We do use the word piglet. I wonder why other animals don’t follow that? Catlet, horselet . . . English is so weird.
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Also acting on insufficient data, as @ChickieD and others mentioned upthread. If I mention on a date that I knit, it’s kind of fun to watch the chain reaction go off: all of a sudden I’m a dull, conservative, woman who loves small children and doesn’t read books. I can’t assess myself on “dull” of course but the rest is definitely hogwash.
Everyone has triggers, everyone has associations. No criticism there. I just see it as more constructive to see people as more of a matrix of traits than as a scatter graph that can be automatically filled in once the location of one dot is known.
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Either that, or you’re going to start upstaging the police and solving tricky murders when you get older. 
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Oh gosh. I’m neither lesbian nor poly, but if I was, I’d be swimming in it 
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Now see that I could totally go for, but somehow I think those men who leapt to those conclusions couldn’t.
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The best part is it doesn’t even work! Unless y’all are born with eyeliner and I just lucked out?
Reminds me of this:
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Not to be confused with a hamlet, which is a small town, not a small pig.
Not to be confused with cutlet, which is a small cut, of veal cowlet.
Or is that bullet? I get so confused.
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Interesting theory. I don’t quite buy it, but there’s some truth to it at first blush. So much of what we consider “expected” social behavior (or being a minimally decent human being) is just the result of being socialized properly. It’s not like we all start out as total scumbags and become decent people over time. Some of us do that, but some do the opposite, and most just learn the proper ways to act in certain social situations. What’s in our hearts doesn’t change that much.
The one thing that I think does change is the selfishness/selflessness balance. It is too easy IME to care too little about other people, or too little about oneself. I haven’t hit the sweet spot yet, but I’ve been all over that scale.
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I dunno dude, you ever watch a toddler for 24hrs? 
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It would work if the woman in the third picture wasn’t scowling - most before and after pictures are fiddled that way.
I live in the South-West of England, which is sociologically rather distinct; we have by far the lowest rate of swearing and by far the lowest spend on makeup for women.* We’re in the middle for most other things like incomes and house prices so it isn’t that. Since I moved here from London, more than 30 years ago, this has become so much the perceived norm that when I go back to London I wonder why all these women have got so much stuff on their faces.
*probably unrelated. But I think the relatively mild weather may have something to do with it.
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I’m going to have to tell my father that.
Left wing atheist who finds small children a bore and reads extensively.
[yes I know this is about stereotypes. What I want to know is why you go on dates with the sort of person who is stereotypical. It seems mildly masochistic.]
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Because before that there are chats about things that are actually interesting. Also because of a paucity of choice.
Also: don’t know when you were last in the dating pool, but there is a strong tendency for men (and sometimes women) to treat it like a job interview, as opposed to going out, having fun, and getting to know each other better. The code is, “let’s just get together for coffee first.”
The woman gets peppered with questions. Any time she tries to get in a question of her own, or point out the conversation is rather lopsided, there tends to be defensiveness and/or confusion.
At least, that’s how it is around here. TO’s dating scene is notoriously constrictive that way, especially if you’re going through sites.
As for the masochism, I’ve taken myself off the active dating scene because of just this. To me dates, especially first dates, are supposed to be light, fun, social, and most likely cheap/free. Instead one spends too much time feeling like a combination job applicant/hostage/commodity.
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I just had an argument with my partner. There was a story on NPR about Strom Thurmond kissing Cokie Roberts against her wishes, some time in the 80s. He asked if she was hot back then, and I raised my voice to say that it does not fucking matter what she looked like. He maintained that it does, and it’s got me kind of shaken. He’s typically a good person, who views women as people, but doesn’t understand why this bothers me. Apparently, if she was pretty that meant “bragging rights” and I don’t even know what to make of that other than to say FUCK THE PATRIARCHY, and burn that shit down.
Sorry, I’m not super coherent at the moment.
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Try being a man who knits.
I more or less try to keep this a secret, given the reactions I’ve gotten in the past.
Also, I’m a guy who reads obsessively, is either ambivalent toward or hates sports, listens to symphonic music*, likes art, and does not watch television. Which little group do I belong to then? Also, I exercise but don’t go to a gym, don’t do brunch, and don’t give a damn about status symbols. My facial hair is not ironic.
*including Eastern classical music, modern stuff, and weird experimental stuff that I like to zone out to but most people think sounds like discordant noise.
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Having been kissed against my will in the 80s, I agree that the “pretty” part is BS. There is nothing more disgusting than having someone you don’t even like forcing your head into position and feeling their tongue against your clenched teeth.
I once pet-sat an Alsatian whose owners hadn’t paid much attention to it for several weeks because they were too busy planning their wedding. When I went to check on it, it knocked me down and started licking my face so much I couldn’t open my mouth to call for help.
Even still, the dog was less gross than a forced kiss.
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Yep. He’s weighing two scenarios…
- Cokie was “hot”, so Thurmond was a badass for his accomplishment.
- Cokie was “not hot”, so Thurmond was a fool for his misadventure.
No third scenario, that Thurmond was a lecher, apparently?
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I’ve had enough men tell me about it. I do call out women who get on the “feminine craft” hobby horse and tell them to learn history.
Excuse to post Rosie Greer video:
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Really? Usually IME it’s just the man spouting off about how cultured he is,* how much money he makes, what kind of fancy toys he has, how good his golf game is,** and other stupid shit while the woman just sits there in stunned silence.
*erm, not really, he’s just read a book this year and is super duper proud of it, bless his heart
** no shit. I’ve actually overheard a first date like this where the guy talked about his golf game the whole fucking time, and nothing else
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