Recently I found myself listening to a friend complain about her brother and his apparent inability to behave maturely. In my head I was wondering why she chose to vent to me of all the people she could talk to she chose the one friend who doesn’t have a brother and quiet frankly is very thankful for that fact. But as a good friend I pretended to listen to every word and chipped in with the occasional “of course” and “what’s wrong with him”. By then end of the conversation I had no idea what we were discussing but she was less emotional so I figured it didn’t matter that I was completely lost. In the end she let out a wistful sigh and exclaimed “Why can’t he just grow up?” before taking a sip of her coffee and moving on.

However, while she forgot all about her annoying brother within the day her words kept circling in my mind…

Do we simply choose to grow up and boom it happens? Or is a slow progression through a series of crazy and eventful changes that leads us into adulthood? And if so, at what point in your life do you realise hang on a second, I’m not a kid anymore? Is it a matter of simply waking up one morning and knowing? Is it as simple as buying a pair of shoes? At what point in our lives do we go from wearing pastel pink Sketchers and start wearing sexy six inch Christian Louboutin’s? Would we still choose the heels if we stayed six for the rest of our lives?

While I was spiraling into a full existential crisis, my friend was spending her time chasing her brother and his friends around their house trying to retrieve the pictures he’d stolen from her room. Within the next half an hour we were all sent pictures of a five year old her sitting on a toilet. Not even existential crisis could keep me from laughing at the picture and phoning her.

For the first half an hour of the call she went off into her usual “He is such a douche” rant. After that we made small talk and when we eventually got off the phone I was left with another thought. If growing up means girls go from sneakers to heels what does it mean for guys?

What do guys have to look forward to? There’s no Prada purses and Louis Vuitton outfits to look forward to. Maybe the reason my friend’s brother is a twenty year old with the mental capacity of a twelve year old. After all, if we wouldn’t buy a product that does not appear to have any benefits why choose to grow up if it seems pointless?

Have the guys figured it all out? Is growing up really all that? Or are women being lured into adulthood with the promise of fancy clothes and nice shoes?