Deleted User wrote: » 3 kids. 4 planned.
FintanMcluskey wrote: » The kids are fine. How do you keep 2 women happy:pac:
Richard Hillman wrote: » Is there a difference between MGTOW and just genuinely giving up? I'm mid 30s. I pretty much gave up in my late 20s in terms of persuing women and then genuinely gave up about 3-4 years ago. I'm pretty much of the opinion that if you are a catch, you'll be caught early on (and that works with both sides)
Deleted User wrote: » carefully mostly!It helps they are together too.
Richard Hillman wrote: » Is there a difference between MGTOW and just genuinely giving up? I'm mid 30s. I pretty much gave up in my late 20s in terms of persuing women and then genuinely gave up about 3-4 years ago. I'm pretty much of the opinion that if you are a catch, you'll be caught early on (and that works with both sides). Yes, OK women probably do have very high and sometimes unlikely expectations, theyll admit that themselves. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. They want somebody that will keep them happy but maybe being single and unlikely to find the right person is better than settling for somebody that doesn't match what they want. The way I look at it as an analogy between women in the dating game and MGTOW. You have a woman and a man sitting at a pier with a fishing rod. There's nothing to be found. The man walks away grumbling. The woman stays at the pier with the fishing rod in constant hope and won't give up on it. I probably have more respect for the woman that won't give up. Me, I walked away ages ago. No grumbles, I just accepted that there are no fish in that particular stretch of water. I went inland and started a self sufficient farm where I grow my own crops :pac: I think the MTGOW forums and videos are just stupid. Subconsciously I think they feel that if they act that way they will attract women. It defeats the purpose of what they think they are trying to do. I am probably what the natural MTGOW was before the nutters took over. I gave up and went my own way well before I even heard of MTGOW. I just didn't think there was a phrase for it. I just accepted that I do not fill the criteria. I'm not going to have a well paying job, I will never own a house and I'm not going to grow 3-4 inches taller :pac: I had tons of relationships with women when I was younger but the criteria changes when you're older. And I would consider myself good looking. I'm not a munter :pac: I don't complain about it. I don't see women as some sort of enemy. I used to work in a predominantly female work place before I lost my job and made plenty of female friends there. I got on with pretty much with everybody. Some would even want to try and set me up with their friends but I gave them a solid "absolutely no chance".
silverharp wrote: » there is something to be said finding someone when you are younger, less cynicism , building a life together from scratch, no imminent ticking biological clocks. Looking at it from a "team man" perspective if you are older say mid late thirties, find someone in their mid twenties, that's kind of how things were in the past anyway. Using a dating app to show you a dating pool of over 30 year old women seems fraught with "danger danger Will Robinson"
ancapailldorcha wrote: » I think when you hit your thirties you begin to settle down into whatever patterns you've established for yourself and become hesitant to make big changes. For many people, they're in relationships at this stage and that's fine but for people who are single, like myself, entering one becomes daunting as they become used to being masters of themselves, their time and their domain.
IAMAMORON wrote: » I am not so sure it is fair to criticize any woman for having a " life plan ". It is completely fair enough. Give me a woman who has a plan rather than a feckless woman who doesn't any day.
CageWager wrote: » When I say “life plan” I don’t mean financial goals, career goals, aspirations etc. In the context of this thread I am talking about specific preconceived notions of what a boyfriend should be like/how he should behave etc. I’m all for a girl who has life goals and pursuits. Just don’t expect to roll into my life and start trying to change what I do to transform me into some Disney prince character.
Richard Hillman wrote: » Films, TV, media have a lot to answer for in terms of people 30+. Despite what they try to portray, your odds on finding somebody in your mid to late 30s are absolutely tiny. I got hoodwinked in my 20s into thinking I'm fine now, I'm free, society is changing, there's plenty of time when I get older. That was the message that was being sent out. It was more to comfort people who were in their 30s back then that the game isn't up. The reality is that the pool becomes absolutely tiny when you get into your 30s and all of the best ones are gone (that works for both sexes). Dating companies and Media don't like to acknowledge that reality because dating companies are big advertisers in media and obvious dating is a lucrative business for the dating companies. People still trying go give it a go when they are mid 30s and over is actually good for the economy.
CageWager wrote: » How many times have you heard women talk amongst themselves about their new boyfriend saying things like “When I’m finished fixing him up he’ll be great”. Imagine if a guy started dating a girl and told her to lose 2 stone and change her hobbies and stop seeing her friends.. all of a sudden its abusive, controlling, domineering etc. But when the genders are reversed the narrative is that the woman knows best.
ancapailldorcha wrote: » This would be my experience. I've read on various parts of this site and been told by friends that a man in his thirties has so many more options than one in his twenties but I've never seen that happen or seen it first hand.
