Post B2ZftE2bLoMSTZ0OKu by roknrol@beige.party
 (DIR) More posts by roknrol@beige.party
 (DIR) Post #B2ZeveUXsXnt8VfY2K by atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org
       2026-01-23T10:37:04.118675Z
       
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       So it’s not just me.Women really are asking why men aren’t approaching them anymore. This is now a thing. And I don’t know why it’s a thing. I thought the social contract is that a man should not initiate a conversation with a woman he doesn’t know. Like I know women aren’t a monolith and everyone has different opinions. But wasn’t there a consensus about how creepy and inappropriate it is for a man to just randomly strike up a conversation?What am I missing here?https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/style/modern-love-men-where-have-you-gone-please-come-back.htmlNon-paywall link: https://archive.ph/WNvVQ
       
 (DIR) Post #B2Zevg4O0m4E1xRgXY by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-01-23T10:50:38Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @atomicpoet Chris I am suspicious of the framing of this article. I only scanned it, but I didn't see any statistics. Nothing like a poll showing X percent of women used to think one thing and now it's changed. This is a complementary piece to the narrative about "male loneliness."It's relatable for those who want this story to be true. The stat that I did see was that younger women are less interested in getting married than in the past. While men have changed less.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2ZfTCXeIoBaIT7OeO by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-01-23T10:56:45Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @atomicpoet From personal experience I'm a huge fan of getting married if you can find someone who you want to marry. For all the flaws, it can work really well for a lot of people I think. But I also like to point out that there are pockets of the country where marriage is still a kind of prison for women. And women waking up to and resisting this.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2ZftE2bLoMSTZ0OKu by roknrol@beige.party
       2026-01-23T11:01:26Z
       
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       @futurebird @atomicpoet A person shouldn't need to be pressured into marriage. Financially, the pressure has shifted from women to everyone. It's not a good shift.Only reason I'm still married is for the health insurance. I can't think of a reason for my wife to stay married. For the longest time we stayed together because neither of us could afford to be single.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2ZgKaXPock84GSwpU by atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org
       2026-01-23T11:02:46.837078Z
       
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       @futurebird My social media feeds are being flooded with these “talks”. I wanted to know if this is because the algorithm has put me in a certain box. So I did some digging, and yeah, it’s become a recurring narrative over the past year. The paranoid side of me thinks this might be a reaction to the Trump presidency. Because it started around the time he got elected. But correlation, causation, all that jazz.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2ZgKblzDvzbtkI6BE by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2026-01-23T11:06:22Z
       
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       @atomicpoet I'm increasingly an "old person" I do think there is still an expectation in hetro relationships that men take the lead in asking. But someone who shares your values is what matters. They wouldn't really care I'd think?
       
 (DIR) Post #B2ZgxmMRn7pi1w1V6O by stevewfolds@mastodon.world
       2026-01-23T11:13:24Z
       
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       @futurebird @atomicpoet A joyful relationship is possible w/o marriage. Met partner in 1976, She died here in 2017.