Taari Coleman | Staff Writer

You know the North Carolina State Fair is in town when it’s cold enough to see your breath, the noise is just loud enough to make you raise your voice a little, and you can smell turkey legs and funnel cake the moment you step out of your car. Though these are a few of the better aspects of a trip to the State fair, things can become a little tricky when the ticket seller looks at you and your date and asks, “how many tickets?,” should it be you or your date that dishes out the dollars?

We live in a society that often accepts and perpetuates gender roles. Many boys are reared in households where they are told to be chivalrous. This means that they should open doors, pay for meals, and in the event that a bump is heard in the night, they should be the one to rise from bed and go investigate. Contrary to the role of boys, girls are raised under the impression that they should wait for doors to be opened and hesitate to pay when the check arrives at the end of a dinner date. Though these are the things that society has taught us, it isn’t fair for these gender roles to dictate our everyday behavior.

Women usually will not ask men on dates, and men are made uncomfortable, should women offer to pick up a check. Gender roles have roots in security and social pressure. Given that men and women are taught from a young age that they are supposed to behave in a particular way, acting in any way other than the standard is often seen as abnormal, which is for many an undesirable trait.

The good news is that society is progressing toward a more feminist friendly environment and many gender roles are slowly being done away with. The bad news is that the general public’s definition of feminism is incorrect. A feminist is not just someone who believes that women should hold doors for men, but someone who respects an  individuals for being alive and not for what they possess.

As far as dating is concerned, typically, both parties should bring money. Expectation and assumption can be dangerous to play with. Fairs can be pricey, if your date picks up the tickets, maybe offer to at least go Dutch on the funnel cake.