Society Debate: Is it normal for men to get ‘excited’ about receiving flowers?

It is very fine! I sometimes relax in my chair and start laughing alone at people who are ‘local’—due to lack of a better word to describe those who are overly challenged by the radical changes affecting our modern society. If there is anything I despise, it’s those small actions done in cliché; ‘you have to do this because you are a girl, you have to do that because you are a boy’- Come on world! If anybody cared to look around, they would see how fast things are changing, culture is not static. Giving beautiful flowers like roses and lilies to a woman of any age is certainly the easiest way to make amends with her or to show her affection. The centuries-old practice has helped shy men to get what they want without uttering a single word. People have even learnt to present bouquets to their lady bosses in the hope that they do not get fired. As times change though, the art of receiving flowers has shifted between sexes; unlike in the earlier century, or even a few decades ago, it was kind of weird for a man to receive flowers. Worse still, if he received flowers in the open while his colleagues watched, he would be scorned or assumed to be hiding a same-sex lover. That cliché and stereotyped attitude made it almost extinct or non-existent for men to receive flowers. Fortunately, we are the in the age of extreme experimentation—every cultural aspect is being tested. Women are in the art of sending flowers to their partners, either in the hope of making them jump with excitement, or simply to find out how exactly they will react to a new phenomenon. On receiving a bunch of roses from their partners, men blinded by conservatism have shied away and kept the bouquet away from any prying eyes, whereas those who are open to new excitements have jumped up and down in total awe. Now, can someone really convince the world that those excited men are the ones with a problem and not those who are indifferent and unreceptive? Impossible! Who defines what a masculine gift is? Who said flowers, chocolates and the like are a no go for men? Do you expect men to prefer a meal of posho (ugali) and beans to a box of chocolates just because they are men? Hell no! Modern fashion alone is a good enough example that unveils the thin line between feminine and masculine actions. Unlike in the past, fashion industries now fuse feminine touches to men’s gears. It’s not amazing anymore to find a guy wearing a very nice t-shirt dripping with hot pink or a young man at a party wearing a tight fitting tuxedo and looking every inch like a woman. As a matter of fact, let me give ladies some radically good advice. If there be a gentleman who seems to like you just as much as you like him, but just because he is a little shy, and will not under any circumstances bother to ask you to be his girlfriend or fiancé, don’t wait. Just get down on your knees and ask him to be who you want him to be in your life. If you are tied down to speculation and refuse to act because you believe that proposing/ or giving flowers is for the only men, you will certainly miss out on the greatest love of your life. These material acts such as proposing, receiving flowers or eating chocolate in public can be utilized reversibly between both men and women without implying that someone is morally degenerated or sexually confused. mugishaivan@yahoo.com