October 9, 2010

A casual, autumn observation about gender difference.

At the Farmers' Market today in Madison... I don't know why but...

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... women seem to be delighted by pumpkins...

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... and men could not care less...

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41 comments:

mesquito said...

Where's the beer and bratwurst? I'm missing the game for this? To hell with the Martha Stewart crap.

rcocean said...

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Guess this female love of Pumpkins goes way back.

campy said...

Men like round objects that come in pairs.

gregwithtwogs said...

The difference is because the women who love pumpkins have the men in their lives carry those 40 pound behemoths to the car!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

People in Madison look like transplanted New Yorkers.

A silly observation that has nothing to do with Carl Paladino.

Anonymous said...

Dig Ann Althouse's first icon photo.

It's a hoot!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/althouse/8150921/

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Those pumpkins are gourdgeous.

Kirby Olson said...

I like the orange color in general of this season. Pumpkins are a fertility symbol, as they're packed with seeds. Women still are closely identified with children, according to Eleanor Roosevelt in A World Made New. I think it's probably true that for women, having children is a plus. For many men, it's a trap. But there's nothing better than playing with children in leaves, and playing soccer on a field in the strange orange season on the bright green fields just before winter kills everything dead.

Anonymous said...

"... the women who love pumpkins have the men in their lives carry those 40 pound behemoths to the car!"

And try to carve them later. And take out the stinky guts with the garbage. And burn our fingers trying to light the candle.

The women? They get to hand out the candy and play with the cute kids!

rhhardin said...

Kroger goes with pumpkins and asters to attract women.

Pumpuang Duangchan had an easygoing Thai pop song real audio (modern real players may ask permission to download the old sipr-9 codec).

It has interesting harmonies and her name resembles pumpkin.

traditionalguy said...

Pumpkins and gourds are decorative objects only these days...so college educated men not attending art schools have more to do than decorate. When they have their own homes---not an apartment or a dorm room---then they will take a pride in appearances.

Anonymous said...

And who is this Tea Party-er in Ann Althouse's classroom?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/althouse/10433698/

Albatross said...

... and men could not care less...

I care, when they come in pie form.

Curtiss said...

Cinderella needs her pumpkin carriage.

traditionalguy said...

Silly me. I forgot that pumpkins are also used for Jack o Lanterns to cut faces on for those that celebrate Halloween. The uncut whole pumpkins are more for decorations in the house for the Thanksgiving feast. Those two uses do not really mix. One celebrates a bountiful harvest and thanks God. The other scares little children for a laugh and for their early training in occult customs.

Cedarford said...

Male exception - men like growing big pumpkins. Bragging about them. Showing them off.

chickelit said...

Four homegrown pumpkins this year: link

Meade said...

It can't only be a Hoosier thing. Those men in the Farmers' Market photos are obviously just too young to be fathers of babies they would predictably call "sweet potato" or young daughters they would affectionately call "punkin" even well into adulthood.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


Traditional Halloween is a celebration of the end of the year, thanking the g#ds for having granted us another year of life and a bountiful harvest, and we ask them to renew our lease on life next year.

ricpic said...

OT: It's been reported that both the wife and the mistress of at least one (maybe more) of the Chilean miners will be present when they're brought up on Wednesday. Ay Caramba!

John Burgess said...

Women like squash; men prefer melons. That's all there is to it!

WV: gnesset What Israeli parliamentarians snack on

Jason (the commenter) said...

You have to wait until after Halloween, then the price comes down and they're good for making pies and roasting seeds. Before that, they're just a rip off!

Jason (the commenter) said...

And don't even get me started on decorative gourds!

Palladian said...

Pumpkins are delicious as a savory dish as well as the pie. Cut in half, leaving the seeds in until after roasting (they add flavor to the roasting pumpkin), lightly oil, grate a very small amount of nutmeg over the pumpkin and place cavity-side down in a roasting pan, roast at about 450 until the skin is darkened and the flesh is fairly soft, salt, serve with butter.

Pumpkin soup is also very good

former law student said...

