The Gullible Gender

Men or women - which gender is more disposed to being gullible, to being duped, hoaxed, fooled, misled, and lied to? Let’s take a look at the facts.

From a very young age we are told that little boys are made of “slugs and snails and puppy dog’s tails,” whilst girls are made of “sugar and spice and all things nice.” Professor Von Brainsneezing of Dumbkopf University backs this up. “After examining the evidence, I have come to the conclusion that these findings are correct and accurate.” Abby Sciuto, well-known NCIS fictional forensic expert agrees absolutely with these findings. “You’d never get Special Agent Gibbs to be gullible!” she declares. A frown then crosses her face, “Unless you use a red-headed female. Then he’d be mince.” She disappears in tears.

As we grow up, our gullibility factor remains steady through the tooth fairy years up to the very last letter to Santa Clause. Then something very interesting happens. The boys begin asking Santa for joysticks, and the girls start asking for boobs.

This shows that, whilst there has been a revolution of understanding within the mind of the little girl as she sits on Santa’s lap and notices his delight at her blossoming form, little has evolved in the boy’s brain, except a growing awareness of his need for a joystick. This shows us that the girl is looking to her assets, while the boy is still trying to find his. This behaviour has a tendency to develop and, taken to extremes, has become known as the “Anna Nicole Smith” Syndrome – ANSS for short. If you have ANSS in your pants, you know it’s serious.

As both genders mature in age and experience, the women may have their moments, but it is the men who show definite signs of gaining the lead, streaking ahead in the gullibility stakes, outpacing their female companions in their bid to win, and finally ending in a climatic flourish of gullibility.

Many women may be gullible in believing that they can reach the blissful state of “happily ever after” regardless of their boob size. But countless more men are prey to a much stronger fantasy, aided and abetted by women with a multitude of motives. Men believe it happens time and time again, all over the world, and every time they believe it happens, a little gnome is kicked in the privates by a fairy, accompanied by the sound of ringing balls.

What is it? What is the finish line men cross that makes them triumphant holders of the Trophy for Gullibility?

It is their willingness to believe that they have the biggest, best, most perfectly shaped joystick in the world, and it is a belief that has instigated wars and joint accounts in equal numbers. And, as long as she holds the joystick in question, women will always have the edge over men when it comes to gullibility - and how to exploit it!

The Martians Have Landed

Are we, the general public, gullible or well-informed? How do we know the difference? Our level of trust in the source of information has a lot to do with whether or not we believe what we are told. If an apparently trustworthy person, brand or medium supplies us with information as truth, are we being gullible if we follow the masses that believe without question, or should we take a closer look at exactly who, or what, is behind the message we are being given?

Take the case of suburban housewife Janet Elford. She has gone down in UK history as the victim of one of the nation’s favorite TV pranks, which culminated in her singing to what she believed were aliens in her garden. Janet was taken in hook, line and sinker, when London Weekend Television, which produced “Beadle’s About” between 1986 and 1996, went to extraordinary measures to convince her that aliens had actually landed in her back garden. LWT enlisted the help of both the local policeman, whom Janet knew and trusted absolutely, and the local fire brigade. It was then easy, if expensive, for LWT to arrange a national news anchor man and numerous TV news crews to appear to cover the story. Who could blame Janet for believing what they were all telling her, especially when she was literally under the spotlight? A nation laughed at Janet’s expense, although she was very good-humored about the whole episode.

On this side of the pond, the opposite of this situation occurred in 1938, when one individual took great delight in fooling millions of people. Orson Welles used his magnificent powers to persuade the CBS radio network to let him broadcast a play over their airwaves. Not only that, he also persuaded them to broadcast it on Halloween. The play was an adaptation of The War of the Worlds by H.G.Wells, and was about faceless Martians invading Earth and killing all in their path. Orson Welles understood the value of timing, executing his prank when people were already excited about the Halloween holiday and edgy about the situation in Europe in the build-up to WW2. Orson Welles was a master of the dramatic (some say the master of the dramatic) because he knew that his audience was already nervous and he capitalised on it. He brought his audience to fever pitch almost immediately by seeming to interrupt a regular radio show with an “urgent newsflash” to announce that Martians had landed on US soil. The whole event caused such disruption that it resulted in the introduction of new laws to control how news was delivered to the general public. It was a home run for our hero, Orson Welles, though.

Whatever you believe, someone is probably thinking how gullible you must be. Possibly you’re thinking the same about them.