Half A Relationship Is No Relationship At All

One thing that has really bothered me in past relationships is that I’ve met a lot of women that won’t meet me halfway.

If I’m the only one working at the relationship, I’ll lose interest fast. If I’m making all the plans, all the phone calls, everything, then at some point I’m going to stop to make sure that my affections are being reciprocated, but I think too often once a pattern develops, the women I see begin to expect me to continue to do all the work in the relationship. That means when I stop, or start to wane a little, they interpret it as lack of interest on my part when the opposite is usually true at that point. So right from the beginning, I need someone assertive enough to meet me halfway without being afraid of putting forth the effort.

My biggest frustration is that our society preaches that men should do all the work in male/female relationships, and it’s been this way since the dawn of the English language. We’re supposed to put our woman on a pedestal and shower them with gifts, but isn’t that kind of insulting to both the men and the women. Is there a physical cost of love? Can men not attract a mate on their own merits? Is a woman’s love bought so easily?

For me to respect someone, the relationship must truly be equal between us. We have to both want it and both pursue it, and I think if we truly like each other, then we feel compelled to put forth that effort, but fear of rejection and societal pressure get in the way. I think it takes a strong person to get past that. My dream woman would have to be strong, too.

a sunny sort of situation