Tori says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20104:16 am 

I feel the same way.While I havent lived with any of my male friends(yet) I totally get what your saying. I grew up with nothing but girls but for some reason I feel the most comfortable around dudes. Girlfriends are cool because sometime you do wanna talk about guys & guys hate together about other guys but I wouldnt trade my guys in for them.

jrodgers239 says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20105:41 am 

I really wish I had that good of an experience living with a guy…they guy I lived with was completely passive aggressive and did everything opposite of what your roommates did and it suuucked, but then again living with girls haven't been so great either..

Roberto says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20106:41 am 

yea man I live with all girls, and it sucks. Really bad.

Aristo says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20107:27 am 

Uh, wow. Generalizations.

I've had my fair share of male and female room mates, and all of your complaints and perks apply to both. I've had dramatic male room mates who live on Burger King, and I've had totally accepting female room mates who let me borrow comfy sweaters.

It depends on the individual. Don't try to make it about gender.

Casey says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20107:36 am 

Aristo, while I agree not everyone is the same, these are generalizations for a reason, and that reason is because more often than not they are true. Of course there's the occasional guy who acts like a girl or vice versa, but we all know that these are mainly male characteristics.

Men and women are different, so it is about gender. Can't we embrace our differences instead of all trying to be the same, no one here is putting anyone down, we're just relating to each others experiences living with the two genders, and I think the consensus is that most people would agree with this.

Melanie, great list, I agree with them all!

Dia says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20109:19 am 

haha i agree with the best cooks, down for anything, big brother, comfy clothes, and them having cute friends. I always say to make friends with guys even if youre not feeling them becasue they could have even cuter friends, But ive encountered male drama kind of worse than girl drama, and ive had sum super uncomfortable times with guy roommates/friends

Kar says:
Mon, 25th Jan 201010:36 am 

I agree with Aristo. It truly does depend on the individual. I've been living with girls and it has been awesome. Just up and saying "I don't really like girls, I get along with dudes better. Girls are all gossipy and weird, except ME because I'm the exception blah" is doing a great disservice to your sex. I'm not saying you believe that, but it seems a lot of girls would rather bitch about each other than get along and find common ground.

Erich says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20101:53 pm 

Yeah, my roommate and I cook most of our meals, we are good cooks. We eat well, but yeah pretty much everything you say is true.

shari says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20105:17 pm 

ive lived with so many different kinds of roomies in all my years of college and living with dudes is by far the best! love it!

m says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20107:23 pm 

i looooved living with guys! i lived with 3 guys before and it was awesome. except they barely did the dishes and liked to pick on me, all at once, especially if i was pms-ing or in a bad mood. but they always made it up and apologized. it was always very low key, honest, and fun. seriously, what's better than having a n64 mariokart tourney on a tuesday night!?

Rachel says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20107:55 pm 

i live with 5 guys now and it's awesome!!! i wouldn't have it any other way.

Casey says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20109:35 pm 

Indigo, of course there are always exceptions, but stereotypes and generalizations don't become such unless there was some truth to them. I don't think I need to say any more than that.

Casey says:
Mon, 25th Jan 20109:37 pm 

except, I will say, a generalization or stereotype is a shared observation among masses of people.

indigo says:
Mon, 25th Jan 201010:04 pm 

but that truth may be very minute, may be due to social or cultural conditioning, a myth, etc, etc. again what goes for some doesn't go for all is what i'm reiterating. and those very same stereotypes may be true of the people who did the observing they just weren't observed doing that stereotyped behavior.

i.e. black ppl love watermelon. a lot of ppl do, black ppl are an obvious minority so they would stick out more when enjoying it. i.e. asians are good at math. so are a lot of foreigners due to their better school systems, but asians are more observable as they are often in higher numbers than other foreigners. i.e. first impressions are lasting impressions. that may be true of a lot of people who see things in black-and-white, us-vs-them, good-vs-bad (ppl who can only see things in concrete terms) but personally i've come to realize that while humans as a species are pretty straightfoward, humans as individuals are pretty complex and what goes for ones doesn't go for another (the reason why i hate stereotypes).

i understand we as humans like to categorize(thus you have generalization, stereotypes, social norms, etc), but that's not always the best thing for each individual.

indigo says:
Mon, 25th Jan 201011:49 pm 

i completely agree with aristo and kar. excellent article in all its generalizing glory. and casey yes, men and women are different, but not in the ways listed here; these are terrible, oversimplified generalizations that do no one good.

