A visible tampon makes both sexes rate a woman as less competent

Evidence

What researchers found was that after the woman dropped the tampon on the table, male and female participants rated her less competent and less likable than they did when she dropped the hairclip. They also chose to sit farther away from her. Perhaps most intriguing, dropping the tampon led both men and women to rate physical appearance as especially important for women. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 602

Categorization

• CANDY: Perfect cocktail-party fact: a single dropped tampon measurably lowers how both men and women judge a woman’s competence and likability.