Gendered

I like watching people. Take me any place and I love sitting back and just watching the weirdness of life drifting by.
University is no exception. It’s probably the best place to go if you want to see juvenile mating rituals at work. It’s maybe not as strong as seeing the human pecking order in action, as it was in high school, but in terms of the efforts of self-presentation and peacocking it drives any behavioural scientist into bouts of ecstasy. Sometimes I have the feeling some women still have the same reason to go to university as 60 years ago – mainly to find a husband or something.
I am not a native British, so I kind of see a lot of things “from the outside”. And so many women here, on campus, compared to Germany, are so girlish. They do uber-girlish things, and talk in squeaky voices, about how their hair straightener exploded on them or how much they spent on that pair of boots. They come to uni with hardly more than a miniscule purse that reaches the limits of its capacity if you put a pen into it. And they dress up for classes like the average German girl does for a wild night out, with the main intention to score a foursome with random strangers. Each to his own, I suppose... I just can't get used to it. But then again, I'm a freak, even though I feel very comfy in that skin.

Anyways, I think it was during a presentation in one of my classes, which was about gender representation in the media, that I had to bite my tongue so hard it nearly came off.

This girl stood in front of the class, going on about how sports programmes and their ad contents are targeted mainly at males or something, and vaguely complained about how it stereotypes and reinforces gender roles. I doubt she ever realised what came out of her mouth when she finished her speech.

“To be honest, I dunno much about the sports programmes blokes watch on Saturday afternoon, cos I’ll be out shopping.”

Need I say more?

*sigh*