10. i’ve both written notes and confronted a person directly about their behavior. since i’m just a person like others i’m sure that other people -boys and girls- do the same.

9. as much as i try not to judge others i know that i have before, because everyone is judgmental to some degree. and i don’t know about you, but i’ve clearly overheard groups of boys harshly judging others because of their appearance, so its not just the gals that do this. and most likely your guy friends (if they did it, b/c i acknowledge the fact that all ppl aren’t judgmental in such a way) didn’t do it within earshot of you b/c of the fact that you’re not in fact ‘one of the guys.’ just a thought.

8.lol at that, out of the 3 years i’ve been in college the kitchen has hardly ever stayed spotless with all female roomies. and sometimes it got downright disgusting, so i think not doing dishes depends on how clean your roommates are not what sex you are.

7. thats debatable, i just say that you probably lucked up…

6.again it depends on who your roommates are and their personality type not what sex they are.

mehh you can have 5 and 4 though you can indeed have gal roomies who will have your back so hard that they’ll fight a guy for you.

3. i guess, but i’m the type who doesn’t like borrowing and using clothes unless i’m really close with a roomie. so that was a lost point on me. and i also have my own comfy clothes :-/

2. it was a guy who BROUGHT drama to my dorm room, but i can see what you’re saying here. however i know plenty of girls who don’t bring drama, and those are the ones with whom i choose to hang out. and i do believe thats a self-perpetuating stereotype anyway. i could write a whole bunch here but i think its the way that some girls are socialized -just as some boys are socialized to be all macho. as you grow you realize that mature men and women don’t (well shouldn’t) have these qualities.

1.this also depends upon the person. i don’t think dudes (or I) would be completely comfortable with seeing all my tampon and pad wrappers in the trash, just as I (or the guy roomie) wouldn’t be completely comfy with a guy walking around with his morning wood showing as we both would if the situations occurred with members of the same sex. but hey everyone is different so some ppl could be fine and dandy with such a situation.

well forgive me for the long post, but i just felt that this article was too stereotype-y and generalize-y for me to let go unchallenged. if the points had been more like 3-5, it would’ve been cool. alas, it was not and i had to get on my soapbox.
*steps down*

Melissa says:
Tue, 26th Jan 201012:51 am 

I lived with 2 guy roommates and it was the worst experience of my life – they lived in filth, one would refuse to sleep anywhere but the couch and so I couldn't bring anyone over, cook any meals, or otherwise go anywhere outside of my room. Living with these guys almost made me a lesbian.

danbirnbaum says:
Tue, 26th Jan 20106:33 am 

Is Your Man Stealing Your Make Up?

http://www.precioustimeny.com/blog/?p=8999

Casey says:
Tue, 26th Jan 20107:02 am 

But stereotypes and generalizations aren't necessarily a bad thing, as long as it's not something horribly derogatory. I don't think too many black people would be offended by "black people like watermelon", and just because it's a stereotype or generalization doesn't mean it doesn't ring true for anyone else. Of course more than black people like watermelon, and more than just Asians are good at math. But a lot of stereotypes about different races come from their cultures or the fact that they are raised differently. But I think most people realize that they don't encompass the entire gender/ race, and the people who don't, well they're probably hopeless anyway.

Kace says:
Tue, 26th Jan 20109:34 pm 

Ah… I love living with my boys. I'm going to be so sad when they graduate and we have to part ways. I definitely want to live with atleast 1 dude again next year. Right now it's 3 girls (incl. me) and 3 guys…

They're not the biggest cooks, and I never borrow their clothes (I'm sure I could if I really wanted to) but they're great. I have no problem cleaning up after them a little bit, or taking care of them when they need it… because they're just so awesome. One night, after a rough day, my (fav) roommate came home to an empty house… or so he thought until he discovered me sitting on my bedroom floor, drinking white zin with ice, and crying my eyes out. I'm not a big crier at all… but he handled it better than I ever thought a boy could. It made me <3 him even more. And then this past month, he and I, and occassionally his amazzzzing best friend (who… yes, I'm in love with) have been hanging out, and they always make sure I'm included in all of their adventures…

