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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025

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Despite being an interesting and well-written essay, I have absolutely no sympathy for the author or her views.

All in all, the average woman is psychologically abused in the dating market.

Right. As if the average man is doing so hot.

Dating apps suck for the majority of people. I'd say they'd suck less for the average woman, if they were capable of setting up boundaries.

On a only-barely-related note, I may have missed it but are you still in contact with the woman back in India? It seemed like things were going well

In contact? Yes, I've got a message from her waiting for a reply right now.

Unfortunately, things soured somewhat. She stood me up/flaked on me multiple dates in a row, initially with valid explanations, and then nothing even approximating one. I was understandably pissed, but I was going to fly back to the UK in a few days, so I told myself not to bother. It was a much needed dousing with cold water, I have a disconcerting tendency to fall for people very quickly when the stars align.

I didn't think much of it later, but a few weeks down the road, she reached out to me and apologized for her behavior. I got the strong impression that things hadn't been going great for her, and there was something she wasn't telling me (not in, I'm sleeping with other people sense, just some kind of difficulty in life, I suspect she's depressed).

I was rather cool on the whole notion afterwards, but I've kept in touch. Even when I was head over heels, I knew on an intellectual level that it couldn't go anywhere right now, so we'll see how this pans out.

I'd say they'd suck less for the average woman, if they were capable of setting up boundaries.

Prettymuch. The average woman is likely capable of getting into a stable relationship with a pretty good guy from a dating app if they just jiggle their preferences a bit. The average guy has to go on a massive path of self improvement to get attractive enough to then actually start meaningfully 'dating' then can maybe look at dealing with it.

As if the average man is doing so hot.

Right but she's not talking about the average man, she's talking about the dark triad psychopath who makes her horny.

I have pointed questions about the kind of men she's "friends" with. They're so far from a representative sample that it's farcical.

This kind of shit is prime fodder for someone like hoe_math to respond to. Men who make up the bulk of an actual representative sample, to her, are Not People.

Men who make up the bulk of an actual representative sample, to her, are Not People.

Ouch, part of me, especially as I get older, thinks videos like that are needlessly cruel, but then I remember, and realize that yes, while they may be cruel, they are also, in a very important sense, necessary.

I can't see the video right now, though I've seen some clips of hoe_math talking about such men being considered "not people" by women, and if this video is of a similar vein, I'd say that not sending men messages like this is closer to needlessly cruel.

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