Due to relatively popular demand from a few people in the weekly discussion thread that I can count on one hand, here it is:

-shittyfluted presentation jingle-

= the discussion on sex, dating, relationships, and people's self-sacrificial rituals to obtain them.

As someone who has always been rather "spiritual" and not the type who follows the crowd, I find it rather disturbing that people sacrifice so much of themselves - their beliefs/values, dignity, and even their identity - all to become successful and obtain what they want, whether it be sex, food, or other basic needs.

With regard to dating, there is a pretty huge "suppression of self" ideology that is fairly central to dating, much to the point that people transform into a caricature of some idealized version of themselves for a few hours for the purpose of attracting someone else into their life. The problem with this is that it goes against the ironically conventional dating advice of "just be yourself." Yes, "Just be yourself, but also act and behave unlike you normally would, and also dress differently, too."

In an environment where everyone else is peacocking and strutting their best stuff, it no longer becomes good advice to "just be yourself," unless that's who you really are, which can make dating a somewhat soul-crushing experience for people who are new to the world of modern dating.

Guys understand what women want, and women understand what men want, and neither seems to be happy with it. I've seen and heard men lament over the fact that they can't be "normal/themselves" around their girlfriends. They always have to be some exaggerated, douchey father-figure that assumes dominance over their GFs and constantly maintains that power and authority over them, which is also exhausting as well.

I'm sure that women go through their version of this with the things that they put up with, like abusive behavior, or never really feeling "seen" or appreciated for who they are and who they aspire to be. They don't have a Disney relationship where everything is perfect and their partners understand them - but they have a relationship, and to a lot of people, that's better than no relationship at all.

This culture of fakeness really hurts everyone, IMO. My personal values are that nothing and nobody is worth giving your identity up for, but I feel like there are people who are too ingrained in socially accepted and popular cultural behaviors to even see the big picture and what effects their actions have on themselves "because everyone's doing it -teehee-. Don't be a social outcast loser who does their own thing."

Honestly, I could go on about this topic for hours, but I know some people aren't going to even read this far, and I also am aware that this is probably going to fly over a few spiritually dead heads, but I thought it would be good to discuss how much effort people go through with regard to dating and whether putting their souls up for exchange is really worth it all in the end.

So, is it worth it? Why or why not?

Narrator: "It wasn't worth it."

Discuss