Go Jackets

Last weekend, Maggie, Allie and I embarked on quite an adventure: a road trip to Georgia Tech in order to tailgate...Southern Style.

And while we had a few speed bumps along the way (getting lost in Bloomington, nearly running out of gas in Chattanooga, and forgetting to print return directions...) we still managed quite a successful and fulfilling journey.

After a wonderful morning of tailgating at Tech and an afternoon of cheering for the Yellow Jackets, we were incredibly hungry. Jim and I decided we'd take them to one of our favorite Atlanta restaurants, Sage.

Unfortunately, for some reason, our waitress wasn't very fond of me (maybe because I ordered a meal that I removed three items and attempted to add avocado, which she told me they didn't actually have, even though I ordered it this summer...). But this is merely a guess.

However, while I didn't feel the love from our waitress, I must admit that according to gender roles, she knew what she was doing.

She took the females' orders first. She served the females' food first. The females' plates were removed first.

And while some may find this practice standard, a new restaurant in New York tried to move away from this idea. Jenny Moon, owner of Apiary, which opened this year in the East Village, decided to disregard all gender roles.

She served men first. She didn't worry about giving women menus without numbers. She didn't place women in a seat where they could see the rest of the room.

She figured women and men were equal, right?

Wrong.

Apparently, she received complaints from guests, asking her to please serve women first. To please treat the women like ladies.

Apparently, while women want equal rights and equal treatment in the rest of the world, not all of them are ready to be treated like equals while enjoying fine dining.

If you think about it, though, it makes sense. While most women don't want to be called weaker than men, they still expect their doors to be opened on a date.

If you're cynical, you could say it's a double standard.

Personally, I think it's merely an expectation of chivalry that allows men to maintain their masculinity while taking care of ever-strengthening women, and women to maintain their femininity in a world that continually empowers them to challenge themselves.

Essentially, this chivalrous attitude allows both genders to thrive and reminds everyone that equal treatment does not mean men and women are the same.

Not so much a feminist myself, I practice some devotion to gender roles.

I mean, the main point of tailgating Southern Style is that the girls all wear dresses. You can't get much more old fashioned that than. But while I wore a dress and made certain not to drink straight from any cans (like a true Southern Belle) I took a step outside of my ways and attended the football game (not so standard for a Hoosier).

A little bit of devotion to tradition, yet a willingness to be flexible; it sounds like Jenny Moon could take a lesson from Southern Style tailgating.