China beat the U.S. in the medal count this year, and according to the Journal, " while Chinese athletes rely on state sports schools," the men's gymnastic team at Arizona State, which has lost school funding, depend on their own fund raising to continue training. Some schools are choosing to implement Title IX, which forces colleges to spend the same amount of money as men's and women's sports, by the gender breakdown of their entire student body. In other words, if a school is 54% female, then 54% of their athletic budget goes to women's sports.

It seems to me that more of the blame should be placed on the football teams that eat the bulk of the men's sports budgets at many large universities. But, as the Journal points out, the Arizona State athletic department chose to cut gymnastics and two other sports that were Olympic feeders "because, unlike the football program, they don't generate much revenue. The department's $41 million budget depends on ticket sales, team souvenirs, event parking and other game-related revenue, about half of which comes from football." And ultimately, shouldn't we be more concerned with the cut backs on the academic side of the fence when there is a finite amount of university money to be shared? When it comes to choosing between a men's gymnastic team or paying a few more writing teachers, it doesn't seem like a tough decision to make.

Cutbacks
In College Sports Risk U.S. Olympic Future [WSJ]
Billie Jean King Remembers 'Battle Of The Sexes' [NPR]

Unfortunately, the report also found that there is still a gender gap for "invisible" household work: Women still do the majority of the management stuff, like scheduling children's medical appointments, buying gifts for birthday parties, arranging holiday gatherings, etc. Still, the overall findings in the report suggest that couples are moving towards more equitable partnerships. "The younger set of dads have their own expectations about themselves as to being helpful and participatory," says Carol Evans, founder and CEO of Working Mother magazine. "They haven't quite gotten to equality in any sense that a women would say, 'Wow, that's equal,' but they've gotten so much farther down the road."

But is the media trying to convince men that dirty dishes = potential blow job? Do men who do housework get laid more? Is it because they're not selfish jerks? Do you think we'll ever get to place where all men and women share the housework (visible and invisible!) equally? Or are there some things that will always be "the woman's job"?

Men Who Do Housework May Get More Sex [Yahoo! News]
Honey, You're Out Of Date: Why Men No Longer Want A 1950s Wife [Daily Mail]
Today's Perfect Wife: A Good Cook Who Argues [Telegraph]

Related: A Fifties Wife? No Thanks, I've Got One [Daily Mail]

Earlier: Is A Hot Guy Hotter When He's Doing Your Laundry?
The Porn Ultimatum

Continues Cullen, "The fact is, we all lie." Obviously. But do women lie more than men, and are we conditioned to do so? Scientists do acknowledge that there are biological differences between the brains of men and women — for instance, men have a harder time forgiving than women do. Women often feel the need to keep things calm, and smooth; Dr. Jennifer Hartstein, a clinical psychologist in New York City notes that often women lie because "We don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. We don't want to put anybody down. So, we really work very hard to keep the peace, keep it easy, be nice, be cordial." Except men do that too! Not all women have the morals of that blonde from The Moment Of Truth. So is Ms. Barash's claim that women lie more just a falsehood to sell her book?

Author: Women Lie More, Better Than Men [CBS Early Show]
Do Women Lie More Than Men? [Time]
Sex Differences Extend Into The Brain [Science Daily]
Men Have A Harder Time Forgiving Than Women Do [Science Daily]
Related: Why Not To Settle, Brought To You By Moment Of Truth

And then goes on to basically say men are from Mars and women are from Venus. In brief:

Women are capable of thinking about more things at once and being more emotionally intelligent. Their screenplays are subtler, more ambiguous, and more complex. (Ever tried to get a guy to watch, say, Friends With Money? Yeah.) Years of having do deal with kids and chores and errands and cooking and sewing has evolved us into longer-term thinkers, better "multitaskers", better investors. They like to gather more data before making decisions, whereas men make all their choices as if they're going to die tomorrow.

Men are hunters, focusers, better in the short term, in the moment, more analytical; more direct, less complex, write more plot-driven screenplays.

So far so duh. And guess what? Testosterone is the culprit. How long is your ring finger compared to your index finger, Dr Fisher wants to know. If your ring finger's longer...you're less likely to care think about the long-term impact on the union symbolized by the ring on it before you fuck that cute intern because you've got more testosterone. And if your index finger is longer, the...better to wag it angrily in response?

Hey wait! But Tracie, and Anna and I all have longer ring fingers. Is evolution already working to combat these old stereotypes? (Bc I am the worst multitasker on the universe!)
Whatever. Speaking as a manly girl, I am sick of these studies that so confirm how inherently superior women are to men that you have to preface them by saying, "And I'm in no way telling you this just because I'm a feminist..." We already have to work for their dumb, overconfident, emotionally-stunted, all-trees-no-forest all-gut-no-intuition short term-obsessed "hunter" asses. Fuck spending any more time worrying about their motherfucking pride.

Is Your Ring Finger Long Enough For This Job? [Salon]

"Men have a weaker sense of smell," Fisher explains. "Guys aren't as likely to notice... that they're snoozing in stinky sheets." [Ask my ex boyfriend. -Ed.] That's not it, Palmer claims. Men are plain old lazy! He writes: "Do you know how much a pain in the ass it is to put that fitted sheet on?" Well here's one we agree on! And, for the record, not all women change their sheets all the damn time. Although maybe today we will, now that we're thinking about it.

As for why guys assume that other guys they don't really know are losers, Cosmo posits that it's a caveman thing, i.e. anyone not in the inner circle is the enemy. And a threat. Grr! Palmer calls bullshit on that too. "Guys don't do constant evaluation of other guys, unless we are sizing them up for fighting purposes. This is a feminine trait, and stating that we think in the same manner is false." Feminine trait? Hmm, not sure about that. But also, aren't guys who think strangers are losers just projecting? As for why men prefer women to be on top (Cosmo says "Pleasing you is a priority," Palmer says guys "would rather bring you to orgasm with you not leading the way... Sitting there and letting you use us like a chair-mounted dildo detracts from the ego boost."). We think, top or bottom, isn't the guy just thankful to be getting laid? Lastly, to answer the question "Why do guys need to win at everything?" (Cosmo blames testosterone, Palmer blames "No Fear" T-shirts) — we'd like to ask: Who likes to lose? And since when is it gender-specific? Also: Why doesn't Cosmo hire a man to decode dudes?

Lies Cosmo Tells Women [Double Viking]

Related: Pointless Banter [Kevin Palmer]