Women have only a remote chance of controlling TV viewing -- RealityFans

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [7], 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 01:26:45 05/20/02 Mon
Author: gmike
Subject: Women have only a remote chance of controlling TV viewing

By Thair Shaikh
(Filed: 19/05/2002)

It is a timeless struggle of the sexes, played out in millions of living rooms every night and bound to intensify as the World Cup approaches. Who holds the remote control while watching television?

The answer is one that women have long suspected but have until now been unable to prove: that men always seize the remote, regardless of whether they are planning to change channels or are even watching.

The proof has been supplied by scientists at the London Business School who conducted an in-depth study into television viewing habits. While the question of the remote was not one they had planned to examine, they have reported that findings were incontrovertible.

"Use of the remote control is definitely a male domain," said Mark Ritson, the assistant professor of marketing and the leader of the project. "Even when a man was watching a programme his wife had chosen, he had to hold on to the remote - even though he was not using it."

The researchers installed specially adapted video recorders in the living rooms of eight households, chosen to represent all domestic situations, to monitor viewing habits precisely. The television-watchers were also recorded with a built-in miniature camera.

The recorders were left in place for three weeks and Prof Ritson said that, although a small number of households were used, the results were conclusive.

"Women did use the remote, but they tended to give it back to the man quickly, probably because they were afraid of choosing the wrong channel or of challenging him. They seemed to accept that men hogged the remote," he said.

Dr Vassilis Mouratoglou, a consultant neuropsychologist at the Maudsley Hospital in south London, explained that possession of the remote control was related to the power battle between the sexes. He said: "You could say this is reflecting the role of the male in society: it is about who is in control."

With the World Cup only two weeks away, women will be saddened to learn that there is no cure for the male desire to cling on to the remote. The only answer, says Prof Ritson, is to hide it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$31HEI4QAACSCRQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2002/05/19/nrem19.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/05/19/ixnewstop.html

Why should males remotes only be limited to controling the tv?

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

In my house the remote is MINE!!! -- Cari, 10:49:04 05/22/02 Wed
- I forwarded this thread on to my kids.... -- Tweety, 17:30:35 05/22/02 Wed