misunderstand. I am not saying women can't appreciate football. Women can appreciate football fine. Women can appreciate it, at times, more than men.

But they should do it by themselves.

Because what men really want out of Super Bowl Sunday, especially as they get older, is a chance make believe they are not getting older. A chance to scream, scratch, belch and act like an expert when in fact they don't know a single player besides the quarterback.

They can do that with guys.

They can't do it with women.

Sorry. Even Dr. Phil can't fix that.

Let's say it's the second quarter of the Super Bowl. By now, the average man has ingested two plates of nachos, four slices of pizza and three beers. He's feeling cocky. He points to the TV and growls, in his best coach-like voice, "They gotta pass here. Got to pass. No way they run."

And they run.

If his wife were in the room, she would rightly say, "Honey, they ran. You said they would pass." Men know not to do this. Men know to either snicker and say, "Nice call, Al," or to stare in silence, politely ignoring their buddy's complete misunderstanding of the game, because they know their turn is coming next.

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: albom; football; genderwars; nfl; sports; superbowl
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1 posted on 02/07/2005 3:22:49 PM PST by rhema
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To: rhema

I agree. Just hand over your credit cards and no one gets hurt !


2 posted on 02/07/2005 3:24:25 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: rhema

I don't know why the author used the occasion of the Super Bowl to write an article like this. The Super Bowl -- more than any other sporting event in this day and age -- is specifically aimed at an audience comprised of non-football fans. That's why: 1) they play the stupid game under the dullest, most sterile conditions in a domed stadium or in a warm-weather climate; 2) the pre-game hype in the days leading up to the "big game" revolves around everything except the game itself; and 3) advertisers can push almost any product during the game (not just those geared toward a male audience in the 25-54 demographic).


3 posted on 02/07/2005 3:29:04 PM PST by Alberta's Child (I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert.)
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To: rhema

Thanks for posting - this is hysterical!

There were three women and five guys at our house watching the game - the women politely ignored the grunts, groans and other belly noises from the men.

Next year we leave the room!


4 posted on 02/07/2005 3:30:13 PM PST by BlessedByLiberty (Respectfully submitted,)
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To: rhema

Sorry........dumb article.


5 posted on 02/07/2005 3:33:36 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: rhema

I have stick straight hair with nary a curler in sight. I am a Three Stooges addict and always have been. I skipped the prom - no self-respecting greaser would have been caught dead at the prom. I have yet to miss a Super Bowl. And yes, I AM FEMALE! Most importantly, any guy who wants to pick a fight over it better show up in curlers and a prom dress, cause you're gonna get hurt!


6 posted on 02/07/2005 3:35:44 PM PST by anonsquared
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To: rhema

My husband and I have a great time watching football together. I'd rather watch football than sit around with a group of women listening to them bitch about how big their butts are getting and how Sue's boyfriend done her wrong again. I'd prefer to hang out with a bunch of burping, cheerleader-ogling men any time.


7 posted on 02/07/2005 3:42:16 PM PST by SilentServiceCPOWife (Romeo&Juliet, Troilus&Crisedye, Bogey&Bacall, Gable&Lombard, Brigitte&Flav)
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To: anonsquared
Our daughter spent this year's Super Bowl explaining the rules of American football (which she knows well from years of watching with BOTH her parents) to her fellow students at a British University, and telling them what Super Bowl parties are like (i.e. no wine).

I'm sure she said nothing about belching or scratching, however. :o)

8 posted on 02/07/2005 3:47:56 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: ohioWfan
I agree with this article. At our coed party last night, the women were talking so loud the men couldn't hear the game. When we turned the volume up so we could hear, they complained about the volume. Then, when we turned the sound DOWN, during the commercials, they complained about that too. Evidently, too many of the women in my circle view the Super Bowl as as a "social" occasion and not as a time to watch a football game. Next year, they get their own TV to watch the commercials on!
9 posted on 02/07/2005 3:56:11 PM PST by colt1911
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To: rhema
Use of the word gender is for Latin languages and plants--not several extra, imagined sexes. Linguistic activism to use it to refer to the two sexes of men and women is anti-family.
10 posted on 02/07/2005 3:57:20 PM PST by familyop ("Let us try" sounds better, don't you think? "Essayons" is so...Latin.)
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To: SilentServiceCPOWife

I am totally with you on this!


11 posted on 02/07/2005 4:00:20 PM PST by Ohioan from Florida (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.- Edmund Burke)
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To: rhema
In this situation, women can say the three magic words and disappear for a few hours...

"I'm going shopping."

12 posted on 02/07/2005 4:00:31 PM PST by SamAdams76 (What If The Flintstones Had iPods?)
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To: Alberta's Child

I believe your post is what's known as "a self answering question."


13 posted on 02/07/2005 4:03:22 PM PST by NonValueAdded ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good" HRC 6/28/2004)
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To: colt1911

Well, there's a few women who actually enjoy watching the game and the goings on of it all, although I've met plenty of the kind you're referring to. I'm just not one of them.


14 posted on 02/07/2005 4:04:34 PM PST by Ohioan from Florida (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.- Edmund Burke)
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To: colt1911
Oh, I understand that many women.......perhaps the majority are not interested in the game.

But were I at your party, I would have been yelling at the other women to shut up.

Which is why I choose to watch the Super Bowl only with my husband and family, in which both genders appreciate actually watching the game and hearing the commentary.

I'm sorry, but I still think the gender stereotyping in this article is stupid. I'm sure it was intended to be funny, but it falls far short, IMO, and ends up just being dumb.

15 posted on 02/07/2005 4:04:56 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: SamAdams76
One of my favorite pastimes......watching football.

One of my LEAST favorite pastimes.......shopping.

16 posted on 02/07/2005 4:07:50 PM PST by ohioWfan (George W. Bush........AVENGER of the BONES!!)
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To: Ohioan from Florida

Liked your response and...I bet you don't know any guys who sit around and do all those vulgar things anyway. I sure don't and doesn't sound like you do either. Why would anyone ASSUME all men act like that. Wow.


17 posted on 02/07/2005 4:18:30 PM PST by cubreporter (.)
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To: cubreporter

I do know plenty of men that act that way, and none could be much worse than teenage boys all trying to one-up each other. I've had to get used to it if I wanted to watch the game, anyway. But, of course, ALL men don't act that way, even at Super Bowl time.


18 posted on 02/07/2005 4:23:01 PM PST by Ohioan from Florida (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.- Edmund Burke)
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To: Ohioan from Florida

Right...ALL men don't act that way.


19 posted on 02/07/2005 4:26:00 PM PST by cubreporter (.)
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To: Alberta's Child

What a moneymaker this game is! I had the misfortune to go the supermarket yesterday just before it started, and it was filled with knuckle-dragging, neanderthals buying their munchies and beer, chortling, hooting and hollering at each other. This is probably the only day of the year they set foot in a grocery store.


20 posted on 02/07/2005 4:48:53 PM PST by Inspectorette
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