I had an onion on my belt

Back when I was in college and living with two other girls, I lived in an apartment with a cable modem that broke constantly, and the company was constantly sending someone to fix it. Soon, the three of us discovered that cable guys always try to pick up college students. I assume it must work occasionally, because, aside from what must start to seem like constant rejection, you can also report them.

Anyway, I remember one particular cable guy because, when I told him I had a boyfriend, he asked, "is he black?" (I think I need to point out here that the cable guy was black, and my boyfriend was not, and neither was I). I thought it was a weird question because it was so specific. Looking back, I don't know why it was significantly weirder than having a strange guy in your apartment trying to pick you up, or said strange guy asking about your boyfriend's race, or, you know, the entire situation. But, the point is, the guy continued asking me out until the cable was fixed, and I've always assumed there was some odd political thing going on with that question. Perhaps he thought that it was unacceptable to hit on some other guy's girlfriend if you're both the same race, but it's okay if you're not. It's possible that he was just collecting data because he found it interesting. For the purposes of the comparison I'm about to make, though, we have to assume it was the former.

Now I'm in Russia and my boyfriend is Russian, and people ask me, "he is Russian?" all the time, and it has never struck me as a weird question. What does strike me as weird is that, without fail, they then try to pick me up even more. Really. Even if they didn't seem at all interested in me before they asked. Even if I lie and tell them we're married (hey, the word for husband is easier to pronounce than the word for boyfriend). So I've concluded that there is no odd political thing among Russian guys, at least not the ones who are in Russia, which is fair enough.

But I'm starting to wonder if Russian males have bought into their own stereotypes. They are generally very negatively stereotyped, especially when it comes to relationships. They're all supposed to be sexist alcoholics or something. In any case, the stereotypes are unfair, but a lot of foreigners believe them anyway (and then I get to hear about it). Maybe Russians do, too. Then they think, "hmm...this girl's boyfriend is Russian, so he must be a sexist alcoholic. I'm not a sexist alcoholic, of course, so she'll definitely go out with me!" Or, sometimes, "hmm...this girl's boyfriend is Russian, so he must be a sexist alcoholic. That must mean I'm her type!"

Supporting my theory is the fact that my boyfriend, who hates that the company hired so many foreign male teachers this year, was not bothered at all when I told him I thought one of my students liked me. To him, some foreigners who are not at all interested in me and are my employees anyway are a bigger threat to our relationship than a Russian who actually does seem to like me. I should point out that I'm not interested in any of these people, so that's not a factor. I think he's just assuming that the student in question is a sexist alcoholic, whereas foreign males in Russia are all equality-minded teetotallers.