re: Dudes dropping out of dating game.

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It sounds mean but I see a lot of guys that are about 50+ who are married with kids who if they'd been born 25 years later would be online on some incel board. It's just that back when they were younger women didn't have nearly as many options and were much more willing to settle down.

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I've had the same thought. I wonder how much luck I'd have as a single man in 2023. The last time I had to play the field was ~2015, and while I did OK, things were definitely different from, say, 2005. The bar scene for singles in particular is dead and gone.

Another factor that I see is the decline of car culture. Adolescent girls and young women are attracted to maturity. The two big markers of male maturity in my youth were height and access to a car or truck. The latter has become irrelevant. You can't make up for being 5'8" by being the guy with the IROC-Z anymore.

That said, I think about 50% of incels could get some if they'd just lower their standards. They cling to this "looksmatch" idea, thinking "I'm more attractive than 40% of men so I should get a woman who's more attractive than 40% of women." Maybe things used to be more like that, but they're not that way now.