Growing up I didn’t have many girl friends. I don’t know what aspect of my personality made me naturally bond more easily with boys, but whatever it was has stuck with me throughout the years. The majority of my closest and most trustworthy friends are guys, but with a large group of guy friends come opinions I don’t often want to hear. Male friends won’t compliment on your new blouse when they think it’s actually “hideous and looks like a paper shredder spit it out.” (So much for rocking the distressed look.) Guys for the most part keep it honest, as long as we’re speaking about strictly platonic relationships.
This article will reveal what 5 real college guys have to think about topics that they are often not confronted with. Let’s be honest, guys are not running to their local Target to pick up a fashion magazine to read all about the latest fall trends. You won’t find most guys fretting over their outfit before a party, or their outfit for most other occasions. The male species has it easy!! The goal of this article was to pull the blindfold off these 5 college guys and let them hear for the first time the amount of time and effort we girls put into such seemingly simple tasks. Also, I made it very clear to all 5 men to be brutally honest, rant if they felt it was necessary, but most of all, let their opinions flow freely.
Each segment of this article series will be broken into three categories. Fashion and beauty as well as love and relationships will always be discussed in some way. The third category will switch between a topic in the media that is trending and guy’s choice. Guy’s choice means one of the men interviewed recommended the topic be discussed because he felt women needed to be made aware of men’s opinions on the subject. No more telling women what they think we want to hear, read on to hear the sh*t real college guys have to say about back to school fashion, finding love at college parties and annoying girls on Facebook!!
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Fashion and Beauty: Fall Trends and Back to School Outfits
Fall editions of fashion magazines spend a considerate portion of page space informing women young and old what is in style this season. Everything from colors, textures and trends are scrutinized and ranked as hot or not. Girls 11 to 22 are scrambling to put together back to school outfits that will impress their female classmates and catch the eyes of their male peers. As a guy, how important is following the trends to you? Do you notice a girl’s outfit choices, and if so, what catches your attention? Essentially, what’s a girl got to do to get noticed in a lecture room filled with 500 students?!
“Woah, girls actually follow fashion trends? I thought that was some stereotypical trait that you only see in movies and television shows. Because of my, and probably every other straight guy’s complete ignorance of fashion trends, I wouldn’t even notice if some girl was wearing the latest fashion trends on the first day of class, more less I would even care. It’s no secret that most guys want (to a personal extent) a fairly decent looking girl, but of course there is much more to that. Personality and intelligence are all equally very important factors of what a guy wants to see in a girl. Most importantly, what makes a girl stand out among the rest? Originality.”
-Richard, 19
“I give zero f@#ks about fall trends. Personally as man, flips flops and anything that is comfortable is attractive. I don’t have an opinion on fashion. I honestly don’t notice what people are wearing on the first day of class. Dress for the weather. One more thing, Uggs and booty shorts are always a no.”
-Chris, 19
“For me personally, comfort is key.When girls always dress up, I feel like I can’t touch them, like they’re little dolls.Natural beauty is the best! So many girls forget that makeup is supposed to highlight your features, not create fake ones! A girl is more attractive if they are comfortable and naturally healthy looking. To be honest, nice boobs and butt will get me to look at them, but they really have no more influence than that.”
-Jesse, 20, dorky DJ and music enthusiast
“Well first off, let me say, every guy loves girls in summer clothing. Bikinis, booty shorts, tank tops, and motherload of them all, long summer dresses. The perfect dress can make a guy turn back for another look. A girl in a dress leads to a whole book being written. It leaves unanswered questions. We don’t really care about white after Labor Day or Easter egg colors during Christmas. Anything that flows through the wind is definitely classy, no matter what year it is. Remember, baggy is not sexy. Make sure to get something that fits well and shows off the goods…but not too much! Wear that summer dress before you put it away for the fall. When the weather goes awry and you start wearing the hoodies and sweatpants, those guys who once saw you in a summer dress will try and see where you sit during lecture.”
-Victor, 22
“Up until a few months ago I never cared for what I or anyone else ever wore. I mainly paid attention to my build and health over my fashion sense. However, as a fresh-out-of-the-closet gay man, I felt obligated to start caring about my appearance a little more than I had in the past.I picked up a few GQ’s and Esquires along the way for help. Even though I became a born again fashionista, I didn’t notice any difference in the way I found men attractive. I’m attracted to a guy’s features and physicality—their style and wardrobe are just accessories. Now, I don’t mean to say that men should just wear whatever the hell they want; sometimes a nice wardrobe can turn an ordinary, easily missed guy into a piece of eye candy. However, I don’t expect every guy to wear the latest GQ styles, or remember to wear brown belts with brown shoes (write that one down fellas). “
-Alex, 19
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Love and Relationships: Finding Love at a College Party
Back to school time means a lot of back to school parties. People will find the strangest things to celebrate, anything to get all their good friends in the same room at the same time. While most girls don’t go to a party with the intention of meeting Mr.Right, a girl can dream right? My question for you guys is this, is the girl you meet at a party the girl you take home after dating for a couple of weeks or the girl you bring home after pouring her a couple of drinks? Do guys go to parties with the intention of meeting a girl, or are you simply there to enjoy the event?
“I go to parties to hang out with old friends and maybe meet new ones. This includes both guys and girls. In general, I feel that actively looking for romance is the worst way to go about it. The best loves are usually found on accident. Also, huge loud parties are the worst place to find potential romantic interests.Having said this, if you’re just looking to get laid, it seems to be one of the ideal places, other than a bar. I believe this is the same reason why it make it less likely to find romance. A party can be a good place to meet someone, but not get to know them.”
