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American Morning
Fear Factors
Aired February 13, 2003 - 09:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With Americans bracing for terrorism, it appears men and women don't share the same degree of concern. According to a new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, 57 percent of women are afraid that they or someone they love will become victims of terrorism. Just 36 percent of men have a similar fear. So why the worry gap between the sexes?
Joining us now to help us better understand all this from Seattle are Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington.
Thanks for getting up so early for us this morning.
With me here in New York, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of "Men's Health" magazine.
Good to see you as well.
Pepper, I'm going to start with you this morning. Why do you think the poll shows that women are much more scared than men?
PEPPER SCHWARTZ, UNIV. OF WASHINGTON SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR: Well, I think women are more scared, because they're getting that sort of momma bear approach, which is, they are the caretakers of their family. They worry for their men, they worry for their children, whereas men, I think, get a lot of blustery and, I can handle this, I'm not scared -- part of their whole overall makeup and equipment. But for women, they're the caretakers and their the protectors. And they're worried that they have to think of everything they can possibly think of so that they're not at fault if someone they love is hurt.
HEMMER: All right, David, bluster or a sense of fatalism, that perhaps women don't have?
DAVID ZINCZENCO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: I think guys are kind of putting it out of their minds. When you tell a guy that the nation is at an orange state, that's very maddening. That's like saying, guys, danger danger's imminent, we'll get back to you. So a lot of guys put off problems until they're staring them in the face. So they're treating this conflict, or this looming threat, as kind of like a traumatic breakup. Women deal with it right away, they get it all out in the open, put it behind them, move on. Men tend to deny, deny, deny, they're macho. And then they're calling you up in six months later, in the middle of the night, a drunken mess, wondering why everything went wrong.
HEMMER: Are they inclined to go out and buy tape and plastic sheets?
ZINCZENCO: They are when they see the threat, when it's very real and alive, when they see the cloud, when they see chaos. But I don't think they plan for it in advance the way women might.
HEMMER: Pepper, let's talk a little about the runs on stores, we've seen, particularly in the Northeast, and in particular here in Manhattan. It is, in fact, women that are buying more of the duct tape and plastic sheets.
Why is that? Same reasons as you gave in your first answer?
SCHWARTZ: Pretty much. I mean, you know, why is it that women, you know, outfit their house and guys have refrigerators with nothing in them? I think it's the same instinct. You know, be prepared and be the person who does it, because if you don't do it, no one else will.
ZAHN: So you really do see a pattern of men always returning to the caveman roots here?
ZINCZENCO: I think...
SCHWARTZ: Well, no. I wouldn't -- sorry.
ZAHN: You can answer that Pepper, and then I'll let David weigh in.
SCHWARTZ: OK, no, I wouldn't say the caveman roots. There's actually some physiological surveys that shows -- and research actually by the University of Washington by John Gotten (ph) that show that men have, just as I think your other guest mentioned it, they have a kind of a response system that acts in the moment, rather than later. So that if you do a thing where there's a loud noise for guys, they go from zero to 100 real quickly, they're ready to fight, they're toes at the line, they're ready, not before; whereas, women will have the same kind of noise or something aggressive that's proposed to them, and their idea will be to protect others.
So I think there's some physiology there. There's some role behavior that we learn in a given culture. But I don't think you necessarily have to go back to the Neanderthal to find its roots.
ZAHN: Final thought, David,?
ZINCZENCO: I think the return to traditional roles is in order. I think what you'll see is that men of action were very maligned for the last few decades, and that September 11th taught us there was a value in guys charging into burning buildings, and we turned to them, and they were very valuable indeed during times of crisis. I think you'll see a lot of that happening now. Guys want to get in the thick of things. They don't want to discuss it. They want to know, who's the target? Who am I going after, and then they want to go and do it.
ZAHN: If they feel they have any control at all.
ZINCZENCO: Exactly. ZAHN: That's one of the key differences there, I think. David Zinczenco, Pepper Schwartz, thank you both for your time this morning.
ZINCZENCO: Thank you, Paula.
