Are you more likely to give money to a panhandler depending on their gender? Is age or attractiveness a factor?
more likely to give to males
as a redpilled MRA, I know how many advantages females have
they don’t need my handouts
More likely to give to an older woman. The societal deck is stacked against them.
The reason I ask is because I take one of two routes everyday to work and at one intersection near work there’s a woman panhandling, and at another intersection not far from there is a man.
I don’t give money to either of them, but the man seems to do better than the woman based just on what I observe while waiting at each respective light. I often have to wait 2 full cycles at either light so I see a good 6-7 minutes of action.
The woman is overweight and I’d guess about mid-40s. She’s swarthy, wears a headscarf, and walks with a cane.
The man is white, looks to be in decent shape, and usually dressed weather-appropriate (he wears a raincoat when it’s wet out, a winter coat when it’s cold out, …). I don’t think he’s quite old enough to have fought in Vietnam, but he’s probably on the outskirts of that neighborhood.
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I’m not a big city person, but I can’t recall ever being hit up by a female panhandler. In my experience, panhandlers have been exclusively male. I’ve also never seen a panhandler that I thought was particularly attractive (in a manly, hetero sort of way, that is). Generally looking disheveled and grubby is part of the shtick, at least from what I’ve seen.
I put something else, because your only option is “I don’t give to panhandlers, and neither should you.” That’s not how I feel. I don’t give to panhandlers. It has never, ever made me feel good, it’s always made me feel like I’ve been robbed. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
I did give some money to a homeless man last week in Atlanta who gave me directions - but that was a little different. He hit us up after he gave us the directions. I will also give money to buskers who interest me. I don’t just give to anyone, though.
I voted “something else” as well. I don’t think gender or the presence of children sways my giving habits, but it certainly could on a subconscious basis.
I live in a medium size city in Oregon where there’s practically a panhandler on every major intersection, and definitely on most street corners downtown. And it extents much further out that just the central area of the city. I am not exaggerating. We have panhandlers and “travelers/transients” everywhere. Also quite a large down and out Veteran population. It’s unfortunate, but I very very rarely give to any of them. I give to buskers who catch my attention enough to stop and listen. About 15 years ago (when I first moved here) I gave to a panhandler who had two dogs with her - I brought her dog food and a couple of bananas as I was leaving the grocery store. I will not give money. There’s a huge meth problem here. Their cardboard signs range from: “Homeless vet. Anything helps. God bless,” to “Need gas,” to paragraph long stories about their situation. For a while there was an elderly and homeless man with a sign that stated: “Need beer.” I liked his honesty.
Part of my job is to order all of the office supplies for my department at the library. The other day I ordered 2 of the biggest/widest Sharpies you can get. Why is this relevant, you may be asking. Because that’s how many people come up to the reference desk asking to borrow a marker to write on their cardboard signs.
Sad situation around here.
Last time I was approached by a female panhandler was 20 years ago. She got the same handful of change men get.
I commute into Union Station in DC every day and walk 3 blocks to my office. In that time, I pass by at least 8 -10 beggars. Same people every day. There’s a couple of seemingly normal-looking dudes, the legless guy, the lady who is nice enough when she’s on her meds but off in her own world whn she is not, and the blind guy who seems like an extremely nice person. Then there are all the folks living on the sidewalk under the overpass on 1st Street NE.
Then there’s the “shine 'em up?” shoeshine guy and the guy with the flowers. And the Krispy Kreme guy. Once a week or so, there will be some sort of performer. I’ve actually hired the guy to shine my shoes every so often; and I have bought flowers from time to time. But as a rule I don’t just hand money over to beggars.
The one exception was a couple of years ago, about this time of year (Christmas) there was a dude and his lady and a couple of kids. I gave them a large bill in the spirit of the moment.
But it’s just relentless. EVERY DAY. Every few feet. I’ve even been in the McDonald’s reading the paper with a McMuffin and had a beggar come up to me at my table and hit me up. No. Just NO.
There was a lady who worked begged in front of my building downtown. She was there every day that I worked and I guess she showed up about 5 am (she was there before me every day and I was normally seated at my desk by 6 am) for 3 years rain or shine. About two years in she was standing there in a snow storm in her nice fir lined parka and I was thinking that she was really earning her money since it was about 20 F. I almost gave her some cash. About an hour later my boss came in and mentioned that due to her dedication he gave her $20 on his way in. I have no doubt she was earning $100 per hour that morning.
I generally give money if I think they are earning it but even then they’ve got to be working fairly hard. The closest answer was I don’t give but it’s not quite right.
I feel the same as you, but decided to vote “I don’t give, and neither should you”. But I don’t really feel that strongly about whether you give or not.
And when I lived in Manhattan, my rule of thumb was that if I happened to be carrying food I didn’t need (leftovers, whatever) and a panhandler said he was hungry, I gave him my food. It was an interesting social experiment. About half got upset with me for messing up their story in front of the other marks. The other half were happy to take my food, often extremely happy, as I often handed out a full serving of leftover Chinese, or a box of strawberries I’d bought on a whim, or a warm bagel, or some other relatively desirably food item.
Oh, and there was a guy who begged for food outside my local convenience store towards the end of the month. He would hit you up as you went in, asking you to pick up something for his kids. (often milk and cereal.) I often did buy food for him. I was tempted to buy condoms, too, but never did. (He often hing out with a woman who was perpetually pregnant.)
I am a sucker for a woman holding a baby.
And I always give if music is provided.
I lived/attended law school in that neighborhood about 20 years ago. There were a few outside the Dubliner/Irish Times that were especially annoying.
I second all of this, except for the Atlanta part. 
Being hit-up for money while I’m eating is one of my two beggar pet-peeves. (The other is running up as someone’s exiting a taxi. :mad:) Almost every time I eat in the food court at Ogilvie station (Chicago commuter rail terminal) I get hit-up more than once.
As to gender, in Chicago I’ve seen women holding signs asking for money but I’ve only seen men actively hitting people up.
I don’t give money to panhandlers, but in my experience it’s rare to even encounter a female panhandler. The ones I’ve seen are nearly always men. The few panhandling women I’ve seen did seem crazier/more desperate than the average male panhandler I’ve seen, though.
I wanted to add to my response above. I noticed that a few of you have written that you rarely see female panhandlers. I would say that here in Eugene the ratio is: 30% women, 50% men and 20% couples. Many have one or more dogs with them. Working in a public library downtown, and being someone who remembers faces, I not only see them on the streets, I see them at work. There used to be a son and father team who made their living panhandling here for years. They had the - “feel sorry for us we are just down on our luck face” - down to an art. They were both caught in one of our men’s restrooms buying and shooting up heroine. They are restricted from the library permanently.
I don’t know what my criteria for giving to panhandlers is, I do it occasionally as the mood strikes me, certainly not based on gender.
One day a month I give $20 to the first panhandler I meet, regardless of sign, gender, age or whatever. And that’s it until next month. I make no claims that this is useful or fair or anything other than “but for the grace of the God I don’t believe in…”
The last time I saw a female panhandler she was wearing what looked like a very detailed outfit from an Oliver Twist movie right down to the smudges on her face. It was in the Chicago blues district.