Warm Rain

Today we woke up to warm rain outside. I thought it was so cool because, in California, chances are that if it’s raining it is also freezing cold outside. We picked up our umbrellas and piled into our Tahoe’s and drove to Wellesley.

I was extremely impressed by several things at Wellesley. Without a doubt, the school greatly exceeded my expectations. First of all, the student giving our tour was very charismatic and energetic. She seemed genuinely excited to show the campus to us. The campus itself was very beautiful. The architecture and furniture was all very classy but had a cool Harry Potter/castle feel to it. Wellesley is an all women school, but our guide made sure to explain that they do get opportunities to spend time with men. Basically, the classroom life is all women (with some exceptions from sister schools) but social life is co-ed. I personally do see some of the benefits of being in an all women environment, but also I recognize the importance of having male perspectives around.

Any topic regarding gender equality seems to naturally stir up disagreements. I believe that when looking at the whole picture, men and women are equal but certainly are not the same. Women do face many double standards and stereotypes. Some of which I believe are unfair, and others I do not object to. For example, when I see a man open a door for a woman I think it is very respectful and chivalrous and I believe all men should behave that way. However, when I see a woman holding open a door for a man who is not elderly or handicapped or holding a baby or otherwise unable to open the door himself, I find myself feeling upset with the man. If I am on BART or a bus and a woman walks on and has to stand and a man doesn’t offer her his seat, I have a problem with that. I find it more inappropriate for a man to yell at a woman than at another man.

Arguing for complete equality would really be asking to eliminate chivalry like this, because if women are just like men, they aren’t entitled to extra polite-ness right? Well personally I don’t believe that. The way I was raised is that men are to be more courteous to women. That is not to say that it is because women cannot fend for themselves, it is just how I believe things should be. It is nice.

We got to have a delicious dinner at Blue Ginger and were accompanied by Lucy Pellum, who explained to us what admissions officers at Wellesley are looking for. She was very friendly and informative.

Later in the day we had dinner at Camille’s. This was quite possibly the most enjoyable dinner so far. The food was incredible and our guests were quite pleasant. The dinner was not tense and we had a lot of good laughs and interesting debates. We discussed whether funding child care facilities for teen mothers was a good idea and everyone was very into the conversation. I had a fantastic time.