Thanks, Fellas: It’s Great When Strong Men Can Support Strong Women

Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

It’s great when strong men can support strong women, with no need to raise hypothetical defenses or call us ugly names.

I recently wrote a piece for Medium, How to Talk to a Woman: A Primer for the American Male. It’s about a common phenomenon experienced by women in their prime, like me: a plethora of men who lack curiosity, conversational skill, or genuine interest, despite their over-whelming presence on dating sites. But, given the current zeitgeist, I expected, and was prepared for, a parade of hairy trolls pushing back — maybe, even, pushing back hard.

How to Talk to a Woman

Instead, I received comments like, “Nice job!,” “Fabulous!,” “I hope you never lower your standards.” And my favorite: “It isn’t asking too much for a person to bring a brain with them [on a date].” Surprising me, all of these supportive messages came from men.

So, Hans, Mark, LaMar, Craig, Dan, Graham, and Shain, thanks for having my back. Really, I appreciate it more than I can say. Mostly, I see your frank encouragement as validation that women like me are not…