It is worth remembering that "women" or "whites" are not one in-consensus population of five people. https://t.co/rWnPzibFRT
— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) March 23, 2025
True. Nevertheless, there was (and still is) a de facto flirting prohibition enforced by threat of cancellation by the dominant liberal feminist cultural consensus. That might be diminishing now, but was real for well over a decade.
In the view of that brand of pseudo-feminism, any unauthorized contact with any woman outside of a dating app was evidence of abuse and harassment. There weren’t any exceptions. “Good” men picked up on this cultural shift and stopped talking to or engaging with women in any public place at all. That therefore led to a spate of posts on Reddit and other places from women like, “I’m fun, I’m flirty, I’m decently good-looking, but no man ever talks to me. Why?” I saw at least 3-4 of those a week for years.
Well, there’s your answer. Women asked for and got this world. Turns out it sucks. Funny that.
The alternate universe is fascinating.
1. I’d blame the disappearance of 3rd spaces and work creeping into people’s waking hours.
2. People overestimate their personal qualities; because most people do much better in person than they do on apps. Or they’re selectively counting “being approached.”
3. People don’t approach in public for the same reasons there’s not lots of door to door salespeople, kid fundraisers or trick or treaters anymore.
4. People don’t connect any of the above with approaching/being approached and overall social skills have deteriorated tremendously. If I’m saying that? JFC.
I think all of those play a factor too. They dystopian climate we find ourselves in now is an extension and intensification of the “Bowling Alone” phenomenon that Robert Putnam noted way back in 1998. More entertainment options probably explained a lot of it even then, but smartphones and social media today have made it so much worse.
Social skills have greatly diminished. From what I see of Gen Z, my social capabilities which were considered poor when I was 16-17 would now be top notch and comparatively my self from then would be a social butterfly. Strange to think about.