Archives - Social Science: Page 17
Author: kalanidream (Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:48 am)
Title: Women Vs. Women
I was out an about on saturday night like any normal 21 year old chica, when I noticed something that I tend to notice everytime time I go to the club. I noticed the women around me. I all of a sudden became very concious of what I was wearing and what my hair looked like. I was wondering what the other girls thought of me and if they were jealous of what I had on or my hair. To get weirder I was checkin' the other girls out to picking out which girl I would date if I were a guy and which girl was right for which guy in the club. I was mismatching couples trying to find the right match like I was playing a game. Like an epiphany I realized that I didn't get dressed to impress the opposite sex, I got dress to impress the other girls around me.
To me thats kind of strange, but all girls do it. If a girl busy a pair of manolo blanic heels or happens to have gotten her hair done at Jonathans no man is going to notice, unlike a girl who studied vogue and instyle magazine as if it were a course at the top university and she was trying to get an A. Not only will a girl notice she can tell you the year model and store of everything you have on as if it were a car. So why do we do this? Why does the opinion of another woman value more than that of a man?
It is very true that women judge other women, probably more harshly then the opposite sex. However, females are not alone in their judgements of the same sex. While females look at the physical appeareance men look at the strength of other men and what the other men have accomplished. It is called social comparison theory; it is the measuring stick by which we all live our lives.
Social Comparison Theory...nice.
Do men do the same thing? do they wory about what the man next to him is thinking when it comes to cars clothes or even the girl he is with?
I believe that for men the social comparison theory is a lot more subconscience. A man won't actively think "I wonder if he likes my girl, or my shoes, or my car" Instead, men exhibit social comparison through their actions. For instance, men will avoid driving certain cars because they are not "manly" cars ie the ford focus or the 2000 to 2003 mustang. Men probably won't scan the room thinking his shoes are out of style or his hair looks ugly.