1202: Girls and Boys

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Girls and Boys

Title text: To get more knowledge

Explanation

This comic is a play on the popular school-yard taunt, "Girls go to college, to get more knowledge; boys go to Jupiter, to get more stupider," also commonly heard as "Boys go to Mars, to get more candy bars; girls go to Jupiter, to get more stupider." The words "boys" and "girls" may be interchanged depending on the gender of the person chanting.

The comic subverts the original rhyme by having both girls and boys go to college to gain knowledge, and then using that knowledge to go to Jupiter as part of a space program.

The schoolyard taunt embodies the competitiveness and separation commonly seen between young boys and girls, taunts about the superiority of one's gender, and superstitions about what happens if you touch or associate with someone of the other gender (you get "cooties"). This comic subverts that mentality and emphasizes learning and cooperation free of gender bias/separation; the title text further emphasizes learning and intellectual improvement because the purpose of "going to Jupiter" is "to get more knowledge."

The phallic connotation of a rocket take-off picture, associated with the "boys and girl" picture introduction, also hints at "go to Jupiter" suggesting in that case a metaphor for sexual intercourse (to rise to seventh heaven). "To gain more knoledge" means to learn to overpass this competitiveness and separation, the tendency for competitiveness and separatioon between boys and girls ceases when one learn to touch or associate properly with someone of the other gender.

Transcript

Girls go to college

To get more knowledge

[Megan studying at a table.]

Boys go to college

To get more knowledge

[Cueball studying at a table.]

Girls and boys

[Space launch control room.]

Go to Jupiter

[Rocket launch.]

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Discussion

I figured it was a poem. Turns out it is, of a sort. https://encrypted.google.com/webhp#safe=off&q=%22girls+go+to%22+%22to+get+more%22 68.151.108.107 04:50, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

The original poem is "Boys go to Jupiter, to get more stupider, girls go to college, to get more knowledge. 97.122.98.70 03:23, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Depends on where you are from I'm sure. Posted a link to a meme with the reverse version which is also currently used in the explanation. --Kynde (talk) 05:39, 7 August 2016 (UTC)

I thought of Men are from Mars Women are from Venus by John Gray and the response Men Are from Earth. Women Are from Earth: Deal with It by Gorge Carlin. If only the sexes could work together we could go to Jupiter. --202.129.80.226 08:12, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

This is wonderful and I think in the same spirit as the comic. Stop the 'sex war' jokes and admit that both boys and girls want knowledge. And to arrive to Jupiter. 84.150.177.228 14:02, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Both of you need to read some feminist literature (real feminist, not pop-feminist). 66.202.132.250 18:03, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

For example?--58.6.224.93 01:26, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Anything by "bell hooks" (it's a pen name, and it is all lowercase) 66.202.132.250 19:16, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

https://excoradfeminisms.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/bell_hooks-feminism_is_for_everybody.pdf 173.190.128.129 16:06, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Why would anyone need or even want to read anything like this‽ 141.101.99.13 20:04, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

I would interpret differently the two last pictures: as girls and boys SEPARATLY go to college to get knowledge, Girls and boys TOGETHER go to Jupiter, meaning when a boy and girl interact, they generally act stupid... 217.128.49.53 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I cannot imagine the author of XKCD using going to Jupiter as an example of doing something stupid. Absolutely improbable IMHO.84.150.177.228 14:02, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

isnt thw rocket quite phallic? girlsnand boysngo to colledge to getmore....ehm... knowledge? 88.119.96.51 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

No, is only a rocket. But, thinking about your comment like it was a response from a rorschach test, well, it tell us something about yourself Chris-l (talk) 15:22, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

It tells us that he's drunk. 66.202.132.250 18:03, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

For rockets it's the aerodynamic, but some towers make you thinking, especially if some mayors compete who has it bigger ... I mean who has bigger tower in their city. -- Hkmaly (talk) 09:34, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

After reading the discussion here, I actually support the sexual innuendo explanation. Consider what you learn with american college movies, xkcd's tendency to subvert ideas (remember it's a child's chanting) and the rocket analogy. Also, the title text may have the purpose of correcting the reader's dirty mind. 108.162.212.28 02:09, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

99.66.9.158 11:26, 22 April 2013 (UTC)Sometimes a rocket is just a rocket.

