[re_nelson]

While trying to avoid venturing down a Psychology 101 cul de sac, why do women (in general) appear to not find antennas appealing?

At a recent neighborhood get-together, my neighbor's wife commented that she thought my home had become ugly when a very modest antenna was recently mounted on the roof. In contrast, her husband said he thought it "looked cool".

 

[stampeder]

When someone tells me that antennas are "ugly", an "eyesore", etc. etc. I like to challenge a few of their assumptions with some questions about whether their neighbourhood has any power poles with cabling, transformers, etc. and any satellite dishes. Most people find all of those to be ugly, but I've actually had some people tell me that houses with 3 or 4 satellite dishes are okay while those with OTA antennas are not. No accounting for taste.

 

[ProjectSHO89]

Tell your neighbor's wife she doesn't look so appealing since she put on a few pounds.

I guarantee that the antenna won't be a subject of further conversation!

 

[Jase88]

I believe most women just don't "get it".

I'd take an antenna on a roof any day, over two (or more) dishes mounted directly to the front of a house.

 

[MoreDB]

Since we are going down the "Psychology 101 Hwy", IMO, most wives disprove of antenna's" (beyond small hide-able indoor models) for the same reason wives have always been concerned about such "trivial" matters (at least by the typical male psyche):

"In general", women are more concerned about the opinions of others (family & neighbors etc), and those "concerns' are "more likely" to govern their actions and beliefs. The Psychology term is " social proofing". Antenna's are considered low class (read lower income), by the "typical" Canadian, and the fact that their "visible usage" represent a very small percentage of the public, just compounds antenna's deemed "ugliness" and low "Wife Acceptance Factor".

Women are also "less likely" to see the benefit of having some antenna creature "invade" their living space, until they see for themselves, the jaw dropping awesomeness that is OTA HDTV

As Stampeder explained, many homes have multiple satellite dishes but even a single 4 Bay antenna is frowned upon and deemed "ugly". In this immediate area, there are literally dozens of satellite dishes, with 7 dishes on a grand total of 3 homes.

 

[El Gran Chico]

FWIW, my wife thinks it's cool we get OTA HD. (she even clips magazine/newspaper articles on OTA or the digital transition for me). Paying big sums of money to Rogers for HD, not so cool.

 

[HWP]

El Gran Chico,

Your wife and mine are keepers.

My wife proudly shares with her friends about our OTA set-up and free TV. She participates along with my young kids in our "antenna hunts" as we drive around our neighbourhood.

She digs that the $150/month we recovered from Rogers when we cancelled cable and home phone has been sent directly to RESPs. She thinks smart guys like her hubby are ahead of the curve in exploiting OTA.

All that being said, her eyes start rolling when I point at an antenna in the neighbourhood and say, "that's a Winegard hd-8800, and that one's a Channel Master 4221hd, and that one's an Antennas Direct 91-xg."

 

[DdDave]

Antenna's are considered low class (read lower income), by the "typical" Canadian, and the fact that their "visible usage" represent a very small percentage of the public, just compounds antenna's deemed "ugliness" and low "Wife Acceptance Factor"

I would add "low-tech" to that. I would guess that people think that they are being high-tech by using a dish that gets signals beamed from a satellite, and don't realize the OTA signals now are just as digital as the satellite signals. The perception out there is still that OTA is filled with snow and ghosts.

My wife is also a big fan of OTA and tells her friends about it, and then wonders why more people don't want free HD when her friends aren't the least bit interested.

 

[wilspin]

this thread best left alone

 

[Vuarra]

My wife had plenty of objections until she saw the quality of picture. Now, she's waiting till I get enough money to get another antenna rig to get Buffalo clearer. Even the neighbors here are talking, wanting to know how good it actually is. Wife issues I have, the antenna is NOT one of them.

 

[MonopolyBuster]

While trying to avoid venturing down a Psychology 101 cul de sac, why do women (in general) appear to not find antennas appealing?

Seriously you didn't know that Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars? Witness the old complaint about leaving a toilet seat up. Who says it needs to be down all the time when there are more than women living in a household? Has women's lib gone so far that men can't think rationally anymore? Who has time for all of this?

Women crave order hence the propensity to neatness; most straight men couldn't care less. So too with the antenna. Agreed that its not asthetic to the ordered sight-lines of the house, but rather it makes a bold statement and appeals to the testasterone-fueled nature of men. It shouts "look at me, I have power over the airwaves"!

So much for the Psychology 101 dead-end.

 

[stampeder]

As the Royal Canadian Air Farce clarified a few years ago, "Women are from Venus, and Men are from Moncton."

I think too much is being made here of any special female attitude towards OTA Gear. Show me a condo board and I'll show you real antenna haters.

 

[Billsmith]

Sorry - Condo boards have limited understanding of antennas or wot? This seems very odd ball?! In the UK, the condos typically provide a master antenna which feeds the entire condo complex via a D/A. Maybe condo boards here are made up of very rule orientated especially low tolerance polarized types of folk??? Although personally I remember being treated very well in my rental days.

My wife seems to prefer greater numbers of channels whether via antenna or not! However, so far she seems accepting of my antennas and more so as more HD channels appear. My aunt who was visiting from the UK thought that they were useful as she could easily find the house after going for a walk. No psychology involved 101 or otherwise.

 

[stampeder]

In Canada MATV systems were common in condos, apartment blocks, and hotels/motels prior to the Cable TV revolution of the 1960s and '70s, then by and large disappeared. Condo boards in general tend to frown on any placement of antennas or dishes on their buildings.

Staying on the thread topic, the WAF is of course one of the most powerful forces in the universe, never to be trifled with. I wish I had some universal, guaranteed-to-work advice to smooth over the WAF, but guys... you are on your own. "Too angry she is... outdoor antenna user you will never be."

 

[re_nelson]

...the WAF is of course one of the most powerful forces in the universe, never to be trifled with...

To some extent, I encountered a variation of the "WAF" during my days (years ago) in major (US) market commercial radio.

When I worked at an AOR/classic rock station, our processing was set just short of the grunge threshold. The station was loud (to almost jump out and grab you by the throat) and heavily processed. Much of the music was already at 9.5 on a 10-point scale and the processing took it to 11.

Not long after, I changed markets and stations to work at a soft AC facility. We had a well-known consultant who was involved with all phases of the airsound, including the processing. The consultant had focus group studies backing his assertion that our female 25-44 target was annoyed and fatigued by aggressive audio processing. Thus the airchain was very gentle, with a minimal coloring or shaping of the sound.

I suppose this is one more data point to validate that indeed "Women are from Venus, and Men are from Moncton."

 

[Lineloss]

Before you get married a big antenna seems to impress them but after you are married for some time your antenna won't impress them anymore; When you get your antenna up they won't help you mount and adjust it, so you will have to do it yourself....