Slashdot Mirror
Women See Colors Better
fenimor writes "The results of the study by researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, suggests that natural genetic selection has provided women with a frequent ability to better discriminate between colors than men. 'Normally, this degree of genetic variation is suppressed through natural selection,' says Brian Verrelli, a researcher at ASU. 'In this case, nature is supporting a high degree of variation instead.' Because women have two X chromosomes, women can receive one chromosome with the typical configuration of the red vision gene while the other chromosome receives a slight variation. By contrast, men have one X chromosome, and any variation in the single red gene that they receive reduces their ability to distinguish between red and green."
If this were fark, this story would have the OBVIOUS tag.
This isn't really news - it's well known that women have better eyesight, and are less prone to colour blindness than men, all due to that X-Chromosome.
There was a story last year sometime (couldn't fine it, and was trying to find the article on Google - I'll try again and post a listing) where it claimed that someone women had an extra-sensitive sight for colours - especially shades of blue. Again, all due to them have 2 X-Chromosomes. One lady in the article was able to pick out a pair of shoes that were a perfect match for a dress she had purchased months back and was in her wardrobe since then.
Interesting stuff, but not really all that newsworthy, methinks.
T.
When I describe a color for my wife, she always corrects me, "That's not pink, that's peach!" or, "That's more of a seafoam green, Scott!"
Any man who is married & has gone paint shopping with his spouse knows exactly what I mean.
At least we now have a biological reason for our apparent color-blindness.
Girls are the only people who tell me I am colorblind.
That explains why there are so many female master painters in the classical Western style, which uses subtle color variations to portray a scene in a very lifelike manner.
Rembrandt, being male, was obviously a hack.
My pet theory is that humans are selected that way because for millions of years as hunter-gatherers women did the gathering and men did the hunting. (Presumably, because it's harder to hunt with an infant, but it really doesn't slow down your gathering.)
Women would need to be able to distinguish fine colors to tell plant features apart (poisonous, spoiled). If you make a bad choice, your group might get sick. Whereas men don't really need to distinguish colors as finely because an antelope is an antelope no matter what shade it is.
A color-blind male won't hurt the group much. A color-blind (or handicapped) female would.
Get off my lawn.
If there's been a team of ladies concocting some of the recent Slashdot colour schemes recently, that might explain why my eyes hurt... :-)
I've taken this color blindness test myself and I have to say that I was shocked with the final results.
I'm color blind, and I've always heard color blindness is passed genetically and occurs in men, predominantly.
My grandfather had that problem too, so I guess my mother passed it to me.
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
Do monitors/printers/etc. produce low quality color
:)
images in the eyes of women?
Perhaps R1R2GB/CMY1Y2 devices would better fit to
their needs?
women are better with colors than men! Can you believe it? In related news, women can walk better in high-heeled shoes then men! Wow. Is there anything they can't do?
This is old news. Studies published in 2000 based on data from the early 90s have talked of the tetrachromat phenomenon. See this article. There is even a mention of it in wikipedia. Some people even think that all humans are blocked tetrachromats.
If I ever met you, I would stab you repeatedly with a knife for not giving a warning.
I don't agree with any of the theories.
Think about this. Suppose a little boy grew up in the woman culture. From the time he is able to understand words, he would be taught in many different ways that color matters, because "being beautiful" matters. Such a person would learn to be especially sensitive to color, the way someone who has been blinded learns to be especially sensitive to sounds. It has nothing to do with gender.
More than 30 years ago, a woman told me I was a "typical engineer". She said I was socially backward and that I had a "slide-rule voice". I was smart enough to know that she was right. I remembered that, when I was a teenager, I would have to ask my mother if clothes matched in color.
I put a lot of effort into growing in those areas. For example, I went to sensitivity training at UCLA Management Institute to be more in touch with my own and other's feelings. I asked women friends a million questions. I began paying attention to how people operated who could do things I couldn't do.
I'm still friends with the woman who criticized me. Now I'm far more in touch with my feelings than she is, and she accepts advice from me. It takes me, literally, about 1 to 3 seconds to decide whether something is artistically pleasing, including seeing whether the colors are appropriate. I can deliver a complete criticism in one minute. Last year I spent several hours reviewing the recent offerings of Donna Karan and other fashion houses with a woman friend who was a buyer for a department store in New York. She seemed to appreciate what I said, even though I am generally negative about women spending so much time on clothes. When I was single I would think, why should a woman spend a lot of time with something I am going to look at only long enough to discover how to take it off?
Last Sunday I went clothes shopping with my wife, and I picked out the only top she decided to buy. It's learning how, only that.
The woman who criticized me is still no better at being logical, something that is absolutely necessary for a programmer, and absolutely necessary for managing to have a good life. If she had put the same effort as I did into teaching myself to think carefully, I'm sure she could have done very well, however.
