We have all heard of instances where a girl turns down the guy hitting on her at the bar because of how he’s dressed, the way he physically looks, or even the people he’s with at the time. Obviously it’s all a matter of personal opinion and has a lot to do with the level of standards that each girl sets for herself. Recently, however, I’ve been noticing that girls are becoming more and more particular when deciding whether or not they’ll respond to obvious drunken advances. Something caught my eye not too long ago that made me wonder if all girls feel this way. I’ve seen girls consider a guy to be a total joke if his drink isn’t up to par with his gender.
So my question is, are girls so particular that they’ll judge a guy on what he’s drinking at the bar?
Girls are notoriously stereotyped for liking “fruity drinks,” or anything that’s more colorful than what they’re wearing that night. I’ve always known this to be partially true, but just this year I’ve discovered that it’s not safe to assume so in all situations. It’s come to my attention that a guy can be judged for liking the same kind of drink, and the girls around him can unknowingly be the first ones judging. If a guy tries to talk to a girl while drinking a beer or even sipping a whiskey & coke, chances are that the girl won’t even notice the drink in his hand. Switch the aforementioned drinks of choice with a Long Island iced tea or a cosmopolitan and you’ve got a recipe for disaster with speculation and humor potentially written all over it. What does this mean you ask? It means that some girls simply want to drink just to get drunk and might surprise you when they walk up to you with a shot of tequila or a beer. I didn’t even notice this issue until I was mad aware of it.
Over spring break I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend of mine who attends another college in Florida. We got on the topic of talking about how much our drinking habits have changed since coming to college, and what she had to tell me was pretty humorous. It started with, “I love going to bars more now, but whenever I go out, I end up getting hit on by the weirdest guys.” In my mind I’m thinking she’s referring to a creep or one of those pedestrian 30 year-old dudes who refuses to leave this college town because picking up the budding hospitality major in his sophomore year is more important than joining real life. Then she said, “I can never take a guy seriously if he starts talking to me with a martini or a girl drink in his hand, it’s just pointless.” As I laughed at the comments she was making, I realized she wasn’t joking. She said, “Sorry I’m not sorry, but I don’t have time to be offered a drink with fruit juice in it so I can pretend to get drunk for five minutes. It’s just pointless. Throw me a few shots of something that’ll burn and then let me chase it with beer.” After hearing this I knew it was no longer safe to assume that girls put flavor first.
As someone who’s been guilty of choosing a drink for its flavor over its strength, I would definitely say that the issue is the same for both guys and girls. Just because some girls choose to ignore the guy holding the cranberry and vodka doesn’t mean that all girls will do this. And the same goes for guys; we would rarely ever judge a girl for drinking a beer or keeping it simple. Sometimes, alcohol is alcohol, and as college students, it’s fine to be equal opportunity drinkers. If you like a drink because of its flavor, then order it. If you’re looking for something to save you the three hours of socializing and sipping, then order some shots and call it a night.
To all the girls out there who have turned down a guy because of his drink of choice, let us know why it detracts so much from everything else. If anything, it’s one more relatable quality that you’ll have with him. To the guys that choose to put flavor in the picture, keep doing so, because in college, this is the only time in your life when going out as frequently as we all do is socially acceptable.
Cut out the middleman in this issue and focus on what’s important: Keep it classy, keep it legal, but most of all, keep it safe.