Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Cohabitation isn’t just for people in romantic relationships anymore, says John Curtis, a former family and marriage counselor and author of “Happily Un-Married: Living Together and Loving it.” May is National Cohabitation Month.
Although some students live with the opposite gender for romantic reasons, others cohabitate because it’s convenient or because they want to live with their best friend. According to Curtis, cohabitation is founded in a “widely diverse” set of reasons.
From his research on relationships, Omri Gillath, assistant professor of psychology, said people should consider certain factors before they decided cohabitation was right for them.
“I think two people’s set of preferences are more important than gender,” Gillath said. “It’s also different if you’re dating someone else, whether or not your attracted to each other, and how experienced you are living outside of your house plays into it.”
Vanessa Green, Perdonia junior, met her roommate, Jordan Gard, sitting next to him in class freshman year.
“I told him that he smelled good,” Green said. “He looked at me and thought I was a freak.”
Green said Gard was more laid back than most of the girls she knew, and it definitely made a difference in their living situation.
“I never want to move,” Green said. “I know what makes him mad and he knows what makes me mad. With him being a guy he doesn’t hold grudges, and we don’t stay mad at each other.”
Green said she was cleaner than he was, but they both performed chores and picked up messes without having to talk to each other about it. Although they know everything about each other, she said he still did things she did not understand.
“We don’t share a bathroom, but he’s a guy,” Green said. “He farts. It’s weird.”
She said they had never been interested in each other romantically but had become best friends.
Green said another perk of living with Gard was when his attractive guy friends visited. Gillath said having a roommate whom you aren’t dating could increase a person’s chances of finding a partner.
Mallory Tangeman, Wichita junior, said she and her other female roommate met guys when they had a male roommate. They had more fun watching his romantic pursuits unfold.
“We saw him hanging out with girls and then calling his ex-girlfriend and she had no idea,” Tangeman said. “It was just funny to both of us because we don’t have brothers and so neither of us had ever lived with a guy before.”
Tangeman said her other roommate had a hard time with their male roommate leaving the toilet seat up but eventually learned to live with it. Although he didn’t clean much, Tangeman said she didn’t attribute it to his gender.
“I’ve lived with messier girls before,” Tangeman said.
Tangeman said he never caused drama and was more easy-going than most girls, and they were sad to see him leave in January. She said some things were easier now that she had all girl roommates again.
“It is nice to not have to worry about walking around the house in a towel or anything,” Tangeman said.
— — Edited by Chris Horn
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