Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Twins! And Parents!
From what I read on the Minnesota Center for Twins website, one is led to believe that human beings are shaped off of nature, not nurture. On a subsection of the research page, it explained two men, Jim and Jim, who had been separated at birth. The twins were only four weeks old. Both men went on to marry women with the same name, divorce women with the same name, name their first sons the same thing with the exception of one letter, and even named their dog the same thing! How does this happen?! One would have to conclude that the two men had some kind of preset disposition to such actions. But how? How is it possible that they fell in love with women of the same name, as Betty is not a very common name. And how would they name their children the exact same thing!?! This has to be more than coincidence. If these twins, in different settings, ended up so similar, then how are some twins living under the same roof completely opposite? I know girls that have completely different taste in music, men, and most everything else, and these twins share a stinkin bedroom. Crazy stuff, man. Crazy.
PaReNtS
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Read. Blog. We know the drill.

http://www.psychologymatters.org/hooker.html
As late as 1973, being a gay man meant you had a mental disorder. Seriously. The American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disorder, a diagnosable, and implied to be treatable disease. However, a woman named Evelyn Hooker did a study that conclusively discredited this assumption. This double blind experiment sent a group of 60 men, 30 gay and 30 straight, through a series of three tests measuring mental stength, in a Rorschach, TAT, and MAPS sequence. The results may be a bit hard to take on their own, as the sample size is a bit small, but no matter the case, the study found that two thirds of both the gay and straight men were in the highest adjumstment categories, no differences showing between the two. This was the first time someone had actually proven gay men the same mentally as straight men, even the first time it was tested. The stigma is still there, but the facts are more telling. This study, though, was in the 1950's. There are much more advanced means of psychological testing today, and it's not that i'm implying that gay men are any less mentally fit as straight men, I just wonder the means scientists today would use to study the same concept, or if they would do it just the same.
You Make That Money, Honey!http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20081119_When_the_woman_is_the_top_earner.html
Men traditionally make more money than women. It is not a sereotype, it is a fact, as only 13% of households as of 2003 placed the salary of the wife over that of the husbands. This article examined the emotional and practical response, examining how society and marriage affect the out of the ordinary circumstances, as there is no set psychological studies involving female bread winners. To me, it has to depend on the family, I don't think there's a test for perception and feelings. It'd be interesting to survey men to see if there is a greater amount of damage to authority within the household, ego, or even decision making within a marriage given that their wives make more money, as I think it'd be clear that they feel diminished somehow in all areas. My personal opinion is that if a man is secure in his relationship and his contribution to the family, there shouldn't be an issue, but I also see how there could be one. Ego to a man is everything, and many men see it as their natural duty to provide for a family. Maybe this will be my family someday. It really depends on the woman, the man, the family, and the conditions in this case. There can be generalizations, but no real, discernible, recordable facts.
Eat a Salad
Gosh, I am so sick of everyone pointing fingers when it comes to childhood obesity. This new study promotes cutting the TV ads for fast food, which if done cold turkey, will presumably reduce the number of obese chikdren by 18%. NO WAY! HERE'S AN IDEA. GIVE YOUR KID AN APPLE, NOT TWO DOUBLE CHEESE BURGERS. Everything in moderation. Parents fault. Sigh. I have nothing to say. It's insane.