Yesterday, CM”s Nicole Sakin discussed what she wished she knew about college guys. Here’s the other side of the co-ed coin:
I don’t think it’s possible to perfect a stereotype of the “college girl.” The college guy is a pretty easy target: the bro with the backwards cap who’s obsessed with drinking, hooking up and beating his friends at Madden. Examples of that creature are well documented. The college girl is an entirely different beast.
Beth Feldstein is a sophomore at Wellesley College, an all-girls school just west of Boston. If anyone has a perspective on what a college girl is, it would be someone who’s surrounded by nothing but women 24/7.
“Going to a women's college has really made me realize how diverse a population I'm surrounded by, even if it's all women,” said Feldstein. “I think it's pretty important to realize that college women are all individuals.”
Bingo. It’s hard to put a diverse group of people into one simple category. That’s probably why guys have such difficulty deciphering girl code: we assume that all girls are at least relatively on the same wavelength, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
With enough experience though, you’ll notice some patterns tend to arise.
“Girls are much more gossipy than I thought,” said Boston University sophomore Andrew Caplan. “I thought we were done with puberty, aren’t we?”
Ah yes, the closest thing to a college girl stereotype there is: the gossip girl. You know, the one who knows everything about everyone and isn’t above a little backstabbing if it serves her purposes. That girl probably exists, but don’t let the chance you might find her intimidate you.
“No girl is ever going to just laugh at you if you go up and talk to her,” said University of Maryland junior Adam Rosenfeld. “And if she is, she probably isn’t the kind of girl you’d want to talk to in the first place.”
Some people came into college with slightly unrealistic expectations of the fairer sex.
“I was expecting more mature, confident women who were a little more sure of what they wanted,” said University of Pittsburgh sophomore Jake Gillis. “I also thought they would want something more from relationships.”
Maturity issues? Wishy-washy when it comes to decision-making? Not always looking for something serious? That sounds familiar…don’t guys have those same personality defects? Feldstein knows what I’m talking about.
“I’ve decided to seclude myself from men for the entirety of my college career, and even I know that guys are way more varied and complicated than the cast of The Hangover,” she said.
The lesson here: stereotypes are bad. Not every guy is a bro, and not every girl is a bitch. Check your preconceived notions at the door. You’ll face a lot less disappointment with an open mind.
Photo at: http://blowinthewind.tumblr.com/post/1179421854/new-favorite-internet-meme
