Male discrimination: Charging more to
party
by Sawyer Thomas, online editor
Recent events have caused me to bring the drinking topic out
of the closet and place it right smack in the middle of the
limelight.
I went to several clubs, experiencing
true college life with a group of my friends who I have
dubbed “The Fab Five”. We party more than Jenny McCarthy
(and we are sometimes wilder than her as well), and we
always choose not to study, but rather to trip the light
fantastic. I went to a certain club (no names being
mentioned) and something completely unexpected happened.
I’m going to take you through this
incredibly frustrating situation step-by-step. I roll up
into the parking lot, and get out of the car with my home
girls. There were three of us. One of the girls is 26, one
is 19, and I am a child-like 18. We were looking all kinds
of fly in our crunk-club clothes. We walked up to this
club, in the oh-so-glamorous Depot District in Lubbock, and
we waited in line. We waited outside, and it was probably
36 degrees. So, we get in, they check our identification,
mark us young people up, give the geriatrics their arm bands
and we get in line to pay.
All sounds pretty normal to a club
attendee. That is, until we go to pay. I went first, and
it was $10. I thought that seemed pretty steep, and I was
frustrated, because at the time, I was unemployed and super
broke. But my friend paid for me, which was the coolest
thing in the world at the moment. It was still pretty
upsetting. My girlfriends get ready to pay, and the
26-year-old walks up and pays $5. Understandable, because
she is over 21, and she is going to be spending some, if not
large, quantities of money on alcohol (with my friend, it’s
usually the latter, and bless her for it). But then my
19-year-old female friend goes to pay, under 21, and she
only paid $7.
Hold up a whole hot second. She is
under 21 and had to pay $7? I’m under 21 and I had to pay
$10? To me, there is something severely wrong with this
picture. I asked the collections girl why she got in
cheaper than I did, and she said, ‘Because she is a girl’.
Now, I’m not sexist by any means. I am all about women’s
rights, and everything like that. But I think that is kind
of ridiculous.
I’m not going to make this article
about discrimination against men, because it isn’t that at
all. But women don’t realize the advantages that they
have. A few examples are that women most definitely have an
advantage in the workplace, especially at restaurants. When
they go to the clubs, they get in cheaper. Women always get
perks.
In the workplace, especially at
establishments where you can receive tips, women make more
than men do by far. A man can accumulate $100 in tips, when
a woman could walk away with $150 to $200. I joke with my
friends and say that it’s because they have breasts. I
suppose that it is probably because they provided better
service than I did.
That’s besides the point. I felt
betrayed that I had to pay more to get into the club. I am
a college student too. Because I am a male, I am being
punished and have to pay more to get in to have a good time
and escape the everyday trials of school. Even on COLLEGE
NIGHT!!! On college night, the girls get a discount with
their student ID cards, and the guys don’t get any kind of
break.
Ridiculous, sir? I do think so. It is
sexism at its worst, and I feel beaten by a system that is
not only holding the keys to my destiny, but controlling my
ability to have a good time without it costing a small
fortune.
College is already expensive enough.
Give me my party.