Enough rambling, but guy roommates are great. It's great to have girls around too, but I've always got friends to come over and fill that void. Dude roommates are irreplaceable.

wendy says:
Wed, 27th Jan 20103:21 pm 

I live with 3 guys now which wasn't my first choice. I lived with 3 girls last year. Totally different because girls are very dramatic, at least the ones I lived one. Had fights about cleaning, boyfriends, loudness, etc. But the guys are laid back. One of my roomie is cute but the others are blah. I'm not attracted to any1 of them, which is the best thing. No awkwardness. I miss living with girls though cuz I'm so pist these boys don't clean up! BTW, my parents don't know about this, lol, so I'm hiding it from them. I'm their only daughter and they are rather protective (over I might add) asian parents!

uimagining says:
Sun, 31st Jan 20103:31 am 

Casey: But stereotypes and generalizations aren’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it’s not something horribly derogatory.

ME: why?

Casey: I don’t think too many black people would be offended by “black people like watermelon”, and just because it’s a stereotype or generalization doesn’t mean it doesn’t ring true for anyone else.

ME: what's your point?

Of course more than black people like watermelon, and more than just Asians are good at math. But a lot of stereotypes about different races come from their cultures or the fact that they are raised differently. But I think most people realize that they don’t encompass the entire gender/ race, and the people who don’t, well they’re probably hopeless anyway.

ME: why would they be hopeless?

uimagining says:
Sun, 31st Jan 20104:14 am 

MEN RULE!

ME: why?

MEN RULE!

ME: WHY?

MEN JUST RULE!

ME: YEAH MAN!

Aristo says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20104:35 am 

Casey, I just had to put on sunshades in defense to your glaring white privilege. Seriously. Cut the "generalizations against entire groups of people aren't always bad" shit.

Sammie says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20106:41 am 

wow casey! seriously? okay, your a woman, your bad at driving, need a man to direct you, love to clean, and get emotional all the time. its okay though, stereotyping comes from SOME truth, and none of these are necessarily bad things! geez! now why did your boyfriend let you use the internet all by yourself? ya know, women always saying dumb things!

sigh.

Casey says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20107:32 am 

Sammie, you just described my boyfriends mom and her sisters to a T (hmm, and they're all women, funny.)

and it's "you're"

Aristo, "your glaring white privilege"? When did I say I was white? or any other race/ color for that matter? why does it have to be about race? We're talking all stereotypes here, not just racial ones.

Kelly says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20101:12 pm 

Casey: funny, you say sammie described your BFs mom and sister but not you… Do you like being stereotyped that way just because your BFs mom and sister are that way?

Casey says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20102:36 pm 

Kelly, its a fact of life. Obviously the people who would stereotype me that way don't know me personally, so I'm not going to get offended if someone I don't know tries to stick me in a category, a quick interaction would prove I was none of those things. And that's the point, people who know you don't stereotype you because they know you, if they don't know you then who gives a shit? All they have to go off of are stereotypes anyway.

belle says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20104:27 pm 

1) Hahaha to unimagining. 2) Assuming that people are actually basing their actual impressions on "black people like watermelon" (and not joking about the absurdity of it), then um, many black people would find that offensive. 3) Really Casey? When you meet people all you have to go off are stereotypes? As opposed to I don't know, coming into a situation with real facts or waiting to form an opinion until you have some?

Casey says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20106:43 pm 

God you people are ridiculous. You just want to take offense to any little thing you possibly can. Here's a thought, how about you all grow some thicker skin and stop pitching a fucking fit whenever things aren't politically correct. I'm so sick of the "omg you can't say that! You might offend someone!" get the fuck over it. If you're getting offended that someone thinks you like watermelon cause you're black or you're a bad driver cause you're a woman then you are not going to make it far in this world. Learn to live a little and not take everything in life literally or so seriously. Fuck! This world is a horribly offensive place. Deal with It and move on!

belle says:
Mon, 1st Feb 20107:19 pm 

Haha I like how you're dealing with it and moving on…

Say whatever you want, it just makes you look ignorant.