Looks to me like a typical Titan rocket. Zelmo (talk) 14:15, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

I wish today's comic made me laugh. 184.66.160.91 14:30, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

"Go to Jupiter to get knowledge" is a reference to the movie 2001. Also, I remember hearing the poem as "GIRLS, go to COLL,ege so THEY can get, KNOW,ledge, BOYS, go to JUpiter so THEY, can get STUpider" which avoids the "more stupider" construction. 66.202.132.250 17:57, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

knowledge or no knowledge, I don't want to go TO Jupiter. Near Jupiter, maybe. Ganymede? ‎24.79.11.46 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Not TOO near Jupiter either. Io is particularly unhospitable. Europe? -- Hkmaly (talk) 09:34, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Frankly, I am thanfull Mr. Munroe made this. This taunt, while never directly aimed at myself, was an irritant to me, a knowledge-lover. This comic reconciles the genders and deconstructs the taunt. (Of course, from what I had seen in my life, most school-age boys, even the adolescent ones, WOULD prefer getting stupider, what with their real-life trolling and immature behaviour.) Greyson (talk) 12:03, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Nah, most boys wouldn't like to be stupider, they are perfectly satisfied with how stupid they are :-) -- Hkmaly (talk) 09:34, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

By the way, I first head of the taunt (but with the clauses reversed) in Hey Arnold! Greyson (talk) 12:05, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Girls think going to Jupiter is stupid? Typical. XY FTW :P 220.224.246.97 12:25, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Hmmm, I saw the rocket blasting off as sexual inuendo. And the alt text/pop up reference about going to Jupiter to get more knowledge I took as gaining carnal knowledge. 98.203.137.178 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Currently the explanation says that '.. human beings arn't yet even capable of going to Mars.' This is patently false - it confuses ability with desire. I'm going to change the wording on that. 24.70.188.179 18:08, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

A manned mission to Jupiter would actually be pretty stupid since it's made of gas. They're better off going to one of the moons. Europa, maybe, or Ganymede. Jake (talk) 15:51, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Oy. There is some serious overthink going on here. Orazor (talk) 12:42, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Why would you visit a gas giant with crippling gravity? The only thing stupider than going to Jupiter, is going to the sun, which is no fun. -- 00:02, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Oh my God. The original taunt has nothing sexual content. This also doesn't. The rocket is really looking like a rocket launch, very clearly made, and not very much like a phallus, although in the right frame of (male) mind anything tower like can look like that. It is so clear that this comic is only about deconstructing a stupid taunt, and has noting to do with sex! Going on a manned mission to Jupiter, by the way, would always mean either going in to orbit or to one of the larger moons. But you would still not say we are going to "Europa" (the moon) but we are going to Jupiter (to land on Europa). That it would be hard to survive for long out there, due to heavy cosmic radiation enhanced by the strong magnetic field of Jupiter, may make it seem stupid to go there on a manned mission, but many people have sacrificed their lives on mission of exploration before in human history. So this may not even be seen as stupid if there where important knowledge to gain and I'm sure many people would be willing to die young after having seen the storm of Jupiter up close! (rant over :-) --Kynde (talk) 05:36, 7 August 2016 (UTC)

Well, now Cher goes to Jupiter. And Isaac Asimov knew it before. http://www.images-booknode.com/book_cover/86/full/cher-jupiter-85720.jpg 162.158.202.144 08:51, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I'm reminded of the old joke about women getting MRS degrees. 108.162.237.136 16:26, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

I'm just confused about a couple of things: if boys are going to Jupiter, then how smart are they in order to engineer a rocket that can take human beings to Jupiter? Also, "more stupider"? It's either "more stupid" or just "stupider". Lastly, isn't this implying that boys need to go all the way to Jupiter just to lose a couple of brain cells? Same way reversed genders. Just stating a couple of things you can point out if somebody ever says this to you.

'Boys go to jupiter to get more stupider.' Oh, the irony. Beanie (talk) 12:57, 24 May 2021 (UTC)