What women often want is a man who is horny, knows what to do, but is otherwise just like them. Because of that, a man who knows the woman culture gets far too many chances to have sex. A big criticism that I have, and that I have heard from Europeans and Russians and Brazilians, is that women in the U.S. are too undiscriminating about who they choose for sexual involvement.
A few months ago I was standing in a bar surrounded by at least 200 people talking to a woman I had met. I told her I did not want a beer because I am overweight; I don't need the calories. She said she was overweight, too. I said she didn't look overweight to me. She said she was, nevertheless. I ran my hand under her jacket along her waist, and said she was not overweight. She said she was. I said, "Okay, take off your clothes." Obviously, I was only joking, but she laughed in a delighted way, indicating she thought I was on the right track. I was only trying to relieve the boredom of being in the bar. I didn't see the direction things would take in a few seconds.
It's all in learning how, only that.
Finally I understand why they have run out of color names for makeup! Calculator Beige, Misty brown, Mirror, Dead Duck, Greedy Pumpkin and all variations.
Feel ready to own one or many Tux Stickers?
racism is uncool.
Language and colors
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
I actually can tell the difference between mauve, tan taupe and beige, but I'm a guy: I don't care!
One industry that knows about colour perception is the folks who process film and print pictures. The staff who run those 1 hour minilab photo places are almost entirely women. The people who do the hiring know exactly why.
...laura
here.
A lot of Slashdot readers look for something that might be wrong with a comment, rather than respond to the message.
My wife was standing about 10 feet away when the incident I described happened. I have a photo of the woman and my wife together. A lot of women think a man is more attractive when they can see another woman likes him.
My wife knows I'm friendly with women and it doesn't bother her. She also knows I'm happily married and she does not have to worry about another woman.
Maybe in general, but this isn't true in my family. Both my sisters are color blind. So is my dad, my brother, and I. My mom isn't. What is interesting is that dad and my brother are about equal, unable to tell red from green, while my 2 sisters and I can tell there is a difference except in subtile things. (Well as far as I can tell, in any case when given yarn tests we get them right most of the time, while my bother doesn't)
I'm not sure what this means.
It's amazing how many hostile responses there have been to my post.
My point is: There is absolutely NO evidence that genetic differences that may have been discovered have any effect whatsoever on what a man is able to do. In normal human interaction, men are just as able to perceive and understand color as women.
There are thousands of "scientific" articles like this that vastly overstate the scientist's actual findings. The article is written the way it is only because that way it will be read by more than a few people, who are looking for justification for the hostility toward men that has become standard in the U.S. culture. Normally the underlying findings would be read by only 50 or 100 geneticists, at most, who have an interest in a genetic difference that makes no perceptible difference in human behavior.
This is VERY important: A man can learn to be just as good in sensing color as a woman, in any human endeavor that matters.
Most of the great painters have been men, of course. Have you known women who complain that great male painters have made bad color choices?
The article sells a lie that is too subtle for most people. Most people are completely fooled, as the comments show.
This is extremely important because of the prevalence of misunderstanding. Men in the U.S. live in a very adversarial environment. Few realize this. They learn to accept the hostility and even invite it, and even treat themselves in a hostile manner. For example, the Slashdot logo says "nerd", an extremely derogatory label.
Again, men have been taught to accept adversarial behavior. Look at the responses to my comment that assume that I am trying to get some social advantage. Some people can only have that perception, and cannot benefit from what I said.
You don't need to live in the cultural prison that others made for you.
As the summary hints and is obvious if you read the article, the news is not about women in general being able to see colors in general better than men. The news is about women being less prone to have color blindness, which according to article happens to 8% of men. If you are a man and do not have color blindness then you can see colors just as well as a normal woman.
So to say that women see colors better is wrong.
"As for the great painters being men, one should not rule out european sexism as to who got the opportunity to be great in their age."
You totally missed the point. Women don't complain about the color choices of male painters, showing that they don't see color better.
Women choose male interior decorators more than they choose females. They would not do that if women could see color better.
There is one of those cultural prisoners now. Always willing to pay for a new war. Votes Republican because George W. Bush believes in God, and only Bush will make us safe from those foreigners. Market researchers like the Bush administration's Karl Rove find it easy to manipulate him to do anything they want.
CP's who think President Bush is religious should read this: It's illogical to vote Republican in 2004.
And those who think the U.S. government's many wars are for security should read this:
24 wars since WW2: Creating fear so rich people can profit.
The other thing it means to you is that she can tell scarlet from fuschia from red from cerise from red with that little pattern on it, so when she tells you to fetch the red dress from the closet (Which one? The _red_ one I got at Macy's before that party with those people) then you simply don't stand a chance.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks