Anonymous wrote:DreamDiver,
Thank you for a very thoughtful and helpful post!!!!!!
I think you've probably hit the nail on the head on many levels.
1) I think he was scared off by me, and you're right, I don't need no scared babies.
2) I think I scared him by being upfront that I thought he was interesting, that I found him attractive, and by inviting him out on a date. I don't think that is his comfort zone at all. I should have figured it out when he bailed on the first date, and insisted that he had to pay and we couldn't go dutch, as I had suggested. In looking back on our emails, I realize that he was only going to be comfortable with ideas that HE suggested - and that anything *I* suggested was being vetoed.
3) While I think he told me WAY MORE about himself than I told him about MYSELF, I do think I have that flaw IN SPADES, and told him more than I should have. I think I routinely overwhelm people with too much information. I'm the Queen of TMI. I think I'd like to retire that crown.
After I got home last night, he emailed me that he was disturbed by my reply to his earlier email, and that he wanted to call me and clarify why he couldn't make the date. (My reply to his email Tuesday AM explaining why he couldn't make our date that night said that I did understand, and that probably we should just keep our relationship to a cyber-pal status for now, and not pressure ourselves for a live meeting.)
I wrote him back that really it was okay, he didn't need to worry about me, and I was fine.
He called at 6 pm, as he said he would. But by that point, I was doing a slow burn and couldn't pick up the phone. I let it go to VM and then turned the phone off.
About 30 minutes later, I decided to vent my burn, and sent him an email telling him that I was sorry I'd frightened him, that was never my intention, but that I really could not listen to his excuses about it. That I really don't have the strength to listen to yet one more man tell me what a big scarey frightening dragon lady I am. I don't have the energy to keep re-assuring people that I don't bite.
It was a petty and childish email written out of hurt.
But, this AM, I don't regret it. I think that I am a very strong and forceful personality. If that frightens someone, I think they are better off getting out now, rather than getting deeper involved only to bail on me later on.
And, cynically, I feel like I've heard this once too often from men in my life. I think "If I always do what I've always done, I'll always get what I've always gotten."
If I'm this big scarey dyke bitch, maybe it's time for me to consider dating other big scarey dyke bitches.
Luckily, I've been invited to a Lesbian dance this weekend. I think I'll go.
Cheers,
Babs
If I may chime in here with some observations... not just on Babette, but on American dating culture in general.
I think moden women are in a weird spot in our culture's history. (I'll get to how this relates specifically to you, Babette, in a minute) In my opinion, the feminism of the 60's and 70's was very much needed in order to get the pendulum moving in another direction. It is because of this push that in 2008 we can consider having a female president, and there are many empowered women who can take care of their own affairs, who are self-sufficient and determined to succeed.
But this shifting of the feminine to traditionally masculine roles comes at a price. Women still need to fight harder and louder to have equal or greater voice. This rewards women for being aggressive, bossy, confrontational... all traditionally male characteristics (and I would argue that they are most definitely
negative male characteristics). I know of lots of women who proudly declare their love of their own bluster.
There is a huge paradox here. How many women do you know that are terribly conflicted by their desire to have a family (which is biologically inherent) and their desire to make a lot of money and succeed in business (which is NOT inherent, and is imposed not by biology, but by our culture, society and peers)?
Worse yet is that while modern women have acquired these negative male aggressive traits, the other part of this is that men in their lives are diminished. It is here that I believe our culture fails. Rather than seeking
equality with men, many women take an "I'm more evolved than you" tack. Women have been trained to be so aggressive that many of them have become more aggressive than the men they find while they're dating. And while they claim they want a guy who respects them, they themselves do not respect those same men who have the capacity to do the same.
I think a lot of guys are confused and intimidated by this. In your situation, Babette, there seems to be a few things going on.
1. You're coming across in a very strong way, proudly declaring your dragon-lady bluster, trying to appear strong and masculine as our culture has trained you to be.
2. At the same time, you're expressing your femininity-- baring your soul... expressing your need to love and care and nest.
Another related part of this is the psychology of modern american dating (and especially internet dating) where there might "be someone better" just around the corner, or on the next click of a mouse button... so why should a guy stick around to filter through the dragon lady/emotional paradox confusion when there are thousands of other for him to click through? (the sad joke is that he's just as likely to experience the same confusion on 95% of the women on those other pages).
Another thing I'm finding as I push into my mid-30s is that those super pretty girls who were really obnoxious in their teens and 20's but always could get a date because of their beauty are finding that there are fewer and fewer guys willing to put up with the same adolescent crap from a 35 year old. So there's now hordes of these frustrated women, disparaging men, working hard to succeed in their careers but bitter, sad, and those negative aggressive male characteristics flourish in this environment (and helps to push them away from un-baggaged, nice guys). Again, I really believe that this is primarily a flaw of our society and culture. This stuff doesn't happen so much in countries where dating culture is different and not as overtly promiscuous. (they have their own set of problems... but that's not a topic for this discussion!)
By the way, my personal solution to this (which admittedly doesn't help your situation) and the reason that I am a very happily married guy is that I didn't marry an American. My wife and I are both avid travelers, and we met through a travel club in California while she was on a round-the-world trip!) I tried and tried with American girls (and a Canadian), but in the end, I just couldn't deal with the craziness, which I really feel is endemic to our culture.
Adam