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Confused.com reveals that ‘Gender has never mattered less’

A new Confused.com report, entitled ‘UK caught in the gender blender’ anticipates new EU gender rules, which will come into force on 21 December 2012. The rules will mean that men and women will be treated identically when it comes to insurance, with no more gender-based discounts for women drivers. Cheaper life insurance for women will also become a thing of the past.

The report reveals that the rules of the gender battle between men and women have changed for good. The Future Laboratory, which compiled the research report on behalf of Confused.com, has identified that the ‘battle for gender-blindness’ will take over from the fight for equality, or feminism.

Other EU countries have already taken gender equality a lot further than the UK but Elise Claeson, who contributed to the Confused.com report, revealed that: “Gender neutrality has been a disaster in Sweden.”

Elise, who is a former equality expert at the Swedish Confederation of Professions, explains: “Gender neutrality has caused an epidemic of relationship breakdowns, because we are sexually attracted to the opposite, yet we have spent years trying to make men and women the same.”

But neuroscientist and author Lise Eliot argued in the report that people’s ability to drive well, to talk about emotions, and to read maps, are not set in stone by our genes or hormones. Instead, they are programmed to be girls and boys by the words and actions of parents and friends.

“Kids rise or fall according to what we believe about them,” she said. “Pre-schoolers are already aware of what’s acceptable to their peers and what’s not.”

She continued: “There is little solid evidence in human studies of sex differences in children’s brains. The idea that girl’s brains are wired for communication and boy’s for aggression is simply a fallacy.

“We still live in a clear two-gender culture. But rather than being something we are born with, our gender identity is set by the nurturing of our parents and the pressures of our peers.”

The report also examines the impact of the new EU gender rules, which will be enforced from 21 December 2012.

Matt Lloyd, Head of Life insurance from Confused.com feels that losing gender as a risk factor for insurance is a step backwards. He commented: “Gender is a stable and useful long term indicator of risk which cannot be replaced easily when the new law comes into effect on 21 December 2012. Women definitely have the most to lose through the changes relating to life insurance.

“It is likely that life insurers will be looking for a similar solution to telematics in the future and that the individual, not the group, will be rated.”

More than half (51%) of people in the UK think that women and men are equal when it comes to driving, sports (52%) and in the kitchen (52%). Tellingly, two thirds (66%) of people also say men and women are business equals.

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Releases New Facebook App Designed To Celebrate Friendships

Coinciding with the release of a report titled ‘Friendship, Finance and the Future: The rise of Singledom in the UK’, Confused.com has created an app that allows users to celebrate the important friends in their life.

A report by Future Poll for Confused.com has shown that four in five say that friendships last longer than romantic relationships. With friends playing such an important role in our lives the app gives users the opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of their meetings, or ‘Frenniversary’ and show how important their friends are.

The app, called ‘Friend Booth’, has three different functions; a tattoo booth, a cover photo montage creator and a Frenniversary reminder service.

The tattoo booth allows Facebook users to create an image with a virtual tattoo dedicated to their closest friend. The user selects their friend and either takes a photo or chooses an existing one, they then select the style of tattoo they want their friend’s name to appear in. They can resize the tattoo and adjust the angle to make it look as convincing as possible before posting it to their wall.

The photo montage creator allows users to create a montage that’s sized, ready for them to have as their cover photo. The Facebook application asks users to enter the name of their best friend. Photos in which both the user and their best friend are tagged will be displayed, allowing the user to select their favourite pictures which will be automatically added into a bespoke image that the user can set as their profile cover image.

The report claims that in the future relationships status on passports and census forms could include mate-trimony as an option, with next of kin automatically being a friend. With friends playing such a significant role in our lives celebrating Frenniversaries will become more common. The Facebook application helps us remember this date by providing a Frenniversary reminder service. When they sign up their email address and friend’s name they’ll be sent an email reminder to make sure they don’t forget to celebrate the day.

Sharon Flaherty, head of content at Confused.com said: “This application is all about having fun with your friends and showing you appreciate them, but the report raises issues around how insurance companies need to protect long-term friendships as they do marriage. More and more people are relying on their friends, buying houses with them and becoming financially co-dependent. If something were to happen they would be left completely unprotected.

“This report by Future Poll shows that in the future more single people will protect their most important relationships with life insurance, in the short term the app allows users to show the people that matter they care.”

Via EPR Network
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