Before we begin, allow me to introduce my newest term: BOCTAOE^100. That means But Of Course There Are Obvious Exceptions – to the hundredth power.
On with it…
Researchers keep saying that women need more sleep than men. If I were to make a list of all the things researchers are saying today, and then I predicted which ones they will later recant, that would be high on the list.
I’m always suspicious when research supports some stereotype or another. But if it’s true, it raises interesting questions that you will only see here because I have given up on my goal of becoming President of Harvard.
First, I assume the researchers measure “needs sleep” by how well people perform on brain-related tests after different periods of snoozing. So here’s the question: Do women GET the extra sleep they need, on average?
If they do, that means women have one hour less per day then men to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish. All other things being equal, you’d expect men to accomplish more, because an extra hour is a lot. BOCTAOE^100. Unless women are more efficient. I haven’t seen the studies on that.
If women do NOT get more sleep than men, on average, then according to the research, women would perform worse on brain-related tests. So all other things being equal, you’d expect women to accomplish less, being all dopey from sleep deprivation. BOCTAOE^100.
If you ever have the chance to be on the highway at 5 am, look at the gender of the other motorists. You’ll find that 90% are male. I used to do that survey every morning on the way to my old day job. Sometimes I would drive 35 miles without seeing a woman driving another car. (Sometimes women were in the passenger seat, often asleep.) My observation – highly unscientific – is that women do get more sleep than men on average. BOCTAOE^100.
Given all that, which of these hypotheses do you believe?
1. Women are inherently more efficient than men. (You sexist pig.)
2. Women do not drive cars at 5 am because they use transporters to get to work. Or they work different kinds of jobs with different hours. Or Scott is hallucinating.
3. The studies on sleep are sexist baloney. Men and women both need exactly the same amount.
4. Women earn less than men in part (but only part) because they need more sleep. (You sexist pig.)
Discuss.