• Garbagio@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    That, and I think a lot of people confuse sexual attraction with love. The “friendzone” only exists when you end up in the mental gap between “I want to have sex with this person, but don’t care about them as a person” and “I want to have sex with this person, therefore I must care about them as a person.” Normal consenting adults can meet someone, vibe, and engage in sexual behavior without necessarily more. Normal consenting adults can also meet someone, not vibe, and be fine, if not a little disappointed. Normal consenting adults can also meet someone, vibe, and explore a romantic connection beyond sexual activity. Once you understand that sexual desire is not romantic desire, and that romantic desire is actually really unfulfilling if not reciprocated, you’re usually good.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      The “friendzone” only exists when you end up in the mental gap between “I want to have sex with this person, but don’t care about them as a person” and “I want to have sex with this person, therefore I must care about them as a person.”

      I think there’s definitely some confusion and frustration that comes from people who see their peers hooking up, but can’t figure out what transitions them from a friendship to a romantic relationship. Add to this, a certain low-key distrust cultivated by social media, wherein one person may assume they are getting strung along while the other isn’t willing/able to clearly signal their intentions.

      Normal consenting adults can meet someone, vibe, and engage in sexual behavior without necessarily more.

      Well… sometimes. The term “getting lucky” is apt, as there are so many variables - some totally beyond either of the participants’ control - that can determine whether or not the magic happens.

      Once you understand that sexual desire is not romantic desire, and that romantic desire is actually really unfulfilling if not reciprocated, you’re usually good.

      No. You’re “good” when you’ve found a person for whom you can reciprocate romantic love. Just understanding the difference isn’t fulfilling so much as it is enlightening. But it’s like hanging a steak over the head of a hungry dog. One dog heedlessly leaping at it isn’t more or less fulfilled than another who has come to the realization it is forever out of reach.

      • Garbagio@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        Yeah that’s called vibing. And nah you’re good lol, no one deserves a relationship. There are complete assholes that understand what I’ve said and don’t have a partner; I’d say they’re good. Being unfulfilled is part of life, and any adult is well aware of that, and is good regardless.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          no one deserves a relationship

          Alienation drives people nuts. Idk about “deserves”, but everyone ultimately needs them to function normally. Folks who are shut up and hooked into the YouTube Vomit Cannon or the Twitter Racism Space to get all their socializing are the ones that burn out, melt down, or become Elon Musk.

          Being unfulfilled is part of life, and any adult is well aware of that, and is good regardless.

          Being unfulfilled creates motivation to change oneself. But being trapped in a sense of unfulfillment is toxic to the point of madness. If you’ve got no release for your anxiety or depression, you turn inward in a way that can get very dark over time.

          • Garbagio@lemmy.zip
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            1 day ago

            So note a few things:

            1. Alienation does drive people nuts. That has nothing to do with romantic fulfilment.
            2. Socializing isn’t romantic fulfilment, and it’s a little funny of you to bring up the former as a defense to why anyone deserves the latter
            3. Complaining about being trapped in a sense of unfulfillment is a non sequitur. What are you talking about? If you’re so unfulfilled romantically that you’d rather kill yourself than treat women as equals? Sorry not sorry, some cases of terminal unfulfillment are fine, if the only cause is being a shit person. Be better.
            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              Alienation does drive people nuts.

              Great news for anyone in solitary confinement.

              Socializing isn’t romantic fulfilment

              It is a necessary precondition

              Complaining about being trapped in a sense of unfulfillment is a non sequitur.

              No it isn’t