Entitled The Ego Epidemic, the piece detailed a study by two psychologists, Drs Twenge and Brown (both yanks), on the growing number of women who display narcissistic tendencies and an inflated sense of their 'own fabulousness'. My first issue with this, is that the good doctors interviewed 37,000 college students, yet the article draws all its parallels and implications in reference to mid-30s single career women. Chalk and cheese no? Completely different lifestyles, drivers of choice, aspirations, desires etc.
Secondly, the following statement which reads: An estimated ten percent of the population suffers from narcissism as a full-blown personality disorder. Well that would be really alarming if it were true! But unfortunately the author didn’t see any need to back it up.
Despite my personal feelings on its validity, I will share the symptoms of this ‘disorder’ with you, just in case you come across it. (Unfortunately there was no information regarding treatment, so you're on your own there).
The symptoms include: a grandiose sense of self-importance, the belief that he or she is special or unique and in some way better – either intellectually or physically – than others, a requirement for excessive admiration; a sense of entitlement, whether to fame, fortune, success and happiness or simply to special treatment…
The list goes on…
Now I also resented the attempted manipulation by the author who interviewed some poor bastard called Dave, who appears to have a bad case of battered mans syndrome. The 40-year old divorcee, who recently joined a dating agency and in his own words ‘is not perfect - but is told he is an eligible and pleasant guy’, has had the misfortune of meeting several of these preying mantis types. An experience which led him to believe that 'women were living in a Sex And The City-inspired fantasy world'.
So what you're saying Dave, is that women have lost their grip on reality because of a TV show?
I must admit, I do feel sorry for him. But maybe these women were simply not at the ‘oh bugger it, he’ll do’ stage of their lives yet? Perhaps he should try older and more desperate ones?? It seems more a case of Dave underselling himself than anything else. Surely even the most drippy, balding, middle-aged pommy git could muster up a more enticing description of themselves than ‘eligible and pleasant’.
I mean, every woman loves a bargain, but painting yourself as the Black & Gold brand of boyfriends isn’t exactly going to get hoards of discerning single women whipped into a frenzy Dave.
Look, maybe the researchers are right. Maybe us ladies should just get back into our boxes. After all, chicks have had a pretty good run over the past two decades. Perhaps all the womens lib and equality has gone to our heads a bit??
To fully explore this question, I thought it best to do some research. I came across the webpage profile of Dr Twenge who, as it turns out, is a woman herself. It was in this moment, that the real truth came to light.
Here is her photo…
Now I’m not trying to poo poo this woman’s entire career. I just wonder whether her motives for conducting such a study were a tad… questionable. At a guess, I'd say that there is (or was) something going on between her and Dr Brown. So I did a little further investigation and I could suddenly see how that relationship might have its difficulties... given the title of his latest book is When you love a man who loves himself.
Dr Twenge, might I suggest a hairbrush and some time outdoors might help your cause?
No comments:
Post a Comment