Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Mom Quiz

(for the record, the new Blogger interface stinks)

It's really a pop quiz, but I considered the content and renamed it.

Quick: don't look down ~ hold your hand up to eye level and look at your fingernails.



I'll wait.

Did you look at the back of your hand with your fingers extended, nails pointing to the sky, or palm toward you, with your fingers folded over, nails pointed down?

Many of you know what I'm looking for here ~ men fold their fingers down, women point their fingers up.  I don't know what I do, because I never get caught by surprise like I maybe did with you.  I *think* I point them down, but I'm not sure.

Two other gender-specific postures:

when you get out of the shower, do you wrap the towel around your waist, or under your arms?  No fair if you do one deliberately.  What do you do if you're not thinking?  I put mine under my arms.  It just feels funny to wrap it around my waist.  So that's one "femme point" for me.

Now stand up and put your hands on your hips (English note: many do not know this is called "arms akimbo," which I think would be a great name for a hotel).  Look at your hands.  Do you see your fingers (fingers forward is what women do) or thumbs?  I do thumbs, but I'm trying consciously to change that.  So minus one "femme point."  But I'm pretty much there.  The last time I noticed I had my hands on hips, it was fingers forward, and reversing it felt funny.

I'd love to look at my nails without thinking and have someone say "AHA!  That's how girls look at their nails!" but what are the odds?



Just an observation ~ I don't know if it's a general behavioural difference ~ but I noticed women swing their free arm more than men do.  I say "free arm" because one is usually occupied by a purse, of course.  I swing my arm pretty vigourously.

On a related topic, it is possible to direct dreams.  You can dream, know you're dreaming, and change the action.  You can tell yourself what to dream and dream it.  It's not easy, and it takes perseverance.  I have had limited success because I don't follow through enough.  I want to try again and make it a habit, so I can do this little trick regularly.

The third step is to tell yourself what to dream just as you're falling asleep.  But the first step is to tell yourself to look at your hands in your dream.  When you can do that, you can try step two (look at your feet ~ this is different because your hands are your hands.  Your feet are generally covered and the covering can be important to your dream).  Some people say step three is to say your name; others say that comes later, when you want to direct your dreams from within.

Why is this a related topic?  I have gotten to the look-at-my-hands state each time I've tried this experiment (sometimes, I've gone further).  But I know, whenever I look at my hands in a dream, my fingers are pointing up.  It's ALWAYS in the feminine fashion.




6 comments:

  1. A little weird but, well maybe I'll give it a try. On the first three, my score
    1 Fingers up
    2 Towel, what towel?
    3 Fingers forwards

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  2. I forgot.

    In England, there are no towels.

    :D

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  3. "In England, there are no towels."

    ...because all the hitchhikers around the galaxy have taken them....

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  4. Meg -

    I looked at my hands like a man - If I had polish on my nails, I might have had the extra behavioral triggers to hold the hands like a woman. And yes, I still wear a towel like a man - unless I had real breasts, it doesn't make sense to change that behavior right now. But I'm not sure of how I'd place my hands on my hips - I don't often do this....

    Marian

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  5. This is weird! My answers were exactly the same as Paula.

    Also we have towels in Australia but I never wear one after showering.

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  6. Just the other day I looked at my nails, fingers up, and thought that this is the way a woman would look at hers.

    Most of my dreams have me in a dress and heels. Just shy of 2 years ago I used Chantix to help quit smoking. A noted side effect of this drug was vivid dreams. They were not kidding. The best CD dreams of all time.

    Many of my dreams tend to repeat themselves and tend to be variations on a theme. Being able to conjour up or direct a dream seems like it would require a special talent that I do not yet have.

    Pat

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