Double Your Fun...

That’s right kids, this post is all about double standards and how much I can’t stand them. I think that some of our moral/social standards are a bit absurd in these modern times. For instance, when two people go on a date, traditionally the man is supposed to pay for the evening, every time. I have no problem paying for movies, dinner etc., however for me to be required to pay every single time that I am out with a woman is a bit ridiculous. I understand if, perhaps I was making substantially more, or we were making the same and she had a child to support or there was some other factor making us not equal, then it would make logical sense for me to pay all the time. But if we are both similarly situated there is no reason why the woman can’t pay every so often, more so than just when it is the man’s birthday. Women are no longer confined to the home, with no income. Nowadays women are highly paid executives, attorneys and doctors with, in many aspects, equal potential to men. I’m sure that there may still be some boys club mentality left in business, but I cannot imagine that a company would hire some dumb frat boy, present company excluded (see engineering degree and imminent law degree), and a highly educated and motivated woman. So even if it isn’t a 50/50 split in paying for going out, it would be nice to not be publicly shunned for not paying once in a while.

Dateline ABC did a report on this some time ago. Only it pertained to a website where very rich men met very beautiful women that expected. The male participants expected to date very beautiful women and at some point sleep with them. The women expected to be wined and dined in a very extravagant manner. Dateline compared this website to prostitution. I have news for you Dateline… that IS dating. These guys just have bigger bankrolls than most men. But I have to say that I find no fault in this website. The men on the site know that they are going to pay for everything, and in exchange they will be dating very beautiful women. This is what is known as consideration in the legal field. Thus this doesn’t contribute to the double standard, it’s a contract, a fairly negotiated contract.

Some people argue that men have to pay because we want so desperately to have sex, which is true to some extent, but women like sex too. So why is it that both genders can have sex, which doesn’t necessarily cost anything, outside of contraceptives, but it is the men that always have to pay? Props to gay couples because this isn’t an issue. Also, just because a woman likes sex and might be casually dating two or more guys doesn’t make her a whore. If a man did the same thing he is regarded as “the man” so for this I am siding with the ladies. There are reasons to call a woman who isn’t a prostitute a whore, but this isn’t one of them.

Next on the chopping block is the time honored tradition of asking a girl for her number, and the requisite 3 day waiting period. Women, if you like a guy, ask for his number, or offer yours up, because most of the time we don’t have a clue if you’re into us. I know I have been in this situation many, many times. I might have spent the whole night talking to a girl at a bar but cannot tell if she is there because I bought her a drink or because she is waiting for a friend or what, a little help is all we are asking for. Don’t be afraid to be the aggressors, that traditional social etiquette is almost completely out the door now anyway. Men if you get a number from a girl and actually like her, don’t be stupid and wait 3 days to call her, just call her before someone else snatches her up. Same goes for the ladies.


Penultimately, the issue of cleavage and why men aren’t allowed to look at it. Seriously, why can’t we? I mean it’s not like looking at the sun, we won’t go blind, there might be drooling involved in lesser evolved male specimens but not all of us. Women like to wear low cut shirts, and when they catch us looking, not necessarily staring, just catching a glimpse, they start with the “hey… my eyes are up here” line followed by the “I should be able to wear whatever I want and not be ogled.” Newsflash, you can wear what you want, for the reasons you want to wear it. Frequently, women say they wear low cut shirts because they make them feel good about themselves. But why does this particular shirt make you feel good about yourself? Because it attracts men, and you wish to be desirable to men and when we find you attractive we look at you and this makes you feel good about yourself. You like to show off what you have just like some dude that is really jacked and wears a tank top to show off the guns. You don’t see him telling women to not look at his arms when they are on display. You’re proud of your attributes so it makes you feel good to put them on display. So just relax when guys look and realize that some endorphins have just been released into your brain. I’m not saying put up with staring cause then nothing will get done.

My final attack on double standards has nothing to do with gender, it has to do with smokers. I have noticed in my stints in the employed world that smokers seem to take an inordinate amount of breaks during the day to go outside and smoke. This means they are not working the full amount expected outside of the denoted lunch break and yet salaries are the same even though I am stuck at my desk during this time. And smokers have the same amount deducted from their checks for health insurance even though they are much higher risk, so in a sense they are saving money that they would not be entitled to if they had independent health insurance. BAH I say, BAH!