<p>Hmm, so what if all the straight men requested for straight roommates, and left all the gay men together. How is that different from coed (assuming straight) rooms?</p>
<p>While we're on the topic... anyone who's coming to yale (or almost any other college, i'd expect) should approach the experience willing to throw out any preconceived notions they have about any group of people. Yale designs its class to represent as many different facets of the country and the world as possible, and you're going to be missing out on a lot if you're not willing to step outside of your prior experience. If i were to only hang out with wealthy white people from downstate new york (of whom there are plenty at yale...), i'd be missing so much. There definitely are people who mostly associate with others from a similar background, and they generally don't fall into the preppy mold that one might imagine. There are all sorts of cliques... international, racial, extracurricular, etc, and the minority of people who belong to them are generally regarded as missing out on a lot of what the undergraduate body has to offer. </p>
<p>I should note here that my freshman year has broken down some unfair judgements i made in september. I might have been a little too surprised that the my friend who is a Chinese international student was completely assimilated into american culture before arriving, speaks english so perfectly that i would have thought she was from my town, and is a prospective theater major. I've also become much more conscious of why it's important not to use misogynistic language due to some events on campus. You've got to approach college with a flexible and introspective mind, or you're going to waste a valuable opportunity.</p>
<p>Just to respond to kwijiborjt:</p>
<p>I appreciate that you understand that having discomfort about rooming with a gay roomate is not a sign of bigotry or anything like it. I am not sure what the particular circumstances of other posters are, but I can say that in my case I am uncomfortable with the situation because of the environment I grew up in and how it has shaped my cultural norms. Living with a gay roomate might not be a big deal to someone from a region where it is common, but for someone from a community where there is little open homosexuality and where that lifestyle is very rare and causes a lot of apprehension, it can be very strange and awkward. This is not due to a lack of personal growth or to ignorance- rather, it is because that is not a part of some societies' comfort level. Some cultures prefer a distant speaking distance, while some like close talking range. Some cultures hold expression as an ideal, while others prefer stoicism. Likewise, some cultures have had exposure to homosexuality and are accustomed to it, while to others it is an unfamiliar practice that they are not completely comfortable with. </p>
<p>I want to enjoy Yale because it is an incredible school. I love what it has to offer, and I look forward to meeting the great people who go there. I know that Yale will challenge many of my beliefs and norms, but I hope that that will in no way mean that Yale is "not for me", or that I am somehow too "conservative" to attend. I am very happy to treat homosexuals with the same respect, kindness, and equlity that I treat all others, but that cannot stop the fact that the homosexual lifestyle I see on campus will occasionally seem strange and threatening to me. I don't believe that gut reaction should exclude me from fitting in at Yale any more than some students' attraction to members of the same sex should. To apply the standard of tolerance requires reciprocation of that same standard, so I ask that the views of other posters who are apprehensive about homosexuality be understood and considered.</p>
<p>I plan to be open minded, as I am sure other posters do as well. But be careful of using the term "open minded" to mean "minded likewise to _________".</p>
<p>I'm glad that people (ie, you) are participating in a thoughtful discourse about the subject. In many ways i think this conversation is a good introduction to life at yale. Whether within our outside of the classroom, this kind of conversation is central to the yale experience. I hope that excites all of you! </p>
<p>With that said, I'd like to acknowledge that i very much appreciate both what you say and that you've said it. The notion that one could be too conservative for yale is a false one... instead, your recognition that Yale will challenge your beliefs and norms suggests that you'll do well here. Ideally everyone in the community would be willing to engage in this conversation, and we all would accept that what we understand to be true is not firm and steadfast. </p>
<p>I'd like to suggest this: comfort and understanding comes with familiarity. What seems a strange and threatening practice to which you have an unpleasant gut reaction is likely to become much more comfortable in a less stoic environment. It might be worth note that i was extremely uncomfortable, if not scared, the first time i saw two men kissing. Most people that approach a foreign situation willing to have their beliefs challenged discover that its not as threatening as it once may have seemed. </p>
<p>On a side note, it's interesting how intellectualism can set one at odds with mainstream society. I suspect that many people aren't as willing to challenge what they understand, and yale (/higher academia) isn't really an appropriate place for those people. At least as i understand it, my academic experience has been about challenging what i understand to be true and enriching it with as much new information as possible. That's also about as good of a definition of modern intellectualism as i can muster. While this is terribly off topic, and i think the original questions of this thread are much more important, it is interesting to note that an intellectual attitude tends to set one at odds with the past and mainstream America.</p>