[PlayingPretend]

Originally Posted by Forgotten

Girls: Why do you date assholes, just because they're hot?

Or is that only 14 year old girls?

It had nothing to do with the person being "hot," but I feel the reason I became interested is because of that saying that girls date their fathers. I had no idea that there were men out there who actually treated women well. I felt inferior, as though I deserved the way I was being treated; after all, with the way my father treated me, my sister, and mother, what model did I have to prove any differently? It never went anywhere serious, however, and thank god for that.

My first relationship was with the typical "nice guy." He had a bit of a jerky sense of humour, as in we teased each other constantly. The boy was cute, humourous, respectful, treated me very well (never pressured me sexually, never eyed up other women or spoke of other women while we were out together, never flirted with other women while we were out together, etc.), was very considerate of my feelings and was equally as open about his (I love a man who's man enough to show emotion), and so on. And he loved me for me. Regardless of my flaws that yes, occasionally caused arguments, he loved me. And honestly, I'm not settling for anything less than that. My standards may not be Disney high, but they're high. My ex showed me that I do deserve to be loved, respected, and treated well. So for me, it was a matter of a) not feeling like I deserved any better (originally) and b) not having had a male role model to show me that men could be any different than an asshole.