The Phone Bill

Fact:

Women in general are regarded as being more sociable than men.

Personally, I have always thought that women are more sociable than men. Why? Firstly, because of the common, if not slightly dated story of the phone bill. Have you ever heard of a boy's parents complaining about his phone bill? I haven't. But for daughters, it's another story.

Secondly, according to this article 'women are taking over the social web' all social media platforms, apart from LinkedIn have more female members than male and the gap is only increasing. Just look at this recent poll:

http://smedio.com/2011/06/22/women-are-taking-over-the-social-web/

What this proves is that from the 1950's when the phone began to become mainstream women have dominated methods of communication when used for social purposes. While men of course use telephones a lot as well, more often than not most of the talk is about business. This is further backed up by the fact that the only social networking site that was more popular with men was the business orientated one.

My goal is not to prove that women were indeed more sociable than men. After all it could just be that men interact using different methods like talking face to face.

But then again women do this too. And through the eyes of many men (including my own) women socialise in this regard more than men as well. Just think for example, of the female habit of only going to the bathroom in a group when possible.

Lisa Warren confronted this topic head on, in her article "Why do girls go to the bathroom in pairs or groups", one that I thoroughly recommend you read. Lisa suggested that it was because "restrooms allow for having, or continuing, a conversation. (Why stop a conversation just because someone needs to empty a bladder?)" This suggests that women rely more heavily on their social interactions with other women than men do. The motherly, caring role that women are believed to posses, seems to be shown through the way that women care for each other.

Men on the other hand in general are more brashly behaved to one another and it is for this reason that they may seem to be more autonomous than women.

Another reason that women go in groups more often than men do may simply be in mind of safety. But I agree with Lisa when she says, "Some people suggest that women go to restrooms in pairs and groups because they're worried about freaks hiding in the stalls (and I suppose there could be some subconscious, or conscious, aspect of this). I don't so much think, though, that women make the trip together primarily as a way to keep physically safe. I think it may more often be a psychological/sociological defence mechanism." What Lisa says is true, since even in the smartest restaurants, women still go in groups. What is much more interesting is when Lisa queries the psychological implements that may be at play...