“Do They Really Only Want One Thing?”

I have a wonderful father and two wonderful brothers, so I started my life with a good impression of our male counterpart. As I started to grow up however, my ideals of males changed. We all know the stereotypes males have been given. What is, in my opinion the most true of them all are the stereotypes of what they look for in a women. Most of which are all very well known and negative. Even if you think highly of the opposite sex, you still may fall prey to believing some of the stereotypes that each has. However they did not become a stereotype out of nowhere. I believe that most males give proof in their actions to the stereotype, “they only want one thing”.

It is true that I learned about the stereotype that “boys only want one thing” though word of mouth first. I have tried to figure it out, and learn from my own experiences.I began to gather that this stereotype might hold some truth. In fact it is so common that I have even heard both females and males agree on or acknowledge its relevance in todays society. I first experienced this in middle school. I admit I had a bit of an awkward stage in my growth, thus leading to an awkward stage with boys. I know that middle school boys are almost an entire different species,compared to older males, and should not be used as an example of the behavior of all males, but never the less it did add to my experience and change in my view of males. As someone who was always on the younger side of her grade and had very strict parents, I was usually a little behind in growth and on what some of my fellow females were wearing. This lead me to believe the common saying, “boys only want one thing”. I was always really friendly to everyone and nice, yet I seemed to be getting passed over for girls that looked older and dressed a tad more revealing than me. When I went to mother very upset about this she said that boys hit certain ages where “they only want one thing”. Somewhere in between a thirteen year old version of myself, witnessing the boy I had a crush on asking another girl to the school dance, and me going home crying, hugging my mother is where I truly grasped the “boys only want one thing” concept. Was I impressionable at that young of age? Perhaps, because the lesson has stayed with me.

An article on Marie Claire, “6 Stereotypes Women Have About Men” agrees with this; Stating that women think men “are all out for sex” as the first stereotype on the list. The author goes on to explain that, yes it is sad but true. Some males have this mentality,but not all. I am in a sorority, and because of this the males I hang out with are usually in fraternities. Are they cute and charming? Yes, but they may not be the cream of the crop in the gentlemen department. However does that mean that because they are a certain groups of male that “one want one thing”, that all males are like this? Of course not all males are like this, but sadly I would have to say that most are. A study done by Center for Disease Control, “ Vital and Health Statistics Series 23, No. 24”, states that the 31% of males in between the ages of 15 and 17 have had sex in the year 2002. In another article done by the Center for Disease Control “National Health Statistics Reports, Number 56 (8/2012)” shows that in 2010 males between the ages of 15 to 17, have a 12.5 percent of sexual intercourse compared to a 8.1 for females.

The numbers do not lie and the stereotype of boys “only want one thing” did not come out of nowhere. I believe that most males have this kind of mentality and every once and awhile you may come across one that is different. Through my research and my own experience, I have found that most males, as a first thought, really do only have one thing on their minds.