The pumpkins we see the guys sort of sneering at are all squatty and misshapen, and most of them are green. Probably the guys prefer the large, round or blocky, conventional orange pumpkins.

If my wife is an example, women prefer the unconventional. At the nursery in spring she always wants to get plants that will produce white globular eggplants, yellow heart-shaped tomatoes, and pale round zucchini.

Unknown said...

Kirby Olson said...

I like the orange color in general of this season. Pumpkins are a fertility symbol, as they're packed with seeds.

In Chinese culture, they're the color of good luck.

ricpic said...

OT: It's been reported that both the wife and the mistress of at least one (maybe more) of the Chilean miners will be present when they're brought up on Wednesday. Ay Caramba!

Similar to the guy who went to see his mistress instead of go to work and told his wife, when she rang his cell to find out if he was all right, he was at work.

He worked at the WTC and the date was 9/11/01.

PS New Ham is right about cleaning them out.

Popville said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Popville said...

Those pumpkins are just to small for men, plus they prefer something with propulsion.

dhagood said...

@palladian: pumpkin bread is sinfully good.

wv: foosking, as in pumpkin break is foosking wonderful.

Bob_R said...

Althouse's observation applies to my wife and me. We both like pumpkin (and all winter squash) as a food, but my wife is the bigger fan and loves pumpkins as a decorative object.

Our best pumpkin pie ever was the time we stirred in leftover acorn squash from the previous night's dinner. There wasn't that much; I was just trying to clean out the fridge. Anyway, it had cayenne and other hot spices on it and it really made the pie pop. I've tried to get the combination right ever since and I've never quite done it.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
save_the_rustbelt said...

Male priorities

Sex
Booze
Food
Football
Baseball
Sex
Booze
Food
Basketball
Football
etc.


#12,345 Pumpkins

Bob Ellison said...

Pumpkins are the pug dogs of the fruit world.

campy said...

Why no Men in Shorts tag on this post?

VW: blogr(!)

Daniel Fielding said...

I grew up eating a lot of pumpkin- is used as a popular vegetable where I grew up in India. Nowadays, I collect the seeds from my neighbors in Ann Arbor, who carve pumpkins for Halloween, and make lots of roasted pumpkin seeds for all the folks in my block.

Clean the pumpkin seeds,and let them dry. Then melt some butter in a baking pan, add some salt, garlic powder and seasonings of your choice, place dry seeds in the pan, mix well, and spread them out in a single layer in the pan, and cook for approx 12 to 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.
then enjoy!!! :)

Fred4Pres said...

Women like pumpkins. Who knew?

Jason (the commenter) said...

Fred4Pres: Women like pumpkins. Who knew?

Standing next to a pumpkin, almost anybody looks thin.

Fred4Pres said...

Sixty Grit. If you are doing a jack-o-lantern you probably should not eat it. Most of those carving pumpkins are not that sweet anyway and not particular good for pie. I understand your frustration, but pumpkin carving is just pumpkin carving. Even our ancestors had no problem devoting a gourd or two for art and amusement.

And if you are going to live off pumpkins for the winter, you are going to need a lot more than one.

When we were kids, we would bake the seeds and eat them. My kids still do that. I also take them when they are starting to look sad and dump them in the chicken pen. Chickens love half rotted pumpkin and in a day they are completely gone. And the yokes of their eggs get more orangey.

Fred4Pres said...

Daniel's seed baking recipe sounds good.

Jason--Hey! Very good.

ndspinelli said...

There was an inmate @ Leavenworth when I worked there nicknamed, "Chicken Man." He worked in the kitchen, and when a load of chickens came in he would pick out a few that looked like they had the proper orefice, and fuck them. He also had an affinity for bread dough, ripe squash, pumpkins, etc. So, there was one guy in Leavenworth, who literally loved pumpkins.

I usually brought my lunch.

kentuckyliz said...

It seems like the guys are enjoying retrieving pumpkins floating down a flooded river in Conneticut:

http://thedartmouth.com/2010/10/05/news/punkins

It's like a visit from the Pumpkin Fairy!