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What’s the point?

PHOTO: AP

DUMB AND DUMBER A study found out that men perceived bikini-clad women as objects

According to a recent study, men perceive women in bikinis as objects. Yes, take a second to roll your eyes and go “Well duh!!” After all most people will agree that the study is just stating the obvious. Really just how many men out there will look at a picture of a woman in a bathing suit and say: “She seems really intelligent”.

Another study explained why it’s easier to see someone close than far away and one entitled the wealth effects of smoking said that smokers spend quite a bit of money on their habit. Another study showed that memory and concentration fade with age.

Why do researchers even bother spending time and money on studying such obvious things, you are asking yourself. But wait a minute. If you think these are pointless studies, what about those studies which can only be described as weird or downright ridiculous? During World War II, it was hard to ensure that bombs hit their targets. A psychologist B.F. Skinner thought that an animal with excellent eyesight and high manoeuvrability could be trained to guide anti-aircraft missiles to their targets. Wonder what animal rights activists would have to say to that. And so Project Pigeon was started. He conducted experiments to train pigeons to look at a target and then peck on one of four levers that moved the ‘target’ up, down, left and right. This prototype seemed to work.

Skinner thought this was proof that a pigeon-guided missile was a real possibility. The military got as far as adapting some missiles to accommodate the pigeons before killing Project Pigeon. Phew! Researchers of course feel that these studies are necessary and will promote greater understanding of ourselves and society.

Susan Fiske, who presented the study on men perceiving women in bikinis as objects, says: “This is just the first study which was focused on the idea that men of a certain age view sex as a highly desirable goal, and if you present them with a provocative woman, then that will tend to prime goal-related responses.”

Although consistent with conventional wisdom, the way that men may depersonalise sexual images of women is not entirely something they control. In fact, it is a by product of human evolution, experts say.

“They are not fully-conscious responses, and so people don’t know the extent to which they’re being influenced. It is important to recognise the effects,” Fiske adds. Preeti Lazar, senior research analyst, begs to differ. “I think that these studies are a waste of time and money. Researchers should focus on better things to study. But having said that if the headline in a newspaper report catches my eye I would read it.”

Bharath Reddy, lawyer, says: “I do read even random articles. It makes for funny reading. Like the five-second rule which won the Ig Noble. I don’t think studies like these are a waste of money. It is the researcher’s choice as to what they want to study. And you would want to believe something like the six degrees of separation rule is possible. I would read all these studies which are considered obvious and stupid because I think they are entertaining.” Kritttika Vishwanath, who is pursuing a Ph.d in Sociology, says: “I think even obvious stuff has underlying issues that becomes apparent through research. Sociology studies so many things that may seem obvious. But through good research these obvious things may be explained further. I think research can be done on anything. Certain research could be a waste of money but then not all research has to be beneficial to society. I think people will be more interested in common issues. “Therefore it’s important that the quality of the research is good in terms of methodology, skills and training of the researcher.”

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