The age old model for a stable relationship has been in one form or another that the man provides resources & protection, whilst the woman provides child-rearing & homekeeping services.

The key fact is that sex doesn't actually factor into this exchange, sex is just the thing you do with your partner to solidify a relationship.

The unexpected side effect of women entering the professional marketplace (which before you get yourselves upset, is something I totally support), is that as many men are finding out the female end of this equation has been thoroughly reduced.

For a rapidly increasing portion of all our relationships, this side of the bargain is not on offer - it's been replaced with sex. The deal is now a man's resources & protection in exchange for a woman's sex.

Aside from being obviously detrimental to anyone who wants to form a meaningful relationship with someone - this new exchange is downright manipulative. It's a weaponisation of the natural advantage women have (lower sex drive) in order to get what they want without putting in work. In this way I view it as a certainly less overt, but still quite parallel mode of operation as to the past where men would use their natural advantage (physical prowess) to get what they want without putting in work.

We need to have a general acknowledgement from both sides that sexual liberation is for everyone - not just for women. A world where men have to put in work just for sex with their partners and to get nothing else out will always lead to relationships that don't work - the men know they are being manipulated but are powerless to do anything in the SMP except compete to the best of their ability, whilst the women increasingly view an system where they put in no work as being a fair exchange, confused as to why men around the world are becoming more and more bitter about their state of affairs.

I think there's a possible future out there where both men & women have opportunities and are liberated, and I want to get there. I'm also forced to acknowledge that the trajectory of our current system is abject failure, and we need an acknowledgement of reality before we can get around to fixing it.