Battle Of the Sexes

You can't categorize people. I don't assume that just because a man likes football and drinks beer he is an unintelligent lout who buys into all this macho crap. I'm talking more about the whole male bravado that comes with male culture and the fact that if you aren't interested in drinking beer and leering at women then you can't be considered one of the guys. You must be gay instead.

It is unfortunate that a large majority of men and women actually seem to enjoy the fact that we are acting as though we are two very opposite and distinct groups who want to play games against each other. And I think it's bloody ridiculous.

We are told men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Women make fun of men for having a small youi-know-what. Men laugh at women for having no boobs. Women laugh at men for being unable to work a washing machine. Men laugh at women for being bad drivers. The list of stereotypes go on and on until you can almost see both genders at either side of the field ready to charge into each other with swords! The mass media fuels this further by bringing out programs such as Fear Factor 'Battle of the Sexes' in which groups of male and female friends play against each other for money. The growing number of shows on TV like Dr. Phil show how pathetic the relations between men and women are...that we have to go on national TV and have someone mediate between us!

I think it's time the age old 'battle of the sexes' was ended once and for all. It was fun at first but I think the current climate is fostering a lot of unnecessary tension between the sexes. In an age where rape and domestic violence are rising, I think it's naïve to assume that all this banter is just harmless sarcasm. Men and women may have a few biological differences but the notion that they are both an entirely different species is just silly. We should stop all this childish 'we're better than you' behaviour and instead grow up and enjoy the best things about men and women being different. Make love not war!

-Laura Baldwin