This is mostly directed towards women. This question is inspired by these "rent a boyfriends" and "rent a friend/family" in Japan. I know that most will think it weird, because what kind of loser does a person have to be to "rent" companionship, especially if you're a woman. ESPECIALLY when the long held belief is that by nature of our gender, it's "easier" for women to date than men. It is, but it's not always safe, and it's not always easy when you're someone like me: big, black and not conventionally attractive. Not to mention, clinically anxious and depressed, awkward and not as socially inclined because you can't trust anyone because you have gotten burned constantly by people you thought were friends. Anyway, I know this concept screams "gigolo", but I don't want to sleep with the guy - I just want an age appropriate, educated, funny, caring, and affectionate guy to go to movies, museums, concerts, have drinks, maybe clubbing or just a night in with some weed, Netflix and snacks. Someone classy and urbane, but down to earth as well. I know that I can ~get that for free~, but assuming every thing would be ideal, I'd be the one in control because I paid for his time. No bullshit that comes with dating normal guys. Yeah, I know I'm pathetic but I'm pushing 40, and with some shallow people, it's either time to be put out to pasture or put in that order for 25 cats. I know some people will assume that I can just stroll out the door and shake people's hands with eye contact, but again - I'm socially awkward, mentally ill, fat, dark skinned and with resting bitch face.
I don't know if it'll help anything , but I was noticing all of the likes on each of your photos . I've had over 580 visitors , and am anything but dark , but only show 3 likes on my photos . Please believe me , being dark , is not holding you back .
I have none...just didn’t think it mattered much (until now)!
@Freedompath Oh dear . It appears , in trying to make one feel more self confident , I've caused another to lose confidence . You've worked long and hard bo earn your level 8 .
@Cast1es maybe, I can overcome...
I feel ya. I'm all those things save for being black, and I'm a lesbian in a very heteronormative world. Renting a date is the only way I'm ever gonna get one.
I find that hard to believe...even as I do believe you would have less in common to choose from! Be happy, with your limitations, for starters, as we all have them, they are just different! I can say this, because, I spent a great portion of my adult life, wanting to kill, myself! But, I got treatment and I learned how to make a life that works in my best interest! Why could you not find the same?
@Freedompath I've at least made peace with most of my limitations, but social ineptitude is one that's notoriously difficult to work around.
@memorylikeasieve yes! But, it is not fatal, unless you allow it! Maybe, being here will be helpful, I sure hope so...I have gained a lot in less than a year! No reason you can’t do the same! Sure it is work..,but, once you get the hang-of-it, even the hard parts become fun, somehow! Never give up on yourself...that would be a waste!
I'd like to be able to buy an android built to my specifications. He would look like and have a personality much like Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Otherwise I would not pay for someones time.
@Gooniesnvrdie
He's entertaining and good looking that's a nice package if you ask me!
@Ktcyan he is also above...in intelligence!
No. I paid for many things but that's one I think I won't.
I'm trying to get back into dating. I have the same problems as you, minus the dark skin. I totally understand what you are saying. I could get a date anytime but it would be with an asshole. I personally feel it has more to do with my lack of self esteem. I put people off by being so insecure and needy. I am working through those things though and hope to be able to overcome them someday.
I would think that if you paid for companionship, you might initially enjoy it. But I also think somewhere down the line you would feel uncomfortable knowing that it's not the real deal. But maybe not. It's been done before and if it's what you think you want, there's no reason not to try.
It's not for me (at this time) but that doesn't mean that it couldn't work for someone else. To each his own. Besides which I have learn't never to say never!
I see nothing morally or ethically wrong with the concept. And you make an interesting point about being in control. Maybe for some people this could work. I do hate to hear you talk about yourself with so little appreciation. And I understand that anxiety and depression make it especially hard to meet people. I hope you can find a way to feel self-confidence, and push past that social anxiety, maybe meet someone who appreciates you.
in what way would that be a date? (yeah, i know, there are golf dates and business dates, but that's not what you're talking about.) that's a date the way a hooker means it when she sidles up to a car and says "hey honey, wanna date?" i mean that whether sex is involved or not. i am not saying it's wrong (or right) but just that it's not a date.
g
Well put!
