Not long ago I saw an interesting Japanese entertainment show that quizzed women on how well they understood the psychology of men. Simple street interviews would not be enough to ensure the appeal of the show; it took a further step to invite around 20 female celebrities of different styles to answer questions about what men think. They included the girl-next-door type, sassy kittens, mature women with plenty of experience with men, smart and sentimental women, androgynous women and comedians who never seemed to have any luck with men. So many different types of woman, yet which kind understood men best? Sounds like an appealing gimmick right?

The highlight of the show was of course those hilarious scenario questions, where the "answer" was chosen by over 1,000 street interview results. Let's look at the first question: When do you most want your girlfriend to be by your side? There were four choices: A. Birthday; B. Christmas; C: When I am ill; D. When I am not happy with work. Results from the street survey showed that the fewest people chose D, while the next choice was C. The second favourite choice was B, and the number one went to A. It's not hard to imagine that men want their girlfriends to be around on their birthdays. However, it was kind of unexpected that Christmas closely followed.

Other interesting questions included:
Q: Which gift would you hate to receive from your girlfriend?
A. Food she made; B. Branded goods; C. Hand-knitted sweater; D. Matching lover's outfit.

Q: Under what circumstances would you find it irresistible to hug your girlfriend?
A. When you see her cute smile; B. When she cries; C. When you finally meet again after a long separation; D. When she is down.

Q: Which of the following girly behaviours can you most easily put up with?
A. Jealousy; B. Requests to see you immediately; C. Not wanting to go home; D. Requests for kisses.

Japanese men are, of course, different from Hong Kong men, and I couldn't make a single correct guess throughout the show. This is probably one of the reasons why the show was so interesting. The last question in the show made me think about how different Japanese moral standards are from ours. Question: Which of the following comments from a girl would hurt you most? One of the answers provided was directly related to sex! The television show was aired during prime time and the celebrities present were in no way vulgar. But none of them was embarrassed when given the choice of such answers, nor did the boys being interviewed on the streets. I can't help thinking: would this be the case in Hong Kong? And if not, why?

By Jan Mak

*Translation from Chinese article.