Women in a relationship want rocks (or diamonds) while men seek gold. Rocks, for a woman, are wonderful nights out, romantic attention and emotional connection. Gold for a man is sex. If you give a woman only gold or a man just rocks, neither will be satisfied. There must be an exchange. - Neil Strauss
Once a year Washington College comes together to do what it has done best since 1782 - party.
There is no better opportunity to exchange rocks for gold than the Birthday Ball. If nothing else, it's one way to make up for those painful lingering memories of high school prom.
Practically everyone is drinking, walking to the LFC, dancing, and looking for someone to accompany them on the short return to the dormitories.
It's the one night of the year when the entire school is dressed up, liquored up, and ready to have the amazing night each imagined they would have - so if your date isn't panning out, take advantage of the hundreds of other dancing coeds without rings on their fingers or boyfriends who should be playing for our non-existent football team.
What Neil Strauss doesn't mention in the above quote is that men and women often desire a balance of rocks and gold. Women certainly do enjoy sex as much (if not nine times more) as men, and that's not to say that most men won't appreciate "A Night In Rome." Dressing up, drinking, and dancing generally results in a plethora of positive pleasure for both genders.
The hurdle here, for men, is the dancing. It's not that guys refuse to dance; it's that most don't know how. We've never been taught.
While girls (I imagine) were having slumber party dance-offs and studying music videos, the most dancing I've done with my male friends has involved a Playstation and a Dance Pad.
As for studying music videos, we get distracted by the female dancers and find ourselves helpless in real-life situations when we aren't throwing away money, drinking from a crunk cup, or flashing our grills.
So ladies, be patient. Drag your men onto the dance floor and go wild without worrying about stepping on any toes (the shoes are rented anyway). Instead of becoming frustrated with our lack of rhythm, keep trying new ways to get us moving before moving on.
There is nothing more motivating to learn how to dance than seeing you with a guy that knows how.
With that in mind, remember to sort out how your partner in crime feels about you working the dance floor before the situation comes up on Saturday.
Maybe he's insecure in the relationship and needs to know you're going home with him regardless of how well that foreign exchange student dances.
Maybe most males just don't get it. To me, dancing has always been a sexual thing, and seeing a girl dance with another guy means more to me than just a dance.
We've learned from middle school dances that the foot of space between partners represents the sexual tension present in all mixed gender affairs.
And while guys might always make a big deal of which girls we danced with that night, a woman will probably just remember dancing and having a great time.
Which is the ultimate goal, as Birthday Ball should be like prom, minus the urgency to leave.
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