Stereotypes

I was subjected to a conversation on Friday night that has left me disturbed. Perhaps that is not the word. I'm actually a little angry. I'm angry that intelligent people can be so narrow. I'm angry on several levels.

The conversation happened at a bar in Portland. It was an innocent outing that went horribly wrong. I just wanted to go sit at a bar, eat yummy food and meet some new people. But, instead, I was met with GOP Boy. There he was. He was the first thing that I saw when I walked in. Damn it. I couldn't turn around and walk out. I had to go and pretend like it didn't bother me. I had to pretend like I hadn't decided earlier that day that I never wanted to speak to him again. Instead, I had to eat dinner with him and two of his friends at the bar. I was disappointed that this was how the evening transpired.

But, it gets worse. All three of these types are really involved politically. They are all rather active in the political realm actually. With one candidate that I support (no, not a GOP). But, the conversation was strange. As usual, GOP Boy dominated conversation. This is what I decided that I can't stand about him. He doesn't ask people how they are. I realized in this conversation with his friends that it wasn't with just me -- but all of his friends. I don't have any patience for that. But, somehow, this frustrating conversation turned to the bizarre topic of what women want. And guess who started that conversation? Yeah. So, there were several sweeping stereotypes made about women. I felt that I needed to defend my gender and I asked for support from the other female in the conversation. But, she conceded. She thought that GOP Boy was right. She actually affirmed that it was legitimate for GOP Boy to feel that he needed to be an asshole to get a girl's attention. Being a nice guy wasn't getting him anywhere. Did I mention that I was sitting right there? The girl (who as far as he was concerned) he was dating. Are you kidding?

What really annoys me about this conversation is not the affirmation that he is not someone I want in my life -- by any stretch of the imagination. But, what annoys me is that these are the people that are running our political realm. They are running our political sphere in a world where everything is either black or white. Everything is this way or that. There is no inbetween. No grey area. No exceptions to these stereotypes. These are the people that have created red against blue, Democrat against GOP, liberal against conservative. There is no nebulous space. It has all been determined by the narrow definition of who you are because you fall into a certain demographic. How depressing.