Hold your head high! You will find someone!
IF you learn to cook well, smoke good weed, and give a decent handjob then there's no reason to pay. Many a male would gladly spend his time with you because in the end that's all they are looking for.
Good grief, why would any woman want to be saddled with that in exchange for just a man's presence? Sounds like volunteering for extra chores to me!
@Deb57 I agree with you. I have no need or desire for any of that crap.
Yeah I get the easy factor here but I think it would be a let down in the end
Although I am guy, my practice is not to pay (money) for a pleasant "night on the town" experience. The reason I specified (money) is when spending time with a person, there is always a cost: time, transit (gas), food etc. . . depending on the desired outcome. I'm not saying renting a boyfriend would be a bad practice. For me I'm just too fiscally cheap to consider the renting friends option as I would rather spend money on improving my home theater or strengthen savings for tomorrow.
Side note:
Based on your profile, words and photo: I would argue you present as an attractive, witty, articulate and desirable woman. In this part of the country (ND) you do not meet the rubric for "fat or bitch face". Although potentially implied, I would say "dark skinned" is not an undesirable attribute.
Hope you find a desirable outcome.
Seeing as I pay for the dates I go on I guess I do.
I don't have a problem with paid companionship whether it is sexual/romantic/friendship or otherwise. I mean I have never actually paid directly for sex (prostitution/escort) but I really don't understand why it isn't legal. I mean think of how many less mass shootings there may be.
However we all pay indirectly in some way....
I think it would be cheaper, longer lasting, and way more enjoyable to work on the things that's holding you back from a loving relationship. Big one I always recommend is embrace your hobbies and learn to love yourself,
It's weird but I think true.. the more you learn to be yourself and love yourself and the world the more likely you are to find someone..
This is true of someone who maybe is just shy or needs to work on a temper or feels ugly because she has a big nose whatever. But the list of disadvantages that the OP feels she has is not cheap nor enjoyable to try to remedy. These are the exact words she uses:
Big, Black, not conventionally attractive, clinically depressed, anxious, awkward, , socially awkward, mentally ill, fat, dark skinned and "with resting bitch face."
Some these are more and some are less actual disadvantages. For instance, being dark-skinned should not be a disadvantage, but in many communities without a lot of people your tint, I can imagine it can be. Though I think this may be a bit less these days??? Even within Black communities, the darker your skin, the less your value in many eyes. Sucks, but as far as I know is true. If her community is 80% white then she probably has a good point. If she does not have ties to community, church (duh, she's here!), or cultural groups that some Black Americans enjoy, there may not be too many places to go where her skin color is considered attractive by the majority of people she meets. (for me, the darker the better... not a fetish; as I would not choose a lover based only on their skin color but I just love deep Black skin in the same way I love very low double bass voices.. a beautiful extreme. While I am not crazy about white skin in itself, I knew an extremely elderly lady in Germany who had absolutely paper white skin and she was stunning. But that's neither here nor there!).
Not being conventionally attractive can be a HUGE disadvantage. For instance, research has shown that women on dating sites such as OKCupid write to the top 30% of men, looks-wise. The men write to the top 10%. (That;s right, they all bitch that they never get dates and the fact is many are all writing to the same hot women and refusing to consider the other 90%). Looks are an advantage or disadvantage for women in ways that most men cannot fathom. It isn't something you can just get over. If you are young, you may be in enough situations and meet enough people that with a little confidence you are likely to find people to be close to. If you are older, don't go out, don't have an outgoing friend set... let's be honest. You can spend your way out with a lot of plastic surgery.
Social awkwardness CAN sometimes be addressed. Sometimes a person can learn methods to keep the awkward at bay or laugh it off. In some cases probably there is good therapy for simple awkwardness. Even the paragons of social awkwardness, men with Asperger's, can often learn techniques to get them by.
