The RA Debate: Why it’s Fine to Advise the Opposite Sex
So, this interesting dialogue broke out on Jezebel.com last week, and we felt the need to fill you in and add our two cents. A female student at an undisclosed college wrote in asking for advice about a job she was passed over for. She had applied for a RA position in a all-male dorm and was turned down based soley on the fact that she was a girl.
When put to vote, the majority of readers found this just as sexist and discriminatory as she did. We agree, and can't believe in this day and age with opposite-sex roomies and gay dorms making headlines, some small-minded administrator somewhere couldn't see the value in embedding a girl within an all-male environment.
In an effort to highlight the OBVIOUS benefits, we complied a short list of reasons why this is win-win situation all the way around:
1. The Female Perspective
How many times has your boyfriend said or done an idiotic thing and then 'fessed up that he was just following "his boys'" advice? Men don't understand women – that's why they NEED a woman to guide them when it comes to mating, dating, and thinking before speaking. What better way to ensure that your guy gets where you're coming from then by having a smart female around to help him in affairs of the heart?
2. Cleanliness Quotient
Shocker – guys are gross. Left to their own devices, they'll leave dirty plates and underwear piling up all over their room until they're forced to deal with it. With a girl around, it raises the stakes. Suddenly you have a mom/older sister/really cute girl type in the immediate vicinity and not getting yelled at or ignored becomes a top priority. Boys are task-orientated and live for positive praise. Saying you know for a fact that most girls find clean bathrooms and bedrooms a turn-on will most certainly send most of them scurrying off to the store in search of Tilex and a bottle of Febreze.
3. Metrosexuality 101:
Along with being gross, guys are pretty much clueless about looking good. Sure, they have that whole bathing thing down pat (now if you could only break them of that awful bar of soap and two-in-one shampoo/conditioner combo…), but they need to know what girls like, and it's not denim shorts, baseball caps, and and a closet full of football jersies. A female RA can guide them through this and all the other things they're too embaressed to discuss with their friends (like manscaping, finding the right clothes for their body type, and picking the perfect facial cleanser).
Trust us, an RA of the opposite sex is a good thing. It offers a new perspective and forces people out of their comfort zones…which might be really good thing if their comfort zone is messy, hasn't been cleaned in months, and smells like dirty socks.
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