In the midst of all the cramping, it's quite light hearted to read newspaper articles like today's sunday times. Most interesting insight to the mindset of women and men today. Do read it. It's not so much about whether men do open our doors, carry our handbags or foot our bills, it's more about how it would seem modern women do have their cake and eat it. Having gained relatively equal control in many arenas, be it education, career prospects or politics, women always (or more often than not) would very comfortably choose the submissive role in a relationship. With all due respect to men, isn't that what they love about the 21st century women? That they (uh-hum, we) can hold their own in a business conversation with their boyfriend's colleagues and know when is the right time to just simply shut up and let their men take over. So when is the line drawn when it boils down to what women what?

Interestingly enough, if you have read the polls, despite women's high expectations of men, most men (a fair greater % than than 50) would do all the above that women want, namely: open our doors, foot our bills, send us home after dates, carry our handbags. Haha, ridiculous as it may seem (to me, at least) but i have gone out with guys who surprisingly have absolutely no qualms about carrying my handbag. So i think for the sake of men, women really do ask for too much sometimes. Perhaps acts of opening doors etc (NOT CAR DOORS, that's just plain spoilt behaviour on the part of the women) is a sign of being gentlemanly, but i do believe going dutch has to be a norm that develops more in the new century. Just think about it, if a nice decent Valentine's day meal costs $40 on each part, making the man pay would amount to $80 in one shot while the girl pays zilch. How's that for fairness, especially when it is very ironic that women get paid the same as men nowadays. Arguably, some women would say the "excess" money not paid on dates goes to buying things to doll up themselves for their boyfriends, but seriously, if you had no boyfriend, wouldn't the money still go to dolling up yourself + paying for your own meals?

I do sound like i'm women-boxing here but i do believe that certain norms in society would should have gone obsolete have a strange way of clinging on. However, i do admit that women's minds work in weird ways that are incomprehensible at times. For example, going dutch may not be a simple case of sharing the meal, if the man offers to pay, and the girl obliges, it is usually a sign that the date is going well. If the girl insists that she is to pay for the meal, it bids omen for the man, cos it is most suggestive that the girl does not want the man to expect too much of the date. Of course, these that are coursing through the minds of women, may not even ring a note with the men, or as men would have it, "why do women always think so much?" Unfortunately for both genders, the biological make-up is as such, nonetheless moulded by society's benchmarks.

Am i even granted this time to blog about this? Bloody neuroscience is nagging at the back of my head but anyhows, go read the article if you can afford the time. I do believe it to be most interesting and enlightening, particularly about the how the mindsets of women are deemed ridiculous and yet, men do seem to oblige them (according to what they SAY in the polls). Kudos to making both sexes so different so that we have so much to ponder about.