My recent Instagram Reels feed has been a battleground between the sexes. You might see a short clip of a supercifical and shallow dating show solely focused on first impressions. Or, you might find a video of a street interview of random strangers about dating expectations. Regardless, these reels about how men and women treat one another will have a warzone in the comments. It’s a coin flip whether you’ll see a tsunami of men complaining about how unfaithful women are or torrent of women complaining about how men ruin everything. Every now and then, you might find a slurry of both.
I often leave these comment sections bemused, angry, or disappointed. To some extent, all of these crazies have a point. On the other hand, they all collectively miss the point. Why have these people come to a point where they see the relationship between men and women as a battle to be won? People of each party wants to prove that they have a harder time in life or in relationships. Each side wants to prove that the other side is corrupt beyond repair. All men are pigs, they say. All women are for the streets, they say.
But, why? Do you want to be right? Do you want to be bitter and resentful? In the end, most of these people want a stable and fulfilling relationship. Instead of looking at difficult situations on a case-by-case basis with consideration for their hypothetical partner, these online warriors want to force their black-and-white, uncontexualized opinions onto others as undeniable truths. Any deviation from their opinion is a symptom of a declining and bigoted society, and any pushback against them is simply dismissed with a series of pejorative remarks.
Fighting for a good future is a collaborative effort between all parties. If we all just end up being pitted against one another, we all lose. Even if you win the online battle, all you’ve done is limited your future prospects of a good relationship. Unfortunately, social media has polarized the masses, becoming a prime battlefield for this cyber-driven human disconnect. As the youth grows up surrounded by digital discord, their heads will be filled with unrealistic and pessimistic expectations for their future relationships. They’ll become the soldiers for a war that shouldn’t even exist.
Not everything needs to be a battle. A villifying mindset will only deepen a divide that, in the context of history, is the smallest it has ever been. My advice is: don’t engage. You have your life to worry about. Your problems will never fit the stencils that the online cesspool fabricate. Don’t fight battles for other people, mostly when they’re on a platform that was created to steal your attention.