Casey says:
Tue, 2nd Feb 20107:53 am 

no belle, it makes you look like an obnoxious liberal pussy. Grow some.

Casey says:
Tue, 2nd Feb 20108:04 am 

Oh no! Isn't that a STEREOTYPE! The horror! Go cry now because you fit into a category.

RIKO says:
Tue, 2nd Feb 20105:32 pm 

Excuse me, but i think MANY black people would be offended by a statement like "black people love watermelon." Stereotypes are for people who love to put groups into perfect little boxes where they can judge them.

And the name calling? real classy

Aristo says:
Wed, 3rd Feb 20106:53 am 

Okay, I've gone from annoyed to nauseated.

Casey, if you're not white, I'll eat my fucking shoes. Here's a generalization for you: a fucking lot of white people pull that "but people KNOW that stereotypes aren't TRUE so it's OKAY to say things like 'black people love watermelon!'" And you know why? Because they grew up within the system of WHITE PRIVILEGE where they've never had to actually DEAL with the NEGATIVE EFFECTS that stereotypes (ie, black women are manly, black men are violent, latinos can't speak english) cause.

Because generalizations about white people are never actually harmful, negative aspects. They never have to worry about getting turned down for a job or a college application because of their whiteness. But people of color are constantly judged for the stereotypes of their ethnicity, and DO have to deal with the effects.

Oh, who am I kidding. You'll never actually be able to emphasize with us. Go listen to some goddamned Taylor Swift.

RIKO says:
Wed, 3rd Feb 201012:54 pm 

*snaps for Aristo*

Casey says:
Wed, 3rd Feb 20101:22 pm 

Or aristo maybe you're not getting those jobs because you can't read and you use words like "emphasize" instead of "empathize". I said stereotypes are nothing to get offended about as long as they aren't horribly derogatory, which those examples you gave are. Its not about race, like I said, there are stereotypes for gender as well. I'm sure you've said at least once in your life, "guys are asshples" or something similar. So stop preaching that stereotypes and generalizations are bad cause every single person makes them whether they realize it or not.

Aristo says:
Wed, 3rd Feb 20105:00 pm 

Oh, L-O-L, Casey. Seriously, quit the ad hominem. If you honestly want to start a pissing contest over our real-life accomplishments, I'm an employed college student attending grad school next fall. And no, I didn't depend on racial scholarships to get me where I am, before you pull out that little chestnut. When people get angry and flustered (ie, whenever stupid white girls have access to a keyboard), their grasp on grammar isn't the best.

I'm done arguing with you over this, because I'm actually smart enough to know that not all white people are hopeless when it comes to racial issues. But seriously. One of these days your obliviously privileged attitude is going to get you into some deep shit.

indigo says:
Wed, 3rd Feb 20107:56 pm 

wooohoo shitstorm!! this is awesome! haha but seriously i gave up on the convo cuz i knew i wasn’t gonna get anywhere with casey. i will say this, i hate the backlash that political correctness gets b/c it seems to me that there is and underlying sense of “i really don’t give a fuck” and a disregard for others feelings. if you’re getting called out on being offensive a lot, maybe its time for you to check yourself and how you see things. personally, i want for ppl to get called out about being nonPC b/c oftentimes their train of thought is something that won’t change unless they get a big reality check or its always getting negative feedback. yea this world is unforgiving, but that doesn’t mean you have to add your own rudeness to it. and yea ppl get offended about a myriad of things but oftentimes it’s understandable if one takes the time to think about it… why’s it so hard to give a little consideration these days it would make life just a bit more enjoyable, but ppl like to be contrary to whatever is the topic ‘du jour.’ mehh…

also its a bit telling when one has to resort to ad hominem attacks, instead of the debate at hand…

i still agree w/ you aristo and your last post is exactly why i hate when ppl say this country is dam post-racial. HA! post-racial my muhh-fuckin’ ass. lol and until we can have an honest, open dialogue on race in america, we won’t come close to being post-racial. buuut i don’t think a lot of americans are ready for it yet.

lol ok back on topic, belle this statement right here sums up nicely my original point: “Really Casey? When you meet people all you have to go off are stereotypes? As opposed to I don’t know, coming into a situation with real facts or waiting to form an opinion until you have some?”

