It's Simple Math.

Disclaimer: This blog post has revealed to me that I may perhaps be a very confused feminist.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. -Albert Einstein

The Basics.
Men in Hungary > Men in the States

The Details.
I would support this quasi-mathematical statement over and over again. Don't get me wrong. I love my American boys--full of spunk, and sass, and smart-assery. It's just about everything that keeps me entertained day in and day out. 

But I've come to experience something different whilst in Hungary, and I'm tempted to say...I like it. Practically every guy I've met here has been a class act. A huge gentleman. They open doors for me, they let me go first, they pour my drinks and my soup. The amount of times that I have heard the Hungarian phrase for "Ladies first" is practically equivalent to the amount of times that I've told people that I don't speak Hungarian (hint: that's a lot). 

Here's the thing about standards...they're set by the community around you. I genuinely think that there are just different values, different standards in this part of the world than there are in my part of the world. It begs another question though. I think of my high school friends, the hilarious group of guys that I would play Mafia with (yes, Demon, Rofl I'm talking about you; don't let the "hilarious" comment go to your heads) and conversations that we would have about men and women. They always saw it one way: equality or chivalry because we couldn't have it both ways. It was (is?) too much for us to ask to both be treated as an equal to a man, yet still be privileged and respected as a woman. 

Now at the risk sounding like a crazed feminist, which who knows...I might be, I did mention that this treatment of women in Hungary begs another question. I can't help but wonder, over and over again, what are the women of Hungary sacrificing in order to be respected and idolized by the men of this country? Every time a man pours my soup for me, is it because he wants to be a gentleman and thinks that it's the polite thing to do, or am I just so high on my dainty little pedestal that it would be impossible for me to reach the ladle all by myself... 

Sometimes in times of crisis, the American government finds it necessary to sacrifice certain freedoms in order to increase public security (that's not an issue I'm going into, it's just to set up this point). What sacrifices are the women of Hungary making in order to be treated this way? Lower wages? Less working hours? Or are the sacrifices less obvious than that? A subtle comment here, a misplaced glance there...The whole thing makes me want to dive back into my quest to uncover the hidden secrets in Disney movies. If I wasn't so convinced that I would be terrible at it, maybe I would be a Film major...or a Women's Studies major. But I'm not particularly fond of doing things that I think I'm bad at (take OChem, for example).

So at this point, you're probably more than a little confused. I said that I thought Hungarian men were better than American men (smash), but I seem to only be criticizing and critiquing their actions. Hah, like America's stance of women is one to be particularly proud of (thank you Todd Akin). I absolutely adore being around my Hungarian boys. They are some of the sweetest, kindest, funniest people I have ever been around, and I know they would take me to Heaven, Hell and back if I asked them too. I think that's all I'd like in the States knowing that there are people out there who have the capabilities to laugh with me, play with me, joke with me, but at the end of the day still respect the hell out of me. At the end of the day, they still open doors for me; they still care about more than just themselves. Chivalry, contrary to popular belief, is not dead. 

Again, all of this isn't to say that I don't love my American boys; I do. All I'm saying is, my expectations are now higher. I come back in a little more than 3 weeks, guys. If you know me well enough, you know what all too appropriate quote I would typically reference at this point in my rantings/ventings/bloggings. 



Well, I've taken a new stance. Sir William wasn't right about everything, was he?