Without further ado, then, the unfiltered, awful truth about what happens in my brain when reading personal ads:
- Smoker! It's irrational, but this is a self-indulgent, self-centred post, so there it is. My reaction is nearly always "Hmm, maybe the reason you're still single is that YOUR BREATH STINKS LIKE AN ASHTRAY!" I hate smoking, and anyone who smokes near me. In a spirit of YKIOKIJNMK, I've no objection to people smoking in the privacy of their own homes, or even having smoking-themed nights every so often at clubs or pubs, but keep it in private between consenting adults, okay? Yes, my rant-y reaction is irrational and not in keeping with that YKIOKIJNMK principle, but damn, it annoys me that so many people advertising on dating sites seem to be smokers! So it feels good to (in the privacy of my own mind, etc) let it all out...
- On OkCupid, women who answer "Have you ever had a sexual encounter with a person of the same sex?" with "No but I would like to" but have said that this is NOT an acceptable answer from the person she's looking for (guess what answer I've put...). So I'm supposed to be okay with you fooling around with a bit of bi-curious lesbian games, but if I want to get bi-curious with a bloke it's beyond the pale? WTF? I'm not willing to date a hypocrite! Or is it just that in your eyes it only counts as sex if there's cock involved? But that kind of heteronormative sexist thinking also is a non-starter with me.
- "I want someone to treat me like a princess". I'm anti-monarchy, communist and revolutionary. Traditionally, people like me treat princesses (and other royalty!) by chopping their heads off or else putting them up against a wall and shooting them. Sure, if that's your kink, go with it, but probably it isn't and you might want to reconsider the messages you're sending out? (This one doesn't actually have to rule me out as a potential partner, as such - but it just really winds me up!)
- "I like my men taller than me, and I wear heels so you better be TALL". I'm 5'10" which is not bad (though usually declared as not tall enough by the specifics of the "TALL" descriptor), and sometimes I wear heels too. But somehow I suspect that this is not considered an acceptable solution. One personal ad actually stated it explicitly, "Only I wear the heels!" Since that basically puts my more genderqueer expressions as unacceptable, it certainly ruled me out for her.
- "I'm looking for an ambitious man". I am ambitious, I have LOTS of ambitions, in fact - but none of them revolve around taking home a big paycheque, which is what I always suspect to be the unspoken element of this request. If you're judging someone by what's in their wallet, then you're not a very pleasant person in my opinion, and certainly won't get on well with me (whether I'm loaded or, as is usually the case, skint).
- Expecting perfection, a mind-reader and demanding instant chemistry. (Especially on BDSM personal ads - I intend to talk about this more when I do my "problems with M/f BDSM" post). Nobody's perfect (and the wise know their own imperfections), and no one can read another's mind (though they may often make perspicacious guesses!) "Instant chemistry" to me simply means "judging a book by its cover".
Hate me for being honest, if you must - the sentiments expressed here are perhaps not fully what you might expect from a feminist blogger, and as I acknowledged in my preamble, at least some of these and the motivation behind them will stem from internalised sense of entitlement and all that horrible stuff. But equally, I know my standards and the lines I won't cross just for the hint of teh seks. When I come across any of the lines above, my reaction stays private, I respond by simply moving on to the next profile without looking back.
0 things wot people said:
Post a Comment
Comments Moderation Policy
This blog is intended to be a place where I can develop my thoughts freely and get free and honest responses. Essentially, it is my safe space, and for that reason I have elected to maintain this blog as a moderated space. However, I am opposed in general to censorship and believe that usually the best way to kill a bad idea is with a better one, so very few comments will be rejected. Comments designed to cause offence for the sake of it (e.g. abusive or inflammatory remarks with no other content), or else those that I feel cross a boundary of human decency, are most likely to be rejected.