In newspapers and magazines, it seems that you can`t go wrong with lists. Editors are crazy about them, readers are curious about them, and writers love to string them together.
Years ago, a writer named Jack Newfield got credit for coming up with the perfect New York magazine story; a magazine, by the way, that has been aped in just about every major American city.
Newfield contended that the story New York magazine thought its readers most wanted to peruse was ”The Favorite Recipes of the 10 Worst Bisexual Judges in New York.”
The fine art of journalistic list-making has evolved, and nowadays even eminent pollsters are about the business of compiling them. The Roper Organization, which you probably thought confined its interest to weighty issues like school prayer and tax reform, has stumbled into the wonderland of ”what`s in, what`s out.”
Ordinarily, that sort of poser would be the domain of People magazine or
”Entertainment Tonight.” But, while they were grappling with serious questions, the good people at Roper decided to solicit our opinions on the fashions of the day. In the process, they came up with some categories that would boggle the mind of David Letterman.
Sushi, for example. Raw fish. You go into a restaurant, sit at a table and choose from a bit-size array of recently deceased fish. And how do you feel about this phenomenon?
Well, 32 percent of the male population in the survey believes that sushi is ”in.” A larger segment of the female population, 39 percent, is convinced that raw fish is an absolute happening.
How about the word ”commitment?” Does the very mention of the word make your gums ache?
According to Roper, 51 percent of the women asked the question, though not in that way, stated that the word was ”in.” Fifty percent of the men agreed.
On the other hand, 35 percent of the women polled–and they`ll never appear on the Phil Donahue show–said ”commitment” was out. And precisely one-third of the men surveyed agreed with that.
Not all of the categories were frivolous, in case you`re getting the wrong impression. Haven`t you sat up nights, worrying about the arms race and wondering if putting a mousse or gel on your hair was the right thing to do?
In this great country of ours, 67 percent of the women put on the spot believed that mousse or gel was ”in.” The men had some problems in this department; fewer than 4 in 10 were comfortable with the notion.
Beer is every bit as important a liquid as mousse, or so the numbers from the Roper Organization assure us. Thin is certainly in, but 87 percent of the men and 81 percent of the women in the survey believe that beer is in as well. A piddling 5 percent of the men polled think beer is out.
Consider this issue, which has never been discussed on ”Nightline,” but is suitable grist for the Roper mill: Is the wearing of clothes or underclothes designed to look as though they were meant to be worn by the opposite sex ”in” or ”out?”
Time`s up. More than half the women in the Roper Report think that the aforementioned phenomenon is right on. The opposite sex–in this case, men
–aren`t so sure. Forty percent believe the process is ”in,” but 30 percent insist that it`s way out. The remainder of the crowd? Probably out buying new clothes.
Now we come to a question that has never been broached at a presidential press conference. Is the wearing of two or more earrings in an ear ”in” or
”out”?
Almost 80 percent of the women confronted by this option believe that if your lobes are up to it, a pair of earrings, or even a trio, is de rigueur.
On the two-earring or more question, 61 percent of the males said they thought lobe overload was ”in,” and a mere 21 percent believed it to be unfashionable. Presumably, this survey was not conducted in taverns on the Southwest Side of Chicago.
The Roper Report offered points of view on other global topics, such as Mexican food (”in,” by a wide margin), Tofutti (”don`t know” a big winner here), short hair for women (”in,” very ”in”) and marriage (”in” for 68 percent of the women and 66 percent of the men).
Sadly, for those of you who`ve been keeping score, the Roper survey was conducted near the end of 1984, with the results just now becoming available. For all we know, a sea change in public opinion on sushi or commitment or earrings may have occurred.
So, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the Tofutti question, don`t despair. We`ll check in with the folks at Roper next year for an update.
