It’s a girl

No I’m not having babies, far from it actually.  It’s a clip about how women in certain countries (India/China) are seen as less than desirable compared to men, so they’re often aborted or killed shortly after death.  A combination of factors lead to these undesirable circumstances ranging from a limited amount of births, to  the belief that women make inferior workers, and the expense that is incurred when marrying them off.

I feel as though my own perception of women has changed after being through nursing school and living in such close proximity to so many girls at all times.  Initially it was difficult to avoid stopping and staring when half a dozen different girls are running around in short-shorts and tees while doing everything from cooking to watching TV.  It was awkward and I felt like I shouldn’t be in the room or I just needed to be somewhere else.

Over time my feelings of insecurity and awkwardness involving being surrounded by half-naked beautiful women began to abate due to not only seeing it so often but working alongside these same girls in class and clinicals.  It was interesting how the girls were looked at differently by the guys who didn’t live in the dorms versus the guys who did.  Essentially it just boiled down to the guys who didn’t know the girls as well had a harder time relating to them as a person versus a thing.  Not understanding someone or something makes it that much easier to dehumanize the person or situation, and to a lesser degree I think that’s what I began to realize that I had been doing that same thing for a very long time.

It was always humorous when a male friend or family member would come up to my room due to how incredibly awkward they became and I couldn’t help but laugh because it reminded me of myself when I first moved in.  It’s one thing to explain to someone how weird I initially felt, but it’s something else entirely when you get to watch a good friend blush and stammer their way through a simple conversation.

These kinds of interactions are a large part of what makes school so great and it’s sad that they really don’t exist outside of a small period of time early on in life.  I can only assume that most people get a sampling of what I found at school to a greater or lesser degree so long as they have mixed populations.  IMO the more people and diversity you have at your school the better as I pity the fool who attends a same sex college.  Ironically enough I came somewhat close to doing just that although it was the opposite sex.

Sometimes I look back and reflect on the trials and tribulations of being one of the few males in a sea of early 20’s women who just wanted to party and have a good time.  It wasn’t easy but I made it through.  I made it through…