-Jesse
“Going to a Party for the sake of the party, or to meet a girl, are terms, intertwined as a single experience. You can accomplish one by by doing the other. A lot of people go to parties to go meet a potential hook up, or perhaps a bit more. Alcohol acts as a catalyst …and by the next morning, you can reminisce on how much fun you had last night, if anything happened that you might of wished didn’t, you can just shake it off and say, “I was so drunk! Oh well College LOL!” (Writer’s note: That last statement was total sarcasm. Do not use that fifth shot as your excuse for acting like a fool!)
-Richard
“Let’s be honest here, most guys don’t go to a party to find a girlfriend. We want you to lower your inhibitions. Don’t expect a guy to make you his girlfriend because of that one random night at a party. If you want to be his girlfriend, get to know the guy before the party. Tease the F*&% out of him at the party. And play a little hard to get after the party (A LITTLE, NOT A LOT!! Guys aren’t stupid or going to be patient too long).If a guy invites you to a party and you find him boyfriend material, use it to get to know him better. You will find out a lot about him there.”
-Victor
“If I go to a party I’m going to f@#k someone. The majority of the time the girls I meet at parties are young and drunk, and those aren’t the girls I’m looking to be in a relationship with. If I happen to meet someone, who is down to earth and cool, then yeah, I’ll talk to her and see if I can hang out with her again sometime.You don’t go to parties to meet your wife, you go to the grocery store or gym or Target for that.”
-Chris
“I am not ashamed to admit that I am not the type of guy that enjoys going to parties every Friday or Saturday night. What amazes me at college parties though, is seeing the people who are able to comfortably talk to a stranger (with music blaring) and not only tell their whole life story, but also hook up with them on the spot. What usually ends up happening if I attempt to meet someone at a party is: they’re either not gay, they’re buzzed and have the attention span of a goldfish, they notice I’m not drinking and slowly walk away from me, or our conversation falls flat after we both answer the ‘what’s your major?’ question. I don’t know if I would be able to confidently walk up to a guy and hit it off in a couple of minutes. Maybe I just have some bad social skills, or maybe it’s because I haven’t had enough practice; I just feel like there are better ways of meeting people other than at a party.”
-Alex
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Guy’s Choice: Annoying Facebook Girls
Picture this: It’s Friday night and a girl is keeping all her Facebook friends updated on the fact that her girls and her are getting ready to go out and have some single lady fun. Add a few more updates with images of her having a grand ‘ol time and end the night with a post of how her single status is her choice and she’s loving the single life. Fast forward to a Tuesday night. Suddenly the same girl is liking sappy images of twelve year olds kissing with some romantic quote in big white font covering the picture. Hhmmm? What happened to her single girl pride? Since a few boys seem very passionate about these girls (and sometimes even guys) who use Facebook as a place to rant about their relationship status, I’m leaving the floor open for discussion. Sound off!!
“Some people have to realize that there’s worse things than being alone. Personally, I really like independent women. I think it’s respectable and sexy to have confidence to be by yourself. One of the most annoying things that I see on Facebook is when someone is having a bad day and they make some pissy and generalized statement about men or women. An example would be “Girls are too emotional, I’m over it,” or “Guys are so stupid and gross…Just grow up!” It does annoy the hell out of me when someone uses Facebook as a diary.”
-Jesse
“Personally I don’t care how you use your Facebook, it’s your own. But for the love of God, some of these girls need to have their keyboards thrown in a wood chipper. If anything, I think they come across as more “annoying” than pathetic. Most often these girls who are longing for a partner, are often the most pickiest ones as well.”
-Richard
“Anyone who says or continuously posts how they are over a relationship or they are over a person is not over it. You’re not over someone until you can walk by someone and not think a single negative thought about someone.No matter how much you miss someone, they’re not coming back with a like. It’s Facebook not a portal to solve all problems. Honestly I don’t care if someone constantly posts about their relationship status, it’s not that big of deal. It’s only annoying when it bunches up my news feed.”
-Chris
“Whenever a friend posts a status update concerning their relationship—whether it is good or bad—I can’t help but take my eyes out of my sockets and roll them down a hill. I also think they are some of the most irritating updates, not because I’m single and bitter, but because they always tend to contradict themselves. For instance, one of my friends got a girlfriend a few months ago, and within that week there was an explosion of sappy status updates and kissy face pictures of the two of them. It wasn’t annoying at first, but every time I logged onto Facebook, I would see a new update that had to do with their relationship. When I found his most recent post I saw that his relationship had ended. With lost relationships come the depressed status updates, and so they did. I think it’s fine if people want to show their friends that they’re in a relationship, but I don’t think we need to know how either party feels about their relationship status every single hour.”
-Alex
“This says one thing to every guy reading those statuses. You are a bucket of bat-sh*t crazy. There is a reason why you are single. Just say you’re having fun at the bar. Those pictures are dumb. Horoscopes are annoying. Text your best friend that you want a boyfriend, don’t tell everyone on Facebook.We like that you take pictures of yourself in your skin tight dress to show off the goods. But remember….the creepers love those pictures too.When you post a status that says you love to “do it” or something similar to that, you’re flagged. Stay classy, ladies.”
-Victor
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So there you have it, 5 opinions from boys you could find yourself sitting next to in lecture. What have we learned from these guys? Summer dresses should be a closet staple in every woman’s wardrobe, parties are a great place to meet someone but don’t get your hopes too high, and Facebook statuses about your relationship status should be kept to a minimum, unless you want to get banned from their news feed altogether. If you enjoyed this article comment below on what topics you would like the guys to talk about next week. You can make suggestions for any topic, ranging from how Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson (seriously, what was she thinking?) to how much makeup is too much on a girl. Also, if you’d like to hear more opinions from a certain guy or you had a favorite for this week, go ahead and write that below too. Till next time!