Online dating is by and large a mess. For all intents and purposes, it’s a blind date. Sure you can see what they look like, where they went to school, whether they’re a cat lady or into doggos, and chat beforehand to get a sense of who they are. Which to be fair is not what the chatting is actually about. It’s just the last step in a process of weeding out an undesirable partner.
If you’ve decided to download one of the many apps or try an online dating site then you have a sense of this and understand the concept. If you’re a woman, you’ve probably come across more than your fair share of gentlemen who felt that sending a picture of their genitals is a lovely way to comport oneself in the process of courtship.
I’m a guy, so this is has never happened to me, which makes me fortunate, because dicks aren’t very fun to look at. But I’d like to talk about the female equivalent, the ghost. The ghost, as I’m sure you’re aware, is when a person cuts off all communication without any warning. Men do it but women do it far more often.
There are good reasons to ghost that we don’t have to get into. But I’m talking about a specific example, one in which many men have experienced. The type of ghost that is so baffling that you end up reading texts, replaying previous dates, and parsing every single word and action. You’ve gone out on a date or two, or exchanged numbers and made plans to meet up for a first date. Only to send a confirmation text or a ‘Hey, how are you’ and… bupkis. The scenario that leaves you drawing up the crazy wall in your mind. The scenario I’m describing is one in which things are swell and entirely undeserving of being ghosted. It’s jarring, it’s rude and uncalled for. Perhaps we can call it the Female Dick Pic.
Life is hard and online dating is even harder. Do we really need to make it worse by leaving decent people in the dark wondering ‘What did I do wrong?’
