You know those age old movies with women with big hair in pretty dresses, classical music, gentlemen, and sexist pigs, right? So. The whole idea about women having to be treated specially may not exactly be very common in the US (equality of the sexes, right?) but in Russia it's here, it's there it's everywhere. And driven to a point where it feels ridiculous. I have no issue when old men with giant mustaches and fancy hats behave according to those antique standards, but 17 year olds? Really… that's too much. Some of the stuff that's happened in the short time I've been here:
1. Women are always let though any door first. Anytime. Anywhere.
2. When standing in a group and there are seats. Women get the seats before men.
3. If there is a bag(of any weight) (or anything else weighing more than 500g, for that matter) the man must carry it.
4. When walking together (esp. if the couple is 'involved') the woman must be to the man's right.
5. When it's raining, the man holds the umbrella, and must make sure that the girl doesn't get rained on.
6. If any other unfavorable circumstances exist the man must take the woman home.
But yeah it's not that I mind people being nice, or having been taken home under an umbrella because I forgot mine, no it's great. But these are things that shouldn't happen because women are 'fragile,' but because women are human beings too. No other reason should be necessary.
And as for carrying a bag that contains 2L of milk because I'm a girl and therefore weak, well that's just plain stupid. If it really does look heavy, the sure, let's split the load, but if it's a pathetic 2 milk cartons worth of mass, then that's just laughable. (and yes, that actually did happen. And the only reason why I didn't tell the guy off was because I still lack the vocabulary to properly bash this absurdity.)
So yeah, being nice is great, but being nice because of genitals is just bla.
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