For the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to walk into work, a classroom or my apartment without hearing one of my fellow females say those famous three words: I hate boys.
My friends and I went to the bar a little earlier than usual last night after a small episode of disrespect from a boy on Friday night turned into a major issue. We heard about a group that was out drowning away a breakup after six years and as I walked into the bathroom in Pawpurrs', a girl was bawling her eyes out on the phone to her boyfriend.
When I was younger, I used to think that the alleged hating of boys came only during one part of the year - the middle of the school year: the part of the year when everyone is so irritated with everything and tempers start to flare, details become more important and tiny frustrations can turn into huge blowouts.
I have recently decided the stereotype that women are more complicated than men should be completely reversed. Maybe I hang out with, work with and have class with a bunch of out-of-the-ordinary girls - girls that know how to clearly communicate their feelings - but I'm willing to bet that they're all pretty ordinary.
Over the past four years of college, I have been involved with some of the weirdest men in the world - so emotional and confusing. I was under the impression that girls were supposed to be emotional and confusing, but I find myself to be straightforward when it comes to what I want in a friendship, hookup-ship or relationship.
My roommate and I were discussing something she had debated in one of her COMS classes regarding communication between women and men. They discussed the Deficit Perspective, a theory from the 1970s that said a woman learns two languages - the language she uses when she is communicating to men and the language she uses when she is communicating to women. According to the theory, the language that women use is inferior and deficient compared to the language that men use. Therefore, they must also learn to speak on a man's level.
Here is why I think this theory is crap: Women are smart. Smarter than the average man thinks. I believe that women have an inner intuition when it comes to communication - that they can pick up on certain details and subconsciously translate it. And often times, these translations seem to freak men out.
I stumbled upon an online article in Men's Health titled 50 Things She Wishes you Knew: Universal truths that men should - but don't - understand. The writer lists everything from clothes that we think look hot on guys (hoodies and shirts that match their eye color) to health and emotional issues that we constantly battle (pregnancy scares and UTIs). She also talks about the simple things that men just can't seem to wrap their minds around, like being direct and honest.
It's as simple as this list of 50 things. Sure, some specific details may vary, but let me sum it up for you, guys:
1. When we say we just want to hook up, we just want to hook up.
2. We don't have shrines dedicated to you (think Helga Patacki from Hey Arnold) nor do we talk for hours about how in love we are with you to our friends.
3. We need you to just be honest. We'd rather you make something clear than try to guess and be made a fool of later down the line.
4. All you need to do is to treat a girl like she is worthy. Don't pretend we're oblivious or stupid. We know more than you think.
4 Opinion
Kadi McDonald
