What makes it worse is the burgeoning culture of entitlement and the ease of twisting the system to one's favour. If a man is rich, athletic, or well connected, he can pretty much get what he wants. And the internet is the perfect tool for that.
Dating sites such as Tinder have become means for men to get sex quickly and easily. In 2015 the magazine Vanity Fair published an article in which several young people were asked about their experiences. One man said, "Guys view everything as a competition... There's always something better." Another man added that he'd slept with over 30 women in the past year. "I sort of play that I could be a boyfriend kind of guy, in order to win them over, but then they start wanting me to care more... and I just don’t."
It's this abundance of options that makes people, men in particular, less inclined to seek a meaningful relationship. One woman interviewed for the aforementioned article put it: "It's such a game, and you have to always be doing everything right, and if not, you risk losing whoever you're hooking up with." And as a side effect, many of those who refuse a date receive relentless verbal abuse because they are perceived as being too standoffish.
Someone I know recently posted a vlog about her disastrous experience with Tinder. One conversation had barely passed the "How are you doing?" stage when the man asked her about the kind of sexual acts that she preferred. When she eventually refused his advances, he lit up the chat with insults: "You have mental issues", "You're ugly", "Do you have a disability?" and so on.
This is hardly surprising in a world where many professional women receive only 2/3 the salary that their male counterparts do, they're constantly judged by how they look, and they're swept aside when they try to right the wrongs that have been done to them. Those who choose a career that traditionally has been male-oriented face even more difficulty, if not outright condemnation. In recent years, female game designers, online critics, and even celebrities have been forced to shut down their internet presence or even move house because of threats against them.
I'm always grateful to have male friends whom I can trust and speak to openly. Because it seems that such men are becoming an endangered species.
