4u2spoil
Posts: 211
Joined: 5/1/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: undergroundsea I can see how a wish to being spoiled (which can exist in vanilla dynamics also) is different from financial domination. However, it is not clear to me how much or not references to being spoiled in the Fm context are disjoint from financial domination in the collective context and some individual contexts. I can understand the thought process: if I buy her this gift, will she expect a bigger one next time? If I buy her that, will she expect an even larger one? If I buy that, will she see me as an open wallet? Is this the start of her using me for my money? There's really no singular answer, because in some cases the gift might be a starting point for financial domination. But there are so many cases where it isn't that it's just not fair (or correct) to say that wanting to be spoiled = wanting to take over your finances. I don't think guys who want to be financially dominated would get much out of occasional gifts or spoiling in the way that a lot of women want. From my (admittedly basic) understanding, the men who are interested in financial domination want someone who will take full control and exploit them in whatever way they seem fit. It's quite different than wanting to be spoiled as part of a relationship. I once had a guy who bought a few pairs of shoes for me. He was happy to do that, but when I told him I also wanted him to kiss my feet after I'd worn the shoes (and take things further than just him buying things for me), he lost interest. He was happy to buy the shoes, but didn't want anything more than that. I didn't want random boxes, but gifts that came with something more, so it does go both ways. Also, it can sometimes just be overthinking things. If I go out with someone and have a good date, I'm thinking "I wonder if he wants to go out again," not "since this date went well, will we have a relationship? If so, will we get married? Who will the kids look like? Will we end up hating each other and get divorced? Could this be the beginning of me hating this guy?" Not saying to go against instincts, or not to make your feelings about financial domination known, but don't jump all the way to the deep end at the mention of gifts or spoiling. quote:
To say that one who does not spoil with gifts is cheap is an inaccurate statement. Furthermore, I think Akasha holds her girlfriend (who does not give but instead expects) and the men to different standards; the men who do not give as much as her girlfriend expects are cheap whereas she expresses support for her girlfriend's behavior (she does not give gifts and expects them, which I think is a step beyond not giving gifts on the spectrum of giving, not giving, and expecting). Why is it that Akasha's girlfriend calls a man cheap for wanting to go dutch, but herself does not even think to go dutch? If the men are too focused on the material aspect of it, is her girlfriend not even more so if her criteria to go on a second date relies critically on it? The short answer is that most of the general population hold men and women to different standards when it comes to spoiling/gifting. Not in every relationship, not in every case, but in general the norm is that a man spoils a woman when it comes to material things. When it comes to engagements, how often do you see men wearing engagement rings/watches or other material symbols of their promise to their partner? Is a woman too materially focused if she expects an engagement ring and doesn't give something to her fiance? More often than not, a woman who buys her own ring is ridiculed, her fiance's love is questioned and you hear all kinds of nasty remarks that no man would ever get if his fiancee didn't give him an engagement watch or buy something that he could show off to his buddies. It's not fair, but it's the way things are and have been for centuries in most societies. As far as going dutch, I consider it a sign of disinterest if someone invites me out and then asks me to pay. I don't think it's cheap, I just think that if the guy were interested he would treat (even when the guy isn't interested, I've had several who enjoyed coffee/dinner/the conversation enough that they didn't accept my offer to split). But if Akasha's friend finds it to be a sign of cheapness and that's a quality she doesn't like in a man, it's not any more materially focused than the man who considers her to be opportunistic for not offering to pay with a smile. I do wonder about dynamics when the two people are of the same sex. I believe it was LaTigresse who mentioned a situation where a sub of the same gender wanted to spoil her. For those who are lesbian or gay, is spoiling/receiving gifts/who pays for dinner this much of a hot topic? Edited for a typo
< Message edited by 4u2spoil -- 2/8/2009 1:26:30 AM >
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