# All In The Family Parlor Trick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 11, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262 "2021-01-11T14:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/1 "2021-01-11T14:58:15Z")
I don’t know if it’s really a parlor trick but I couldn’t think of any other way to title my topic. Does anyone remember the episode of All in the Family where they placed a chair sideways in front of a wall, a person would bend over and place the top of their head on the wall and then pick up the chair in that position? From what I recall (I was a kid at the time), women could do it but men couldn’t. I remember it being a big thing where everyone was trying it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/2 "2021-01-11T15:00:15Z")
Yeah, I remember that. Has to do with distribution of weight or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/3 "2021-01-11T15:00:51Z")
Yes, it used to be a thing when I was in college in that era. It has something to do with the relative proportions of men’s and women’s bodies and leverage. Women have a lower center of gravity. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/4 "2021-01-11T15:01:12Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I remember it being a big thing where everyone was trying it at home. Yep. I remember my family all trying with a dining room chair. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/5 "2021-01-11T15:20:25Z")
The [“chair challenge”](https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/12/09/why-cant-men-do-the-chair-challenge-tiktok-science-social-media/) seems to have surfaced recently again on TikTok. Rather than differences in center of gravity, evidently it is due to the fact that men’s feet are longer so that they end up being farther from the wall and have less leverage. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/6 "2021-01-11T15:40:06Z")
This was demonstrated at our elementary school in the mid '70s. It was part of some sort of “community outreach” presentation by our police department. The male student was a tall jock. The female student had, for her age, a rather large bust. I made the assumption that girls had boob muscles that boys lacked and, on some level, have believed that ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/7 "2021-01-11T15:49:19Z")
Interesting. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/8 "2021-01-11T15:54:15Z")
A short man would find it easier to do, but even at the same height women would have an advantage since men have proportionately larger feet. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/9 "2021-01-11T15:57:28Z")
I remember doing this as a then-11-year-old boy. I picked up the chair easily. Instead of being cheered or congratulated, though, it just kind of reinforced the “less than masculine” reputation I was trying kind of desperately to shed. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262/10 "2021-01-11T16:20:33Z")
Same here. 🙄