Okay, I am responding here so it doesn't look like I;m replying to any one person and so I don't have to reply to any one post. Um, yeah, okay.

I am a teenage female. Sixteen and, besides, the whole Christian thing, pretty typical. some of my friends and I have a habit of, once in a while, yelling "Guys SUCK!" to the world at large, generally when one or two of them are being stupid. Is this necessarily fair? No. But does it mean I'm prejudiced against guys? Also no.

You see, my best friend is male. Yeah, he can be an idiot sometimes, but so can I. EVERYONE can. There IS a lot of anti-male stereotyping out there, and I think a lot of it happens in the teenage world, which is where eric is coming from. Let me explain why... at the teenage level, girls have a much greater desire to be friends with guys than guys do to be friends with girls. We WANT it, we NEED it (well, not really, bu we feel like we do...). Friendships with males are incredibly affirming and special, but - FOR THE MOST PART - they aren't easily found. The sad thruth is that many - not all - teenage guys ARE pretty sex-driven. I realize that this is a gross generalization, and I realize that I PERSONALLY know many exceptions.... but I also know many guys who look at girls and think "sex-body-sex" and that's it. Honestly, considering the frequency with which we're checked out and taken as lust objects and hit on randomly and called at on the steets - all of which I've experienced - it's surprising we haven't just gone with an idea some of my friends have had, being "Who needs men anyway? All we need are sperm banks."

i'm not saying this is my viewpoint. It has been at times, but generally I truly appreciate guys - the decent ones. Usually when I call all guys jerks, it's not bewcause of a jerky guy being jerky - it's when a guy I trust and love and respect messes up. but that doesn't mean I believe it, and I don't think most girls who say it do, either.

So there, I've said my piece. I'm done now.... I hope this doesn't screw this conversation up any more.

uni"truly does love guys"peg