Ladies, how many of you wished at some point to be a fly on the wall in a gentleman's dressing room? Well recently, I found myself sitting in a male's dressing room while reading a script. I was trying to escape an overcrowded dressing room that I shared with eight other women. In throwing off the veil of propriety, which I do frequently, I became privy to one of the most interesting conversations I have heard since my discussion with my mother about sex at the age of 13.
The room was empty at the time, so I decided to crash in it. So I eventually ended up on the counter, where I began to cram my lines because I had no time to study them the night before.
During this time, five males from the cast entered the room. None were surprised to see me, and they all went about their business as if I were one of the guys.
I sat on the counter, acting all nonchalant, waiting to be flashed or at most, teased. However, the show that I was expecting did not turn out to be the show of emotions that I witnessed. Yes you read correctly, I did say emotions!
These men discussed topics including but not limited to where to get the best clothing, the women in their lives and the best topic yet, Virginity and Today's Young Man. These non-Christian young men, in their early twenties, spoke frankly about saving themselves for marriage. They planned to wait.
Now being a perpetually Doubting Thomas, I decided to play devil's advocate. I wondered aloud why anyone would want to buy the cow without first tasting the proverbial milk. Turns out, their reasons were very sensible. Their resolution was due largely in part to the fact that they wanted to steer clear of all the disillusion that pre-marital sex brings including, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, et cetera.
The conversation then took another shift; can someone say women are aggressors?
Being an aggressive woman myself, I was not shocked and if these guys had known any history, they would have recalled a queen known as Cleopatra and many others throughout history, who feverishly pursued what they wanted. However, I did not comment but listened in amusement, while one young male relayed how he almost lost his virginity to one aggressive female, who tempted him by presenting herself to him as a naked sacrifice. He laughed when he recounted how with all the self control he could muster, he managed to assess her in this state very closely before fleeing. At this point, one of the "non-virgins" no doubt feeling a little self conscious at the purity of the room and a bit left out, expressed that he had always felt a little regretful of having engaged in sexual intercourse at a young age. He said that the feeling of guilt has never left him (though he often engages in intercourse regularly).
The door was suddenly flung open by another member of the cast and just like that, the guys' defenses came back up.
The guys were back to posturing and the smell of old socks filtered out the smell of roses that had began pervading the room. It was almost surreal but I know it happened because I captured it all on tape.
By: Nadine Brown, The Nassau Guardian
