You need a good camera and flashy photos. You need good clothes. You need a pricey car, perhaps. You've gotta be fit, gotta be willing to give money and gifts to your lady.

It's so much shit that you've got to give, to earn even the most basic of time from a woman. And then you get hit with the "don't talk to me unless you're funny. Don't be boring" while she responds with one word/sentence texts.

All that's focused on, is external, flashy nonsense. You don't get to see someone's sense of humor, their values, their passion, all those hidden, abstract values until you get past the talking stage.

We're more than what we offer. We're not joy, pleasure, funny, or money dispensers. We're human.