most ppl aren’t living in times/areas where we HAVE to categorize people we don’t know into friend, foe, neutral, etc., so this NEED to categorize (which leads to generalizations, stereotypes, etc) isn’t warranted in my opinion. if idk you as a person i will reserve my judgment until i do. this is the way that i personally like to do things just b/c i dislike stereotypes so much. that doesn’t mean i don’t have categorizing/judgmental/stereotypical thoughts sometimes, it just means that i’ll keep them to myself so as to not look like an ass.

one more thing,i cannot believe i just read the ‘it doesn’t matter b/c everyone does it” argument!! is that what its come to? i think you know the response to that, the “if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you also?” we gotta own up to our own behaviors and not hide behind that excuse -well unless you don’t really want to own up, then i have nothing to say there.

moe says:
Sat, 6th Feb 20107:12 am 

whoa casey! maybe you should just admit you don't know which stereotypes are offensive to certain people unless you're a member of that group?

for example, black people liking watermelon (and fried chicken) is grossly offensive because it was used as a way to show that black people were inferior or less intelligent, and therefore had less sophisticated food choices (ever seen the movie watermelon woman? highly suggest it). These stereotypes were used as a way to keep African Americans (as well as African immigrants) from being seen as equal and from being allowed to have equal opportunities. Up until the 1970's (really, even today there are remnants) most movies had stereotypical black characters in that they all talked and acted the same way (according to the 5 main stereotypes used in the film industry to characterize black people since American film began).

secondly, the countertype (positive stereotype, not always used in a positive way) of Asians being good at science and math, were used as a way to show that African Americans did not need affirmative action. If these minority groups could do well in school, well then of course the government wouldn't have to help the people that they had subjugated for over 200 years, etc. even though the results of slavery and racism had left with poor, inopportune conditions.

And yes, I am Asian and yes I do find generalizing stereotypes offensive. There are reasons behind why many different stereotypes were created and propagated but if you didn't know why, you may not see why they were offensive. I'm not sure why you resorted to name calling though. What was the point of that?

Vanessa says:
Fri, 19th Mar 20105:23 am 

I live with a boy and a girl this year, and it is the best of both worlds

The girl roomie is my best friend and we talk all the time, and the boy roomie is always very chill and upfront about things.

It is obvious that not all girls are drama queens and that not all boys are wonderful. I think what makes living with boys easier is the lack of competition, and that whole ying-yang balance.

Zoe says:
Mon, 16th May 20111:55 am 

Ok, so I've just read through that insane argument that happened years ago. I came on this website to see what it is like to live with all and only boys and landed on this well of shit.
Firstly Aristo you accusing Casey for stereotyping when you just wrote that: When people get angry and flustered (ie, whenever stupid white girls have access to a keyboard), their grasp on grammar isn't the best.-I personally take offence to this. I am white and a female, and all though I am Canadian and do not know what it is like in the states I know that here in Canada no one is looked down upon based on their race; people are regarded and then categorized after (i.e. jerk, ass, humble, nice) and not one person fits into just one category. People aren't just one type of black or white or asian or even gay for that matter. A black person can be kind, humble, intelligent, and could sometimes be an ass; just like white people, asian people and ALL people.
However in away I do agree that stereotypes should not just be cast aside, IF they are based on fact. If say stats show that woman are worst drivers then man (not true woman are) then you have some bases to stereotype a woman who just got into a car crash. However this should not be an immediate thought-only after knowing the stats and then having proof (the woman crashed her car) could you then attempt to apply a stereotype to that person.
Also Aristo after writing about how dumb white females are just know that currently more woman attend university then men do, females are better then males in every subject except for math and science where they are equal. So before anyone makes any stereotypical statements just know that people are people. The colour of our skin does not define whether we like fried chicken or if we are good at math or if we like watermelon, we do. Us, our personality and likes and dislikes, our religion (which is separate then race) our values and how we were raised. I like fried chicken and I'm good at math and I'm a white female. People need to grow up and look outside the bubble they live in. Not to compare but in Canada we have no ghettos filled with one race, we don't even have ghettos. We have homeless people and subsidized housing, and let me tell you that most homeless people here in Canada are white. So maybe it's time for you personally to take a look at yourselves in the mirror and then hopefully instill change in other fellow Americans.