You should have seen what she was wearing"; "I can't believe she went out looking like that"; "would it kill her to put a comb through her hair?"; "I gain weight just by smelling food"; "no, seriously, they broke up"; "doesn't she have friends who can tell her to put some make-up on?"; "I can't believe how ugly my nails look".
Sound familiar? These are the kinds of conversations I have to listen to almost every day. I don't pretend not to take part in these conversations, but recently I just wasn't in the mood to hear it. I listened to the ramblings of my friends and realised I really don't enjoy girl conversations much of the time. The gossip is great, for sure, but there's more to life than who can lose the greater amount of weight and what you think about the skirt the girl next to you is wearing.
After that realisation, I was talking about some people at university with a group of friends, both guys and girls. I noticed my attention was drawn more and more towards what the guys were saying. It was reasonable: they weren't making judgements based on whether they liked these people. I started to worry about why I was so disenchanted with the talk of my girlfriends.
But now after being home with my family for a few months since the term ended, I have figured it out: I grew up in a house with three brothers who can't even pretend to care or look interested in my girl talk.
At an early age I learnt to adapt and listen to guy conversations, watch wrestling, talk loudly (sometimes obnoxiously). When I was younger I actually got into fights with my brothers just for the fun of it.
I no longer get into fights with them - at least not physically, anyway - but it seems that some of the traits I picked up have stayed with me. I love going out with my brothers, just driving my car, laughing out loud, acting foolish and talking about anything - anything that is, but fashion, nails, weight loss or relationship dramas.
Just a few days ago I spent half the day with them because I wasn't in the mood to be around girls. And at the end of that day I felt so alive. I should really do this more often, I thought.
I'm not trying to make girls seem ignorant; I'm a girl, after all. But let's face it: girls tend to get a little too caught up in these conversations sometimes.
While guys can be complete drama queens as well, from time to time every person needs someone from the opposite gender to interact with - even if it's to miss the conversations they tend to have with friends of the same gender. So, although I enjoy male conversations immensely, I admit there are times I need a gossip fix.
I guess my girlie traits haven't completely disappeared.
