A day in the life of...

The young have something no one else has or ever will have. Time.

It's true. We are smart, beautiful and...alcoholic.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

"Relationships have been on the decline ever since women came out of the cave, looked around and said, 'this isn't so bad.'"

I read somewhere the other day that this generation is redefining relationships between men and women. And not just in the obvious way, that is that people are now having more sex with more people in more places more often. No, it was more about the way this generation is redefining gender roles and therefore the relationships between the sexes, including friendships.


Back in our parents' day everyone knew where they stood. The men were outside with their beers and their BBQs, the women were inside gossiping about the neighbours and making salads and sweets and keeping an eye on the more eratic kids. These days you're just as likely to see the girls outside bowling cricket balls and sculling beer while the health-conscious boys are inside with their pink shirts and their sparkling wine. Girls dress like boys, boys dress like girls and everyone listens to the same music. Women are becoming politicians and lawyers, men are becomign teachers and nurses. Women call men asking them on dates, pay their own bills and make the first move when it comes to sex.

It's all very confusing really.

But because we've all become the same somewhere along the line men and women are much more likely to be friends. Sure past generations had cross-gender friendships. They hung out with their partner's friends and hung out in mixed groups to match up their single pals. There wasn't the one-on-one male/female friendships we see today.

Of course, some people still struggle to be 'just friends' with the opposite sex. While J has plenty of gay friends she doesn't have many straight male friends. This is probably because she's looking for a potential lay everytime she meets someone and all of her 'friendships' end up laden with sexual tension until it becomes awkward for everyone. Just look at S and Bossman.

A has been good friends with C for years and they are pretty much the dream friendship. Lots of booze, lots of stupid antics, lots of gossip and no sex whatsoever.

That used to be M and E. They were the kind of friends that could hang out and have fun in coffee shops, in music stores, in pubs, in pool halls, in the park, watching TV and everything in between. They could call each other for anything ranging from failing a test to love life issues and a housing crisis. Now everything has changed. Now things are awkward and they aren't answering each other's phone calls and their friendship is practically in the loo. One kiss really can change everything.

Let's hope they can get over it and more forward.