Bundling and the sexes

By Samantha Henry

Tree branches glisten with snow, the air is raw and the wind is strong one winter day at the University of Connecticut.
A boy, around 20, trudges in jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt, seemingly unaffected by the weather.
A girl, about the same age, shivers with each step she takes. Arms crossed, face down and hood up, she faces the cold weather with warm boots, gloves, a scarf, and a thick, puffy jacket.
“There’s a social perception that many young men subscribe to about masculinity,” Jeffrey Wickersham, a professor in the communication department specializing in gender differences, said. “Maybe it’s about being tough, braving the cold.”
Dr. Thomas Odinak, a pediatrician from Fairfield, Conn. agreed with Wickersham that there could be a social factor involved in the way that college students dress for the cold weather.
“I think that the number of kids affected in a medical way is small,” Odinak said. “It is not big enough to make a difference. An underactive thyroid causes people to feel cold. This is more common in women than men. But most women don’t have it, so I don’t think that this is the explanation.”
Some students believe that the difference lies in the size of the person.
Annie Petitti, a junior, sat in the library, still wearing a snow hat and scarf, and her nose was red from the outside cold. She said that maybe girls bundle up more because they’re smaller and could be more sensitive to the cold.
“I want to say girls have less body fat, but that’s not always true,” Petitti said.
Hormone levels are one thing that’s different, Odinak said.
“It’s possible that there’s an influence on the sense of cold. Increasing testosterone levels boosts energy and strength,” Odinak said.
Whether guys show off to be tough or just don’t care, it may be because of higher levels of testosterone, Odinak said. The difference could also be that guys are more physically active, which could keep them warmer.
“On campus, I see guys coming out of the gym in shorts, which could be part of it,” Wickersham said. “When I see guys in shorts in the cold I think ‘What the hell is wrong with you? Going to the gym? Don’t want to carry a bag?’”
When Wickersham was in college, he noted that he was more willing to go out in freezing weather than he is now. Today, he owns three heavy winter coats. “You learn,” Wickersham said. “Maybe girls know more. Maybe they learn faster.”
Odinak also noted that when he was in college he didn’t bundle up as much. “As I get older, I dress more warmly,” Odinak said.
Amanda Alvarez, a junior at UConn, thinks that maybe girls dress warmer because of fashion. Uggs, the furry boots that almost every girl on campus loves to wear, and puffy North Face coats, are popular not just because they keep the occupants warm.
“I honestly think that [guys] think that they’re too cool to wear a jacket,” Alvarez said. “I think that guys are just stupid and girls are more intelligent. Maybe men are just more warm-blooded, hunters.”
Ryan Brown, a sophomore, said that he might be cold when he goes out in just a sweatshirt, but it won’t affect him. “I just don’t care,” Brown said.
Petitti put on her coat, scarf, and hat to leave the library. Stepping out of the student union, Alvarez zips up her red puffy coat. Wickersham lifts his heavy coat from the chair in the Nathan Hale lobby, put each arm in the its proper sleeve, and walks out.