Sex and Gender Equality

Judging from the enormous amount of clicks within the first hour, many comments and likes from women, casual sex offers from men and messages from all those who felt offended, I see there is a need for an explanation of what I really meant with my last blog post [now removed].

No, I was not talking about one night stands, nor advocating for them, as this is a completely different matter attracting a very specific audience. My experiment certainly did not involve me going up to random men and throwing myself at them, these quotes were gathered with no intention for an experiment at all. In fact, these are just my opinions and observations. And certainly, NO, I was not trying to find someone to have sex with by publishing this post.

However, what my post really was about is gender equality.

If you went on the street and asked a man if they felt males were capable of meaningless sex without wanting a real relationship, most of them would say - yes, definitely. But if you ask these men if they think famales are capable of the same thing, they will mostly laugh and answer - no. In fact, after my article, I received several messages from my male friends saying 'you must be the only one'.

We girls know this is simply not true. How come females are always seen as ones with further agendas of only wanting to get married and pop out babies? Haven't we really gone past this? How come men can want just casual sex, but women cannot? 'Oh noo noo, this can't be true. She must want something more - she's a female'

I would think of the Netherlands as an open, progressive society. But then why are Ducth people still clinging to these ancient myths about women? 

Don't get me wrong, this problem is far more widespread than that. However, given my current location, it seems more relevant to link it my immediate surroundings than speculating about some lands far away. Nevertheless, there is a country that we can all take notice of and look up to in terms of gender perceptions in the society. This country is the United Kingdom.

I cannot speak for education in schools, but what I gather from university life, there is a big fraternity and sorority culture in the Netherlands. Girls mainly hang out with other girls, and guys rarely interact with the opposite sex, unless it is work related. 

This is not the case in England. In fact, half of my friends back in Leeds were male, all societies were mixed gender, there were plenty of opportunities to interact with the opposite sex in normal settings sharing common interests for, let's say, Harry Potter or Assassins Society. I had a good mix of friends, which has certainly given me greater capability to understand the opposite sex.

In the Netherlands no wonder there are tales about the 'other' if you don't know anything about them, and only meet them in pubs or university. I do not see why students are encouraged to join these gender-limited organizations. Yes, I can certainly see why it is comforting and safe. But I say it is time we grouped according to interests and identity and not gender. Maybe that would let us understand each other a bit better.