Women are from Earth, men are from Mars

I went through the majority of high school never having had a serious relationship with a guy. I always found I was content with a few good girlfriends and a gay guy as my social circle. Not to mention, most of the guys in my old high school were either immature mentally or physically, both of which steered me away from trying to forge a relationship with of any of them. Then senior year, I started to like guys more and felt there were some that I could really get along and who weren't immature. To make an extremely long story short, I ended up falling for one of the first guys I got along with. He ended up having a laundry list of pyschological and personality disorders, which gradually became apparent over time. At the time I thought I loved him; but now looking back on it, the only reason I believed I was in love with him was because he was the first guy who ever told me he loved me. I made a huge mistake by staying with him and getting too emotionally close with him. The relationship ultimately brought me down in so many ways, and it made it seem impossible to ever make an exit. Finally, after I had been given every warning sign and had every arguement in the world with him, I cut him out,-cold turkey style. Ahh LIBERATION!!! It was great. All of a sudden it felt like a mental maid service had gone through my head and cleaned it all up. There were no more harrassing phone calls, immature threats, mind games, etc. I could finally be a young women and experience life the way it should be, sans men. I need to specify that when I say "without men," I don't mean a world without men. At the least, what I mean to state is that most young girls would probably be a lot better off without having a guy consuming so much of her time and emotional energy. Of course, this isn't the truth for every girl; but honestly, most girls I have heard talk about their high school and college romances have expressed deep frusteration, if not depression, souly because of her relationship with her signifficant other.

I just wish that for all the tears so many women have cried because of the man she's with, it could stop at some point. I hope to find a man one day that I can live happily with and get along with; however, until I graduate college, it isn't my desire to be in anymore boyfriend-girlfriend relationships. I just think this is too much of a critical time, in terms of changing and growing mentally, that comitting yourself and your life to one person can possibily open up some uncertain and potentially dangerous doors. I'm not reffering to physical abuse, but rather the emotional nature that comes with so many relationships these days. I'd rather let myself continue to learn and grow; make mistakes; acheive my own success; without having a boyfriend breathing down my neck.

I'd like to make it clear that I'm not man bashing here. I probably have more guy friends now than girlfriends. Hanging out with a guy and talking to a guy can be awesome. I always want to hear the opposite sex's opinions and thoughts on a variety of issues. Actually, it's probably all those legitimate, cool guys that I have encountered whom have solidified my opinion about young women and being in a serious relationship. This is why:

Lets say I meet a guy and we soon get into a political conversation that is clearly interesting and stimulating for both of us. It would be ideal if we could continue to talk and hang out; but so often, young men will be too quick to jump to make a move, romatically speaking. How does agreeing on issues about politicis( not exactly considered to be an especially sexual topic; unless you're talking about republicans in the Senate) qualify us to start dating? It doesn't. And no doubt, after you turn that guy down, you can kiss goodbye those interesting political conversations.