Like, it's probably more noticeable that you don't have any romantic or sexual relationships than it would be if you don't have any true, close, platonic connections. Romantic and sexual relationships have things that are very obvious and for the most part, exclusive to them, such as kissing, making out, sex, etc. Platonic relationships that are true and close are not as visible, they're more feelings on the inside (not to say that there's none of those feelings involved with romantic and sexual relationships). If you look exclusively at the activities done with a platonic friendship, it's not very different from an acquaintanceship, or an activity partner.
I've met people who claim they have friends, but they're just coworkers they talk to a bit, guys they play games with, or guys they see at the sports bar a lot. Not people who actually support each other or any true connection. Now granted, there's nothing wrong with having those acquaintanceships or activity partners, and it can be argued that they're necessary for a fulfilling life, but they're not the same as a true connection or friendship. If you've never had that or hadn't had it in a while, it can be hard to tell what that feels like.
The only way to make these connections is through social skills, which a lot of people lack. They lack social skills, so they don't make connections, platonic or romantic. Since romantic and sexual connections have more exclusive activities, it's more easy to notice them than the lack of true friends. So I'm wondering if all this talk about the lack of romance and sex is really just poor social skills.
if I remember right, that study had some flawed structure in how it asked about relationship status. men were more likely to avoid putting a label on things or something idk
I still don't know how that could result in almost double the difference on top of the fact that it still would mean like 1/3 men in their 20s don't consider themselves in relationships but are having some amount of sex, while women are also having sex with these men but think they are in a relationship?
yeah idk, I read through it a while ago and i forget why exactly it got fucky, but the methodology was off. It's since been picked up by MRAs as one of their talking points so I'm always :fry: when I see it mentioned lol
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yeah, feeds into the whole “aktually men have it worse in this system” incel shit
if it's the same one yeah it was men saying they weren't in committed relationships while women were, and the age gap thing because late 20s women were surveyed but a lot lot of them would be with men in their early or mid 30s not being surveyed