But insofar as mental illness is not curable, it is a huge huge disadvantage. Like all handicaps, some people overcome it, but it will always include luck. Most men do not want to date a woman with mental illness. And the idea that mental illness is cheap to "fix..." Well, um, even for those who can be helped, neither therapy nor medication are cheap. And for a lot, it won;t happen very quickly. This does not sound like a 4 month bout of depression that can be addressed by an anti-depressant and the OP be on her happy way. I hope I am wrong!!
Realistically, although many people with these characteristics, whether or not I or anyone wants to agree they are disadvantages, have found relationships they are happy in; many others have not.
I am sorry to have this long thing on your comment @hippiedog and it most certainly is not intended as criticism. Namaste
@LionMousePudding I don't disagree with your post, it could be true.. I simply only had to go on what I saw.. I saw a beautiful lady who I believe can find someone.. and yes I believe in the long run that would be healthier then the pain that paying someone would cause.
@LionMousePudding Your quote about research on OK Cupid sure explains a lot for me. No wonder I get so little interest from women on Match. I'm definitely not in even the top 40% group of looks on the site, so I've met 4 women in one year. I know another guy who's average-looking like me and he's had the same experience. I bet being bald also puts a man into the bottom 50% group.
Never been michael jackson. I can get "stuff" on my own since childhood, when I traded comix for kisses. And when out of comix... got to work on charm skills. So never acquired another comix in my life by the time I was 12. Lessons in life. So No... never been user or believer of prostitution.
I would not. I don't believe the guy should cover all the expense, though.
So, either I pay for my own meal or we start swapping turns picking up the entire check.
One pays the movie tickets another buys the popcorn/drinks.
(This also saves time getting into he theater.)
My biggest hang up about dating is the Atheist aspect of it since nearly all candidates would be religious to a varying degree and all the mess that generally leads to.
The last guy I was casually hanging with and we both got along and enjoyed the same type of activities betrayed me by telling several people I was an Atheist before I even met them. This included his parents.
This, I found out when I went to funeral, in solidarity, for a friend of his who had been killed in a bike/car hit and run.
I was getting stink eye you would not believe, and his mother and father refused to shake my hand or even acknowledge me.
Also he turned out to be a raging racist. And cruel to his dog when he was drunk. (the guy-not the dog)
So mourning the loss of that relationship was very short.
Well...there at the end, you brought the wrath of ugly, down upon you! I am floored! If all else fails...go mingle among the ugly people! Lol!!! In all seriousness, your kind of mental illness for starters is treatable! Unless you are just pulling our leg? And on the ugly part...over my life time, I have seen some pretty ugly people who were seemingly happy and even married for long years! So that should not be the gauge that you use, to find your happiness! And, you can learn to make your ‘particular look,’ exotic! I love exotic looks and they are not the classic kind of beauty! And, lastly but most important... find out what nurtures you and allows you to feel joy! And, spend a fair amount of time on them, so that you develop a life that works for you! You will be forced to spend time on hard ‘life issues,’ like everyone else! ‘Change your mind (thinking) and change your life!’ Over my lifetime..,I see that this works and there is no reason that it can’t work for you! Best of luck!
Maybe I'm being obtuse, but what would you be getting that you couldn't get from spending time with a friend, either male or female? I have found it possible to be friends with all manner of people -- male or female, straight or gay or trans. In some ways I find spending time with friends even more fulfilling than dating. Dating at this point is my life is like an extended job interview. No thanks. And, hey, you're young!!! You probably have half your life yet to go. Lots of people ind friendship and love in their 40's, 50's ....... Be kind to yourself. You can rent a date if you wish, but often all a friendship costs is a smile.
...you make GOOD sense!!!
I don't have any idea if there's a marketplace for this service. Where would you even look? Hey, if you are out of ideas, give this a shot. You can always never do it again if it turns bad on you, and you can bail on any given engagement. Someone told me this once, and I just pass it along: However you think something is gonna be, it ain't gonna be like that. Good luck, hon.
...excellent point! So easily forgotten!