IAMAMORON wrote: » I have read online that dating apps are a farce anyway. Seemingly only 10% of males using them are being selected. I am not sure if it was a real survey/experiment that was carried out, but I have read on several different forums about the marketing company that set up a fake " Chad " profile on a well known dating app. A picture of a model and the opening lines included having a criminal record and included disparaging sexist remarks etc. Seemingly the profile was inundated with pm's, phone numbers and requests for a hook up.
Wibbs wrote: » Not all women, but yeah remarkably common to see alright. Less in play when younger but by 30 it changes up a gear. I've long considered it to be a domestication process of sorts and I would reckon it's something built into our species going way back and actually what made modern humans different to previous ones, but that's a subject for another day. Find a guy that's "fixable", domesticatable for the want of a better word and mould him into suburban husband and father material. As I noted with some tongue in cheek action in another thread on here ages ago: Now the wild oats were sown, the draw to the burbs hit like salmon mindlessly rushing upstream to the rivulet of their birth and they were looking for the domesticated kind of cereal. A man of a type that would pass muster among her peers, who would look fine in FaceBook photos of their all pine and promise scandi kitchen on tick, but would slowly go out of focus over time, to be replaced in the foreground by pics of her kids. I have seen that play out so many times. The courtship can be rushed if it's in the thirties, quite often the woman will pull some crazy moments to see if A) he can take it and will chase her to make sure he's doing things right. Then it's mortgages and brunch after wandering around aimlessly in Ikea being asked for a foregone opinion on light fixtures that if you gave your actual opinion would result in the silent treatment. I've noted the men are generally content enough with this arrangement, with the usual occasional bitching about The Missus and all that, but it has no weight behind it. They're quite terrified of being left(well if you look at cultures where divorce is more common and easy it's overwhelmingly the woman who asks for them). The women (and a couple have been mates of mine) are happy enough with the domesticity and kids, but the Dear Husband is usually in the background. The fun seems to be in the taming maybe? I dunno, but not for me. Maybe, actually no maybe about it, when I was in my 20's I'd have probably locked into the above situation easily enough. Well I couldn't get arrested in my 20's, or completely missed hints, so would have likely considered myself "so lucky" or some nonsense, but my 30's were very different on that score and I had both relationships; bad and good, and fun; bad and good. Being 100% honest here? Caveat: the chances are very high I was selecting for a particular personality type so this is no way a reflection on the general experience. But yeah being honest after a while I found "proper" longer term relationships quite hard work. In the sense of being always on. There was always something that needed doing, or fixing. Not relaxing at all. I have found *generalisation alert again* women never bloody relax for very long and don't like men on idle time about the place. EG if you've been working like a galley slave for weeks or whatever and you get the "oh you look tired and worn out of late you should relax at the weekend" I could nearly guarantee that will last about maybe a few hours of you doing nothing of a Saturday before something will need your attention. Then if you have kids... Kids naturally need a lot of your attention and there's always something going on, both good and bad, thankfully mostly good it seems, but you're generally always on the clock as it were. TL;DR? After my years of generally putting it about and relationships of different sorts I increasingly found myself not being too pushed TBH. Friends with benefits and other mates in general is a lot easier of a life, at least for me anyway.
CageWager wrote: » I’m always amazed at how some of my married friends take to the role of “henpecked husband” without any resistance on their part.
Having said all that, I have a great time with women and I don’t subscribe to the MGTOW philosophy at all - IMO men just need to set their own standards and not be bullied into living a life that they don’t want. Of course when you fully commit to being your own man you run straight into the usual feminist shaming tactics but I usually take that as a sign that I’m on the right track in life
Wibbs wrote: » I was that soldier that's for sure. My options in my 30's were significantly higher than in my 20's. Hell in my 40's that was still true. I did find the less I gave a damn, the more options I appeared to have. That said I was never backward in coming forward socially in general and would talk to the wall. If I were introverted, or bad with social cues then that would be a very different setup indeed. Introverted men are pretty screwed unless they do get actually lucky with a woman who is willing to push their buttons. And they exist, but in my experience they're rarer, as the dating and mating culture still puts the "chasing" on the man and the ability to read hints when they come up. I suppose it makes sense as a man with those skills is going to be an easier person to deal with and likely more successful in life. Maybe less so now as STEM and nerdy guys in general can be extremely successful in their careers.
Tinytemper wrote: » It can't be just me who finds the men who usually subscribe to the ideas behind the incel, mgtow or whatever groups, to be really sad individuals who are seeking for reasons to explain their lack of success with women. They usually resort to blaming women themselves. I think that's easier to stand behind than having to admit that they just aren't that attractive as a partner. Not looks wise but in many aspects of their life. Bitterness is not an attractive trait.