Where Have all the Nice Guys Gone? Not Lulu (A Female Perspective)
Lainie Rowland, Co-Editor-in-Chief
February 5, 2013
Filed under Opinion, Student Life
A boy “gets” with a lot of girls, he’s a player, a girl “gets” with more than one boy, she’s labeled a slut and a whore. This double standard is nothing new, and has achieved a level of general acceptance, despite criticism. Society values a sex-driven image of relationships, an image that favors males. While women constantly struggle to gain equal respect, pay and opportunity in education, the workplace and life, young women today do not seem very concerned with the respect they receive from the opposite sex or lack thereof. The popularity of the new “Lulu” app, marketed not for girls, but only for girls, illustrates not only this evident and pervasive lack of self-respect, but how females have succumbed to the male dominated culture of sex.
Lulu is a new smartphone app that allows only females (it crosschecks your gender with what is listed on Facebook) to rate male “companions” on their sexual prowess and relationship tendencies. Girls can anonymously classify their relationship with boys as “Ex-Boyfriend,” “Crush,” “Together,” Hooked Up,” “Friend,” or “Relative” and then rate various traits related to romanticism, sexual skills and commitment.
I can concede – I’m not a feminist, I have never been discriminated against for being female, and I believe there are more important issues than women’s lib in this day and age. However, I also do not allow myself to be taken advantage of, gossip about hookups and sexual exploits, or rate guys based on their sexual prowess. The common lament is, “Where have all the nice guys gone?” Nowhere; you just can’t find them on Lulu.