I'm guessing he doesn't date much...
Okay, I have some problems with another relationship article. I really think I should stop reading them. Here's my biggest problem with them: they imply that men are all the same and pretty one-dimensional. I'll admit that perhaps men aren't great with the emotions and perhaps even they don't feel things the same way we do but culture has taught us how to react to situations, right? Still, not all men are sports-watching, beer guzzling, don't-read, can't-have-a-conversation lumps of flesh that a lot of the articles make them out to be.
This particular article has to do with the 5 types of dates guys will not want to go on. And it's pretty emphatic that men period will not want to go on these dates. Evidently the writer (a man) has forgotten that there are exceptions to every rule.
Date #1 - Hiking. Evidently men don't want to go hiking because there are only so many flowers one can smell and only so many sunsets one can watch. Also, there's not sports television or Internet access. Here are a couple of things I have learned: 1) Wifi is in almost everything! Nearly everyone has some way to access the Internet remotely and many of us from our cell phones. In the event that something cataclysmic happens and he needs access to the Internet I'm betting that can happen; 2) There are quite a few men that given the choice to go outside and hike around and see the sites or sit at home and rehash the same old conversations or watch television would much rather be hiking. And, not all men are married to the boob tube.
Date #2 - Opera. Okay, I'll halfway give the author this one. But, there are some men who enjoy the opera. And there are some men who, while they may not particularly love the opera, are willing to sit through it politely because they like the woman who asked them to go. Not all men are Neanderthals who don't know how to behave in public.
Date #3 - Travel. This one isn't so much laid out as a date as it is a complaint that women on dating sites all say they like to travel. The article states that men don't like to travel because their work piles up while they're away and their boss discovers that the office (or whatever) can run smoothly without them. Okay, did this writer suddenly forget that most women work now too? Our work piles up when we're away also, but that doesn't mean we don't like to see places and expand our horizons. Oh, also it's expensive. My guess is if you've been dating someone long enough to travel with the you've likely worked out the fine kinks of finance. Neither one of you are likely footing the whole bill for this excursion.
Date #4 - Clothes Shopping. Who on earth is this man dating? Do women really take men on dates where they're forced to hold purses and wait while the ladies shop? Give me a break. I've been around for a little while now and I've never heard a girl tell me that she found this great new guy and for their first date she's taking him to the mall so he can watch her try on clothes. Yeah. Mhmm. Actually, I can't think of any time, new dating or old relationship where I heard of that referred to as a date. Do we sometimes force our men to go shopping with us? Trust us guys - as rarely as humanly possible.
Date #5 - Relationship Workshops. You know, based on this guy's article I wouldn't be at all surprised if his girlfriends had repeatedly drug him to relationship workshops. But, be that as it may, I can agree that maybe this isn't the most fun date, but how many women color it up like that? "Okay honey, get in the car. I've got a great date planned for us tonight. A relationship workshop!"
Well now I'm sufficiently peeved for the day. I hate the implication that men and women are incapable of relating to each other. Stuff like this feeds stereotypes that just aren't broadly true once you enter into your mid-twenties. Well, and if you live outside L.A.
