2008 Woodie Awards
Gender Bender: Who Co-Exists Better With Their Roomates?
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: Opinion
Living with someone else naturally causes a great deal of chaff with that person. No two people get along 100% of the time, so when you stop getting along with your roommate, you have to think, "Who will be better about not being a complete and utter pain when they can't get along?" Women go to the extreme in arguments. No person can ever win an argument with a woman (including another woman, so think about how the grudge builds when arguments have no closure).
There is an old anecdote in high schools that a fight between two guys is imminently better to break up than one between two girls. Obviously, women are dirty when fighting (arguing included) vicious, and are very quick to getting hot under the collar.
Now think about men. When they do not resort to physical violence, they tend to be far more amicable with their roommates in bad circumstances. Men do not let old arguments stew for long; the aforementioned physical violence is actually a great way to eliminate grudges between men.
In addition, men already have in place rules of engagement among each other: all men can talk about the weather, and friends come before girlfriends (this is the understood expectation anyway). Despite common misconceptions, sports are not the best topic for men to discuss, it is just something some men are passionate about. Every man enjoys some form of competition, but rarely do two random men enjoy the same sport and the same team.
There is usually a complete lack of irritation between guys related to uncleanliness. The only thing a guy cares about, and the only thing he would need to say when something gets too dirty is, "Hey, [roommate] ... it's got a smell." This magic line is understood by all men to mean something has gone on too far, and needs to be shown the business end of a scrubby pad. There is no offense in this statement, and it is neutral as to who caused it, as well as illustrating the de-facto laissez faire attitude most guys have to cleanliness.
So, men can handle their disputes in a more closure-inducing way, have basic ways to get over the awkwardness of first meeting, and create less hassle to each other over time about maintenance of cleanliness.
There is an old anecdote in high schools that a fight between two guys is imminently better to break up than one between two girls. Obviously, women are dirty when fighting (arguing included) vicious, and are very quick to getting hot under the collar.
Now think about men. When they do not resort to physical violence, they tend to be far more amicable with their roommates in bad circumstances. Men do not let old arguments stew for long; the aforementioned physical violence is actually a great way to eliminate grudges between men.
In addition, men already have in place rules of engagement among each other: all men can talk about the weather, and friends come before girlfriends (this is the understood expectation anyway). Despite common misconceptions, sports are not the best topic for men to discuss, it is just something some men are passionate about. Every man enjoys some form of competition, but rarely do two random men enjoy the same sport and the same team.
There is usually a complete lack of irritation between guys related to uncleanliness. The only thing a guy cares about, and the only thing he would need to say when something gets too dirty is, "Hey, [roommate] ... it's got a smell." This magic line is understood by all men to mean something has gone on too far, and needs to be shown the business end of a scrubby pad. There is no offense in this statement, and it is neutral as to who caused it, as well as illustrating the de-facto laissez faire attitude most guys have to cleanliness.
So, men can handle their disputes in a more closure-inducing way, have basic ways to get over the awkwardness of first meeting, and create less hassle to each other over time about maintenance of cleanliness.