Gender Roles Much? Maybe It's Just a College Thing...

Doncha just love college? Meeting new people every day, parties every weekend, all whilst expanding your world view and perspective. Sounds like an alright life. Um… yeah. About that.

It’s a Friday night, and my suitemates (there’s 6 total) are getting ready to go out. The blow driers are blaring, and the smell of the straighteners and curling irons tickles my nose. The girls put on their cutest outfits and best dresses, leaving me feeling a bit out of place.

Don’t get me wrong. I can be quite the girl. I just hate getting dressed up. Skirts, dresses, and make-up just aren’t really my thing. And it can be hard to go out in a group with people who embrace gender roles to the extreme, while I do not.

Maybe it’s that I go to a very stereotypically “straight” campus, a campus in which almost all the girls dress like “girls” and guys act like “guys,” so I feel a bit biased. Whatever the case though, almost everywhere I look, the gender roles seem to jump out at me pointing me out as the loner, the girl who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the crowd.

The only exception to this rule of course, is the gay community here on campus. A small community of a little under 50 of us, those parties are where it’s at. And of course, there’s no conforming going on there, just as you might expect.

But the issue is not whether my friends are “straight” or “gay.” The issue is the gender roles. It just so happens, that the gay community doesn’t feel the need to fit a certain role, since they’re already unconventional. My straight friends, however, (especially the girls) feel that they have to measure up to some heterosexual standard of attractiveness in order to be attractive to guys and feel confident with themselves.

But not all guys are attracted to stereotypical girly-girls. So all I’m saying…is be yourself. Easier said then done I know, but real power doesn’t come from trying to please other people. It comes from being happy with yourself. So go be you, and be happy with that. End of story.