Keeping the genders separate

We both know that growing up religious (LDS or not) there is a lot of pressure to try to keep the genders separate. We know why too-church leaders and parents don't want anyone to break the chastity regulations that the church has.  I see why they do this and I totally understand it. 

But there are unforeseen consequences to this. The biggest should be obvious-if you keep the genders separate they don't know how to interact without thinking the other gender has ulterior motives. Women think "Is this guy being nice to me because he wants to sleep with me?" and men think "Is this girl talking to me because she just wants to land a husband?" In the non religious world where genders are intermixed people of opposing genders can generally communicate with each other better than in the religious world. Again, this is just a generalization and yes, there are exceptions-but that doesn't mean it's not generally correct. 

To me it comes down to stereotypes and judging on appearances. The more people you meet the less likely you are to rely on stereotypes and appearances. The fewer people you meet, the more likely you are to judge on appearances and believe in stereotypes. That's one of the many, many blessings of social media. We meet more people and we have our stereotypes challenged.