50 Shades of Whatever. Is Romance Actually Dead?

Happy Monday guys! This past weekend was actually pretty fun (and interesting) for me! I had a little girls night out on Saturday – went downtown and hopped around the different bars and hot spots. Sadly I don’t do a lot of it anymore because I’m so busy and I secretly am not a HUGE party gal anymore but once in a while it can be fun! Sunday we got hit with a huge rain storm which had me staying in ALL DAY. I literally didn’t do anything the entire day. Had groceries delivered (yep, thanks Amazon Prime) and binge-watched movies all day. In particular Fifty Shades of Grey and then of obviously I had to rent Fifty Shades Darker immediately after. Between my night out and watching the ultimate romance (and kinda kinky) movie ever —

—it all had me thinking, is romance actually dead???

Okay, okay,.. I know it may be a stretch to want Mr. Christian Grey at my doorstep asking me to hop on his helicopter for a little romantic date night, right? But lets be honest, if the movie were real life, Mr. Grey would have probably met Anastasia on Tinder with the opening line, “Wanna Hookup?” while swiping for his next fling.

Sorry, just being honest.

I’m all for online dating – that’s what our society has come to now and frankly people have gotten too busy to date/meet the normal way anymore. But what surprises me is how chivalry and romance is actually dead. Hell, forget the chivalry, as a woman we are supposed to be happy if a guy finds five minutes in his “busy” day to send you a text because you know, calling is just so much extra effort.

I got a message from a guy the other day that said, “Hey, nice to meet you Olia. Just so you know I’m visiting from out of town and looking for a hookup. Thought I’d let you know.”

WHAT?! Is this real life?!

Apparently now I’m supposed to be grateful someone treats me like a piece of meat up front so no one’s time is wasted? UH HELL NO. I am no one’s filet mignon, no matter who, what, when or how I choose to date. Oh and piece of advice to men – no we didn’t ever want a dick pic and we still don’t.

The hookup culture that we live in now has now sadly become a norm because people have this weird fear of locking themselves down. These days, if you’re not casual, you’re not cool. You’re really not supposed to make anything a big deal anymore. He doesn’t text you back? So what, be cool. He’s dating 5 other women? Chill out, it’s casual. It’s like we’re committed to not committing. And I’m not only blaming men, I think women have totally dropped the ball and set standards too low (me included). We’re afraid to vocalize how we feel because we might come across as too picky and don’t want to be “THAT” girl because you know, he could just swipe you left faster than ordering a pizza.

So this leads me to the ultimate question. Is romance really dead? In my opinion – mostly yes, but that doesn’t mean that me nor the rest of the female population is ok with it. So lets all make a conscience decision to prop our standards up this year forget Netflix & chill and wait for our Christian and Anastasia moment (minus all the weird kinky submissive shit). Well hey, unless you’re into that kinda thing. Lets work on being able to carry a conversation, observe basic manners and actually use our words to communicate face to face (I know, a crazy thought, right?!). Who’s with me?

Love, Olia

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