watching project runway with guys makes you smarter.

Among all of the new things I was experiencing in my first week at Drexel, I decided to turn to an old favorite from home, which is to watch Project Runway. For those who don't know, Project Runway is a reality show in which 15 up and coming fashion designers compete to win a new car as well as $100,000 dollars to start their own clothing line...not exactly the most masculine show on this planet. So I walked over to the Race Street dorms to watch it with my fellow girls only to find that we had completely taken over our guy friends common room (and their 60 inch screen T.V).  Even more to my surprise, some of the guys actually stayed and watched! 

How watching this seemingly brainless show with a group that is an unlikely viewer is an enriching experience in several ways. For instance, because it is a show that basically eliminates its contestants for having poor fashion taste, craftsmanship and sometimes time management skills, the viewer becomes smarter in the sense that they learn what styles are considered classics, as well as just in style for the moment. Also, this show makes us smarter by making you think like a judge and designer to try and figure out who is going to go home and who will continue on in the show. 

But of course, to refer back to my topic, how watching this show with guys makes us smarter is that you get to hear the masculine perception of a predominantly feminine controlled industry. Also, by being forced to explain things through out the show, you actually have to think about what is happening and why certain decisions were reached by the contestants as well as the judges. This is what point the book "Everything Bad is Good For You" is all about, being forced to think about the outcome of a situation without knowing everything that goes into making the decision.