This American Life - Girls in Need of a Safer Time

Ira Glass interviews Robin Epstein, ex-producer of a game show for teen-age girls on the Oxygen Network. http://www.interwebnewsservice.com/2008/02/oh-no-girls-quiz-show-canned.html

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[enderkrum]

@jfuzzdog21 thanks jfd21 for speaking for me...good catch, though perhaps you have identity issues

@JLoveBomb it is true idealism is a dying art...because reality is our mother...

peace all!

[enderkrum]

so this clip has had some random comments over the years...very interesting.

overall, the point of posting this years ago was, of course, to show the ridiculousness of looking to television...and the people who work in it who think their interaction with the self-selecting population who want to be on tv...to prove/not prove a (any) stereotype.

[1991stacy]

She should know how to balance the questions, instead of just making them either really difficult or incredibly simple.

[enderkrum]

@1991stacy true stacy...I think you hit the nail on the head. This program is more about the failings of television production (esp this program) than the intelligence (or lack there of) of women. I thought this was obvious...but several of the comments have made me think otherwise...

[Blissinflux]

This is sad. Even Ira is aghast. This woman sees the world as defined by the male point of view. The first question is about Wall Street, a subjet barely touched upon is high school unless you take an actual Economics class, which at my school was offered only to seniors. The second question is about...Bob Dole? Teenage girls don't care about Bob Dole! Hardly anyone cared about Bob Dole in 1996, and they certainly don't now, regardless of gender or intelligence level. He's just not remarkable.

[Blissinflux]

Ask them questions about subjects that are relevant to them. Off the top of my head- "Name one of the two women on US dollar coins." "Which aviator disappeared while attempting to fly around the world?" "What redheaded children's book character was best known for her cleverness and physical strength?" "What famous author succeeded despite being both deaf and blind." Girls can answer those questions because, well, that's what they care about. Not freakin' Bob Dole.

[JLoveBomb]

@JcdJulz "I Enjoy Being a Girl (Sometimes)", is the name of the episode, I think.

[nerfmyaccount]

If you know anything about Bob Dole then I consider you to be a stupid person. 

[jfuzzdog21]

@enderkrum "I"..."it" blame swype (or canada)

[JLoveBomb]

@jfuzzdog21 Oops, my bad (eyesight). I've been guilty of the same. It's ok. Idealism is a dying art. :-)

[jfuzzdog21]

@JLoveBomb I think I said "self-selecting", i.e. attention seeking people (who are seeking their 15 min of fame) may not be so concerned with depth so much as making a splash. Though I have been guilty of thinking there was a "self-reflecting populace" in the past...

[JLoveBomb]

@WMsandKFCisBackMOFOs Right. And all the dolts smashing their brains out on Tosh.0 represent the truth about males. For such a broad brush, you sure wield it well. Do men who rape tell the truth about all males?

This show doesn't tell the truth about me. I'm female. Cheesewhiz doesn't tell the truth about all cheese. Pit-bulls don't tell the truth about all animals. Bret Easton Ellis doesn't tell the truth about all books. A hurricane doesn't tell the truth about all weather. You get the point.

[JLoveBomb]

@philaphobic How is asking about authors and aviators and historical figures on coins "writing female-based questions", may I ask? Not being snarky. I am genuinely curious as to how those are biased towards females, when any boy of similar age and education could answer them, and likewise any girl would answer equivalent questions about male figures. Would one consider questions about male figures be "male-based" :-?

[JLoveBomb]

@allforass69 Also, I am sure there are plenty of people here who don't like sexism, and are about to invade Poland. Rush Limbaugh terminology is always part of the problem, never part of the solution.

[JLoveBomb]

@allforass69 Using a base of barely a few girls, who were on television for like a minute, with those asinine questions being horked at them, and the results are enough proof for you to conclude that we have a societal problem with ALL girls not being intellectually engaged?

What?

This was a fluke, that's why it's a story. This TV show was over a decade ago. Young women are doing just fine in their intellectual pursuits in that time. What exactly is there to address head-on?