Contre Le Sexism

August 30, 2006 6:42 PM

Why are women sometimes wound so tightly?

All the girls I have gone out with, they have all been insane. Is this typical?

posted by The Jesse Helms to human relations (12 comments total)

If they go out with you, well.. yes.
posted by SPrintF at 6:46 PM on August 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

Only the ones worth dating.
posted by dobbs at 6:47 PM on August 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

Maybe because their partner's think this.
posted by null terminated at 6:47 PM on August 30, 2006

*partners. Why must grammatical errors always ruin my snark‽
posted by null terminated at 6:48 PM on August 30, 2006

Insane is defined in the context of sanity. If all women were insane, being insane would be the normal state and it would no longer qualify to be labelled 'abnormal'.

Therefore there's something else going on here. All the girls you have gone out with, they have all been insane. What else do we know that they have in common? They all went out with you.

Therefore it seems reasonable to conclude that you either attract women who are already insane, or you drive them insane by your interactions with them.

Incidentally, patronizing women: by accusing them of being tightly wound; by calling them "girls" instead of women, or asking inflammatory questions like this one; is an example of antisocial behavior. If this is your habit, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that other forms of antisocial behavior were directed right back at you.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:51 PM on August 30, 2006 [11 favorites]

You may want to check out the Noam Chomsky paper "Toward a New Psychoheuristics of Gender: Why All the Bitches Are Crazy" for more perspective. Seriously though, what do you mean by insane? What are they doing?
posted by mattholomew at 6:56 PM on August 30, 2006 [38 favorites]

I'm insane. Let's have cocktails.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:57 PM on August 30, 2006 [2 favorites]

Insane? What do you mean? Typical? What do you mean?

Anecdote: I often find myself shocked with how much some of the men in my life put up with in their relationships. Some people (not just women, mind you) aren't, for whatever reason, in a place where a mature relationship is possible.

If you're sick of "crazy girls," why don't you take yourself off the market for a while?

Oh, and take a gender studies course.
posted by yogurtisgenocide at 6:59 PM on August 30, 2006

*wonders if I'm insane*
posted by bluehermit at 7:02 PM on August 30, 2006

Nice bit of performance art.
posted by MLIS at 7:02 PM on August 30, 2006

I don't know, but you sound oh-so-desirable.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:05 PM on August 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

I've dated girls that I was totally convinced were absolutely crazy. They would lose it over such little things. I've seen these girls interact with other guys they date and they're cool as cucumbers. I was watching a video of a friends birthday party. I was with one of the girls I thought was crazy. I was talking to her with a tone of voice you'd use to talk to a little kid. On the tape I could see that, that was why she was so irritated. I wasn't even saying anything wrong, I just had an asshole tone of voice. I never even realized that I was part of the dynamic that created the drama and tension.

I've also dated girls that were actually kind of crazy. Like they would go through my computer and delete all the songs that they didn't think I should like and call up my female friends and antagonize them. That kind of shit happens because I like girls that are interesting and a higher percentage of interesting girls will do inexplicable shit than boring girls. That's a risk you kind of half to take.
posted by I Foody at 7:08 PM on August 30, 2006