Some stereotypes and their exceptions

There's a certain topic that has been nagging me for quite a few days, and today, after giving it some thought, I decided to write about it.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend a few nights ago. It started with a forward I'd sent. The details are unimportant, but her parting words stuck with me. "Its futile trying to understand the stereotypical woman. The unusual one is hard to find. And stick to." I've had the pleasure of coming across quite a few stereotypes and unusual ones both.

Its common to find a girl who loves shopping, but I was pleasantly surprised, when, after making a joke about shopping, a girl replied, "No way! I dont understand whats the fuss about it". According to her, when you go shopping, try something you like. If it fits, buy it. Don't waste time ogling at things you can't buy, or money buying things of which you already have a dozen, and which will inevitably go into a pile to wear once in a blue moon.

Its common to find a girl who cringes when someone curses, or hears someone uttering profanities. But I know a girl who makes me blush when she curses. Debra Morgan, I call her.

I've often seen girls mope around after a break-up, or when their crush is seen with someone else. Imagine my shock, when a girl said, "Kya rota hai. Girls are stupid. They can't handle their feelings" when I was going through a rough patch with my sister.

One would be tempted to think, that boys are more interested, for lack of a better word, in eating junk food. A girl from college used to eat out whenever she got the chance, and without any worries of getting sick. Now that, I like. Eat what you want to. If you get sick, fine. Don't eat there again. But don't be afraid of eating out anywhere.

If you've heard of Russell Peters, you know how he can be. Sometimes, you may feel uncomfortable if you have company. I was pleasantly surprised, when, after I narrated a particular scene from his show, it was a girl who was laughing the hardest. Now it was pretty embarassing when she actually caught my shocked look.

A few years ago, I would've been willing to bet that not a single girl that I knew would be able to recognise any popular TV show, save for Friends. Sure, they religiously followed saas-bahu soaps from the fat b***h(Tusshar Kapoor's sister, for the uninitiated) but they wouldn't know Two and a Half Men or That 70s Show or How I Met Your Mother. Now, I'd never bet on that.

Many of you know that I like watching documentaries, and often switch to Discovery, NatGeo, or Animal Planet if I have nothing else to do. I knew girls who watched those kind of thing, but I think the increased number speaks volumes about the changing culture of India.

Those who have chatted with me, or have read my writing, know that I'm conscious about English. I almost always use English in its original form. And I know perhaps 5 people(4 of which are boys, and the girl is the one whose words prompted me to write this) who are also very particular about English. In these times, when an increasing number of people resort to sms lingo, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to decode what people write, I was much more than pleasantly surprised, when I found another girl with a fondness for English and T9. Another point, while I am on the topic of English, is few can tell the difference between sarcasm, irony and paradox. I myself get confused a lot of the times between the latter 2. And I was shocked, to say the least, when the same girl used these 3 perfectly.

I like reading a lot. Its a different matter, that, for lack of resources, I cannot read as much as would like to, but yea, I've read a few books. After the advent of Twilight(shudder) I've come across a lot of girls who state reading as their hobby. When I ask what books they've read, the reply I get is Twilight and Chetan Bhagat. Now, pardon my use of smileys, but at that time, I can't help but go :|

Ayn Rand, Mario Puzo, Tolkien, Hemingway, Orhan Pamuk, George Orwell are authors that are worth reading. Not Chetan Bhagat(except the first, his books are ordinary). and definitely not Twilight. Therefore, I was very happy to come across a girl who has read The Fountainhead(I mention this particular book because its close to me), and actually understood what it stands for.

There are many more steretypes, some of which evade my mind as I write this, and many more exceptions to them.

And if you're lucky, you'll find a girl with all these exceptions rolled into one. Dont let her go. She's worth it.

I understand, that while reading this, some of you might have thought that I hold unfair prejudices against women. No, that is not the case. Seeing these exceptions, I feel proud, for it means that India is finally progressing when it comes to women. There are a lot of social restrictions on women, and a lot of misconceptions. To see women finally being able to stand up on their own feet, without being held back by apprehensions about what society will think makes me happy.

I won't end this, for there are lot more exceptions to stereotypes that I have to discover. I hope that soon, these labels will cease to exist, and that we all can live as human beings, without being discriminated upon based on our gender, caste or race.