We all have stereotypes about all kinds of things, and dating is not an exception. A woman starts stereotyping as early as after being approached by two guys at a bar. If both of them were drunk and used lame pick-up lines on her, she is probably going to assume that all the guys in that club are the same way and it’s not even worth talking to the next guy who would approach her and would try to meet her – no matter who that guy is, because he is probably no different. Similarly, many women give up on online dating after seeing a few lame male profiles or receiving bad messages from men, as they assume that the rest of the men are no better based on those few experiences. We logically understand that our experience with some people doesn’t way all that much about all the many others out there, but why do we let our stereotypes about dating guide our choices and behavior when it comes to our love life? Well, naturally because it makes our life easier or at least easier to understand, as it makes us believe that we know better how the world around us operates and we can apply the rules we create in our head about dating to our future choices in partners. We like being able to explain and rationalize certain things and events in terms causal connections – “if this happens, that must follow” or “this is the reason why it’s that way.” This applies to our dating experiences and romantic relationships as much as to anything else. Among many other stereotypes, we like to associate certain races and professions with specific behaviors due to these known stereotypes. Even though sometimes people live up to the known stereotypes from our own experience, and that’s why these stereotypes exist in the first place, there are always many exceptions to every such generalization, and it’s very important to remember this, so that you are not mislead by your own preconceived opinions about people, and you aren’t missing out on meeting and connecting with great people just because the stereotypes in your head suggest that you should not be even talking to them in the first place.
