Students should reject dating misbeliefs

I’ve attended school here for quite some time and have been pretty interested in some of the social aspects of this campus and how they compare with others outside this world of Tech. The main topic of discussion I wanted to talk about is something I’ve heard again and again: the belief that GT females are especially stuck up compared to other school’s girls.
The generally accepted belief is that women at Tech feel superior to others and are unapproachable because of their minority status on campus. This idea allows them to be obnoxiously choosy about men they date or talk to, almost to the point of being arrogant or mean. This shows an extremely misinterpreted point of view and needs to be looked at more in-depth to get a better understanding of our school’s situation.
The interesting part of this discussion might be hearing what side I will take as a guy at Tech. That answer is not a simple one. I will take a look at the points of views of both sides and come to a general conclusion from that.
Wherever guys go to school, Tech included, men get these expectations of what they think college life is like from popular culture references. They expect an education alongside new friends with drinking, partying and generally a great time with friendly attractive females. They build up an idea of what college life is like and associate it to movies such as Van Wilder or Animal House where the women are available and “easy.”
Andy Peck wrote an article for Voice some time ago going into detail and said it best: “Given this expectation, one can see how the small numbers of women and perceived arrogance of those women could quickly become the focus for resentment and even hostility.”
People are thrown into this social network and finally have some sense of freedom when they come to school. Using a fairly loose generalization, people at Tech were fairly good students back in high school and maybe because of that, didn’t necessarily have the best social skills. This awkwardness in a social setting works for both males and females.
Without any prior knowledge of how to react in certain social situations, some may resort to this “arrogance” or can sometimes be very resentful and project an almost “cool” manner about themselves, using this as a defense mechanism.
I have gone to several other schools and found a lot of the people that I’ve met to be nice, friendly and all around genuine. I’ve thought about the comparisons between this school and those other ones and determined a conclusion: we do have genuine people here at Tech.
Unfortunately, I feel that this lack of friendliness that people experience is just due to unhappiness. People here are bitter due to grades, the ratio and general life stress. We are a top drinking school and not a top party school, and we have an “I <3 GT” week to remind us we like it here. Overall, it really is kind of a sad campus. Beneath the social awkwardness and unhappiness, we are all “real” people.
Another thing that I see again and again, especially when it comes to Slivers, is complaining about the opposite sex. Maybe the guys are awkward and afraid to talk to you. Girls, go up and introduce yourself. Guys, who cares if a girl is actually acting “stuck-up,” you don’t need to talk to her. Find someone that you like to hang out with, and if you think the ratio really is a damper, go date off-campus or don’t date at all right now. Complaining about it isn’t going to make things better.
It is time to get over these social dilemmas that people of Tech have experienced in the past and start doing things for yourself. Remember that you will not always be able to date everyone you talk to. Remember that you aren’t always going to get respect from everyone. You could be shot down and embarrassed at anytime. Using Tech or the ratio as an excuse is nothing more than an excuse.
At this point in time, I want to remind you that a lot of what I am saying is generalizations. People at school here are all different and don’t necessarily fall into the categories that I’ve pointed out. I have seen students that love it here, girls that are friendly and open to everyone and articulate social speakers that are nice to be around.
There is a lot more that goes into this school and its people than the generalizations that are made. Disappointment is merely a part of life, and once you figure that out, you’ll be able to respect and understand those around you.