THE MINDSET LIST® FOR COLLEGE-AGE WOMEN

Presented to the League of Women Voters on February 10, 2013:

1. When they were toddlers, academics were talking about the “chilly climate” in the classroom for women; now that they are college students, academics are worried about the paucity of males attending American colleges and universities.

2. Although Hillary Clinton was a pioneering feminist, most of them supported Obama in 2008.

3. They fully expect the Democratic Party to be running women on the top or bottom of presidential tickets for the next decade and beyond—and think the Republicans might, too.

4. They are the least surprised people in America to learn that the Army is now bringing women into forward combat roles.

5. They have heard the word “diversity” all their lives and use such terms as “hetero-normal” to refer to refer to Super Bowl ads.

6. They are more likely to find musical programmers than guitar players interesting.

7. They are in no rush whatever to marry, but doing so by age 30 seems a pretty good idea.

8. Depending on their major, they do not expect to find rewarding and remunerative work right away and expect to acquire added professional or graduate education.

9. As their own parents also grew up with rock music and its various associations, they tend not to be estranged from their immediate forebears.

10. Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.

11. A “Facebook Widow” is someone who has broken up with her significant other and announced it on the world’s most popular social networking site.

12. They are not necessarily surprised when they meet a guy who can cook better than they can.

13. They were about “minus 10” when Title IX first became a law requiring gender diversity and equality in college athletics.

14. Nurses have always been in short supply.

15. The words “Kardashian” and “tacky” have always been synonymous.

16. They are “spiritual” but not necessarily religious.

17. Altar girls have never been radical.

18. Unlike the previous generation, they think P.C. means Personal Computer, not Political Correctness.

19. All media—from movies to TV to music to telephones to the Internet—have always been migrating to smart phones the size of a large oyster shell.

20. They rarely use actual wires, but they are always wired.

21. It is entirely possible that some of their own children will live to be 120.

22. Having come to maturity with the Great Recession and talk of Social Security and Medicare going broke, they have relatively little faith in the economy.

23. They really resonate with Carrie Mathison, the bipolar intelligence agent on Homelandthat the guys don’t listen to.

24. Tattoos have always been both highly visible and very chic.

25. They’ve grown up with condoms being advertised on TV.