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It is an irritating aspect of walking down relatively crowded streets that I am privy to the conversations of people behind me. This is doubly irritating because I realize that the people, usually a couple, are really close behind me during their interaction. And not only that, they speak unnecessarily loud. If they are close to each other, they can surely keep their voices down, notwithstanding traffic and other ambient noises. I'm not sure why this is. Do they want me to hear their conversation? Do they forget the normal etiquette of keeping private conversations private? Are they carried away with their witty repartee?
Still, I try sometimes to figure out who they are - are they married; are they colleagues; are they friends; are they homosexual? etc. The strange thing is that I'm misidentifying the men as well as the women! The younger men, in their early to late twenties, talk in slightly high pitched voices, in the fast and giddy manner of teenage girls, as do women from teenagers to those in their thirties. I would have thought that with the advent of feminism, etc., post-adolescent women would speak with more mature and strong voices, but no, their voices seem to have regressed to their pre-adolescent, little girl state. The older women in their forties and beyond do cultivate some form of mature vocal tone, but not always.
I often wonder if the fast-talking, giddy men in their twenties are gay. They certainly look it, but with many young men these days, it is hard to decipher if they are straight or gay, although I have the suspicion that they are leaning that way even if not "out" about it. Nothing wrong with sex, with either sex, seems to be the mantra of society these days.
So, what does all this mean? Are men and women becoming more effeminate (if one can say that about women)? Is the strong, confident human being (both male and female) lost in the maze of feminism and equality, where equality means that everyone aspires to be a teenage girl? Are the affairs of the world so insurmountable that people are "opting out" rather than grinding on, reverting to the care-free, responsibility-free time of their childhood and adolescence, especially encapsulated in our modern world's teenage girl?