What’s It Like To Stay With The Opposite Sex? Quora Knows

Quora asked people what it is like to room with the opposite sex and the answers are quite interesting!

A poster from the show Permanent Roommates. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Permanent Roommates)

With the youth rallying around gender-equality and non-traditional approaches, here’s a Quora thread that gives you a panoptic view in a nutshell. The thread asked people what it is like to room with a member of the opposite sex and the answers seem to simultaneously reinforce as well as break seterotypes.

While most answers sought to break taboo and pre-conceived associations people draw, (for example, the impossibility of a platonic bond with a roomie of the opposite sex), a few of them ended up confirming common stereotypes when it came to gender roles. Have a look at the mixed responses!

I understand that for most people it is a shocker that boys and girls who live together could have plain, platonic, unadulterated friendship. I know some of my friends who do.

Ashwati Pillai

(Photo : The Quint)

On some of the lessons learnt when one lives with a girl:

That taking control of the remote is everything. Once she is tuned into that girly soap opera, there’s no coming back. Same goes for a cricket match in our case.

Adarsh Kumar

(Photo : The Quint)

Prior to this encounter, I was never really close to any girl. I have no sisters or any close female friends. So I always had this in my mind that girls are so pristine and angelic. [sic]

Anonymous

(Photo : The Quint)

During my periods, I suffered with my mood swings and they were the victims of that. They knew the reason behind my mood swing, but still boys cannot understand our problems. [sic]

Niharika Sahu

(Photo : The Quint)

It is their nature, habits that affect relations. It can also happen that a same gender roommate can make your life hell and an opposite gender roommate can make you comfortable.

Anonymous

(Photo : The Quint)

Apart from our mutual friend circle and my closest friends, no one knows I have a male roommate. It *is* a social taboo in India..I wish I didn’t have to keep it a secret.

Anonymous

(Photo : The Quint)

Now that you’ve had a look at some of the responses, you’ll know what Quora threw our way. Also, speaking of stereotypes, it is important to remember that these comments are supposedly drawn from lived experiences. Doesn’t this raise a far more important question? While activists are denouncing gender stereotypes, here are people confirming their pervasive existence.

Anyhow, let’s just say “gender”and not “sex” is the beginning of the debate.