Klynn’s blog

HW 23: Favorite post of the week from Jezebel. Are “mixed signals” just an excuse?

I read the post “Academic ‘Explains’ Why College Men Hear “Yes” When Women Mean ‘No’” from Jezebel.  This blog post was in response to a recent study made by U.C. Davis professor of communication Michael Motley.  This study was about mixed signals and indirect responses being the leading cause of sexual assault among college females.  It has been found that at least 25% of college females will be sexually assaulted.  The main reason for this, Motley is trying to prove, is that it stems from the fact that girls will indirectly tell the guy “no” so he then misinterprets it and keeps going.  It seems a bit absurd that when a girl says something like what Motley used in his test, “I’m seeing someone else” that the guy would then take it as “I’m seeing someone else so let’s keep this low key so he doesn’t find out.”  I mean why doesn’t the guy become hesitant after that realizing maybe she’s now not interested?  It also seems like it may be something that men are try to say in order to defend their acts of stupidity.  However, in the study that Motley did, it proves that women and men take statements such as the one I used before, differently.   Motley tested different college men and women and his theory was proved.  He used the statement “I’m seeing someone else” and told these men and women to interpret it.  Some men realized that to be a stop signal, while others thought it to be a playful, hard-to-get answer.  The women however, recognized it for what it was.  The outcome of this study was to let woman know they need to be more direct when saying no.  The reasons they aren’t direct in the first place is because they don’t want to anger or upset the guy, the fact is, they just need to say no if they don’t want it.