SCHWARTZ: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 13, 2003 - 09:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With Americans bracing for terrorism, it appears men and women don't share the same degree of concern. According to a new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, 57 percent of women are afraid that they or someone they love will become victims of terrorism. Just 36 percent of men have a similar fear. So why the worry gap between the sexes?
Joining us now to help us better understand all this from Seattle are Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington.
Thanks for getting up so early for us this morning.
With me here in New York, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of "Men's Health" magazine.
Good to see you as well.
Pepper, I'm going to start with you this morning. Why do you think the poll shows that women are much more scared than men?
PEPPER SCHWARTZ, UNIV. OF WASHINGTON SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR: Well, I think women are more scared, because they're getting that sort of momma bear approach, which is, they are the caretakers of their family. They worry for their men, they worry for their children, whereas men, I think, get a lot of blustery and, I can handle this, I'm not scared -- part of their whole overall makeup and equipment. But for women, they're the caretakers and their the protectors. And they're worried that they have to think of everything they can possibly think of so that they're not at fault if someone they love is hurt.
HEMMER: All right, David, bluster or a sense of fatalism, that perhaps women don't have?
DAVID ZINCZENCO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: I think guys are kind of putting it out of their minds. When you tell a guy that the nation is at an orange state, that's very maddening. That's like saying, guys, danger danger's imminent, we'll get back to you. So a lot of guys put off problems until they're staring them in the face. So they're treating this conflict, or this looming threat, as kind of like a traumatic breakup. Women deal with it right away, they get it all out in the open, put it behind them, move on. Men tend to deny, deny, deny, they're macho. And then they're calling you up in six months later, in the middle of the night, a drunken mess, wondering why everything went wrong.
HEMMER: Are they inclined to go out and buy tape and plastic sheets?
ZINCZENCO: They are when they see the threat, when it's very real and alive, when they see the cloud, when they see chaos. But I don't think they plan for it in advance the way women might.
HEMMER: Pepper, let's talk a little about the runs on stores, we've seen, particularly in the Northeast, and in particular here in Manhattan. It is, in fact, women that are buying more of the duct tape and plastic sheets.
Why is that? Same reasons as you gave in your first answer?
SCHWARTZ: Pretty much. I mean, you know, why is it that women, you know, outfit their house and guys have refrigerators with nothing in them? I think it's the same instinct. You know, be prepared and be the person who does it, because if you don't do it, no one else will.
ZAHN: So you really do see a pattern of men always returning to the caveman roots here?
ZINCZENCO: I think...
SCHWARTZ: Well, no. I wouldn't -- sorry.
ZAHN: You can answer that Pepper, and then I'll let David weigh in.
SCHWARTZ: OK, no, I wouldn't say the caveman roots. There's actually some physiological surveys that shows -- and research actually by the University of Washington by John Gotten (ph) that show that men have, just as I think your other guest mentioned it, they have a kind of a response system that acts in the moment, rather than later. So that if you do a thing where there's a loud noise for guys, they go from zero to 100 real quickly, they're ready to fight, they're toes at the line, they're ready, not before; whereas, women will have the same kind of noise or something aggressive that's proposed to them, and their idea will be to protect others.
So I think there's some physiology there. There's some role behavior that we learn in a given culture. But I don't think you necessarily have to go back to the Neanderthal to find its roots.
ZAHN: Final thought, David,?
ZINCZENCO: I think the return to traditional roles is in order. I think what you'll see is that men of action were very maligned for the last few decades, and that September 11th taught us there was a value in guys charging into burning buildings, and we turned to them, and they were very valuable indeed during times of crisis. I think you'll see a lot of that happening now. Guys want to get in the thick of things. They don't want to discuss it. They want to know, who's the target? Who am I going after, and then they want to go and do it.
ZAHN: If they feel they have any control at all.
ZINCZENCO: Exactly. ZAHN: That's one of the key differences there, I think. David Zinczenco, Pepper Schwartz, thank you both for your time this morning.
ZINCZENCO: Thank you, Paula.
SCHWARTZ: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
