Male Privilege: It's Electric! And Not In A Good Way
Men tend to be the risk-takers of the species and also tend to spend more time outside -- both in jobs and in outdoor activities like fishing.
This is why "every person killed by lightning in the United States this year has been male" and lightning "strikes men way more frequently than women."
Lulu Chang reports at Bustle:
In the past eight years, an astounding 80 percent of those killed by lightning strikes have been men. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lightning has killed more men than women every single year since 1968. And while awareness of the dangers associated with lightning have greatly decreased fatalities, men are still in the higher risk group.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has provided a partial explanation for this discrepancy in a recent study that examined the main activities people were engaged in when struck by lightning. Topping the list was fishing, which led to 26 of the 238 deaths that occurred between 2006 and 2012. Also among the culprits were such sports as soccer and golf, and other recreational activities like camping and boating.
No, it's not that the penis acts as a lightning rod, though it's probably a bad idea to whip it out outside while in the middle of a big thunderstorm.
via @SteveStuWill
No, it's not that the penis acts as a lightning rod,
Except, perhaps, for those hipsters who have it pierced.
JD at May 19, 2016 11:21 PM
Well crap.
I've got a lake out my back door and do as much, or more, fishing than your average fisherman.
Although I've been inside more the last few days tying flies since there have been so many storms, so I've got that going for me.
Think my lack of penis will save me?
Annie at May 20, 2016 5:14 AM
Well Annie I guess it depends upon whether you use a whippy rod or a stiff one.
Bob in Texas at May 20, 2016 5:24 AM
Annie, just wave a 1 iron over your head. In the immortal words of Lee Trevino Not even God can hit a 1-iron.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/leetrevino125119.html
I R A Darth Aggie at May 20, 2016 6:06 AM
The U.S. leader in lightning deaths, by far, is Florida. I know from living in South Florida that lightning is a near-constant hazard there; every major building has a lightning protection system. Florida is flat, and it's a haven for recreational activities that take place outside in flat terrain -- fishing, as Annie points out, or boating, swimming, and the big one is golf. I was a softball umpire in Florida, and one of the things the league stressed to us is that, when you see thunderheads gathering in the area, you don't wait until it starts raining -- you call the game immediately and make everyone get off the field and go to their cars.
Cousin Dave at May 20, 2016 6:45 AM
It's not the penis that attracts the lightning, it's the iron boogers.
Conan the Grammarian at May 20, 2016 7:33 AM
Here in Minnesota, the fish bite best as the storm approaches and starts. The odds are better you'll catch a good walleye than get hit by lightning. That's how men think.
Dave B at May 20, 2016 12:45 PM
Well, we MUST correct this gender imbalance - let's tie up some feminists to metal stakes in the middle of the alfalfa field come the next thunderstorm - that should even out the odds.
And, yes, Dave B has it right; the men aren't "stupid" they are playing the odds of catching some fish - and just before a storm is a good time when the fish are biting.
charles at May 21, 2016 7:32 AM
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