DEAR DR. NERDLOVE: I’m a 27 year old cis virgin and I don’t like it, not one bit. Because in the year of our God Emperor 2023 confessing to being older virgin especially to women is an incredibly risky and stupid thing to do. It’s possibly the worst thing a man can be, in the eyes of society and lots of women literally no different than confessing to being a Neo Nazi or being a pedophile because nuance is dead and all male virgins are dangerous incels and all incels are virgins, it’s just not possible to separate the two. Like being a virgin automatically cancels out your good qualities; it does not matter if you walk dogs for your no killer shelter or protested for LGBT rights or even are just all the qualities that make a good guy because virginity will just stick out like a disgusting zit on the verge of popping. I understand where means fear and disgust of male virgins comes from considering the vile things they say on those boards (which for the record I’ve never browsed or been on them) and all violent attacks perpetrated by male virgins because their sense of entitlement to women’s bodies and thus because the actions of a few we get lumped in with em).

Plus being sexually active or “slutty” (in a non derogatory way) is empowering for women, like it’s good to stand up to slut shaming and wear your sexually loud and proud but the ironic thing is it’s usually these sex positive women who have the biggest disgust and distain for male virgins. Because to bring someone up you have to put someone down and why not keep kicking people who are already down and insecure. Because for men in this patriarchal society we have no excuse to remain virgins past the age of 18. Which really does suck navigating this shallow and vapid world that just sees one part of you as the sum totality of your character; its a sign that you’re a moral failed, sexually repugnant (experience is sexy after all) and if no one ever wanted to sleep with you what must that say about your character?

How have I white knuckled my way through this? Side with the virgin shamers because I don’t wanna be affiliated with incels because one aspect of me. It’s really the best way to reassure how safe you are to women that you’re not a slut shame by shaming virgins and bad mouthing other virgins, in my experience they never batted an eye or treated “virgin shaming” like a red flag. And yeah before the whole “women virgin” the only ones I’ve met a voluntary because they believe their virginity is only deserving for a quality man or they’re part of religious community like Muslims or Mormons.

Not surprisingly keeping up this facade that I’m not a virgin and that I’m “normal” really has taken a toll on me because I can only keep it up but at the same time I don’t wanna spill the beans let my dark shameful secret out or all the women in life will drop me like an unwanted puppy. So what do I do? Do hold in? How do I change my views of virgin and virginity? How do I navigate in a world with nothing hatred and contempt for you something you can’t control?

Sincerely,

An Unwanted Puppy

DEAR AN UNWANTED PUPPY: I’m gonna do you a big favor here, AUP: don’t worry about any of this because it’s all fake.

I mean, your identity is fake – this isn’t the first letter you’ve sent in my dude, nor the first identity you’ve claimed – and the talking points came from the same places that think that “God Emperor” references are clever or go over the head of the normies. So I mean, have fun with all of that.

But also, leaving aside the fact that this is made up… virginity is also imaginary. It’s an artificial social construct, one that has no basis on reality and only as much validity or meaning as someone gives it. At most, “virgin” is just a descriptor that states a person hasn’t had a particular experience yet. Everything after that is 100% pure cultural baggage. There is literally no difference between someone who has had sex and hasn’t had sex and no way to tell. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either selling you something or desperately needs a refresher course on sex-ed.

And considering the state of sexual education in this country, that’s saying something.

Now the fact that virginity is an imaginary concept is easily proven. If, for the sake of argument, we accept that you’re a 27 cis male virgin, this is an easily solved problem. Hop online, read some reviews, find a full-service escort in your area that specializes in girlfriend experiences or nervous newbies, fill out her screening forms and book an appointment. If you don’t want to risk a run-in with the law, you can hop a flight to Reno and visit one of the legal brothels in Nevada. Many will even send a limo to pick you up at the airport. Pay the fee and bada bing, bada boom, you’re no longer a virgin, congratulations.

Except this is precisely where folks will start to insist that this doesn’t “count”. Which is precisely how you know that virginity is entirely a fictional concept; if being a virgin is just “hasn’t had sex”, then seeing a sex worker is an entirely valid way to lose one’s virginity. But if it doesn’t “count” because you paid someone… well that’s just a sign that what we’re talking about whether or not someone’s had sex.

The same applies for the kinds of sex that “count”. A lot of queer people have never had “sex” – that is, they never had penetrative vaginal sex. Many haven’t had penetrative anal sex either, in fact. But they’re also having all kinds of sex – just very little that involves penises going into bits. Once again, it comes down to pretending that some acts “count” and others don’t, for entirely arbitrary reasons.

And then there are the “re-virgin” options – surgically reconstructed hymens, evangelical Christians declaring themselves to be born-again virgins… all ways of reclaiming the title of “virgin” despite having actually had PIV sex.

All of this is about as clear of a sign as you could want that “virginity” is a purely made-up construct. So congratulations, AUP: you’re only a virgin if you (or the buds you’re trying to impress with your letter) decide you are. You can safely declare yourself to be a non-virgin and none can say otherwise. I mean, how are they even gonna prove it? Track down previous partners and demand references?

But more importantly: the talking points you are tossing around in your letter not only aren’t real, they aren’t coming from women. They’re coming from other men – especially from blackpill incel forums and the sadder ends of the chan boards – who are making things up out of whole cloth and putting words in women’s mouths. Imaginary women at that. This is just the same sort of echo-chamber reamplification of just-so stories guys are telling each other to make it sound like they’re hopeless and helpless and the lowest of the low, with little bits and bobs gleaned from discourse around the net thrown in to make it seem more authentic.

I mean, s--t, it doesn’t even make sense. If you honestly think that being the world sees being a male virgin is somehow worse than, say, the dude who shot a shop owner in California over an LGBTQ flag, then I would question how often you actually go outside or talk to people who aren’t on 4chan.

Similarly, siding with the “virgin-shamers” likewise just makes you part of your own oppression. You have an opportunity to prove them wrong by showing just how awesome you are while also having not had sex yet. But instead, you have chosen to harm others in hopes that you yourself won’t get harmed.

Or at least you would have, if this letter were real and I hadn’t decided to break kayfabe and point out that I knew about these and the previous ones you’ve written.

As it is, trying to be clever is a fine thing but sometimes a dude needs to log off, step away from the keyboard and go meet some girls.

But – as I would say to an actual person writing in – if you were to want to actually deal with the stigma surrounding being a virgin for longer than you’d prefer, the best thing you could do is to go outside and touch grass. Dealing with actual people, instead of the bucket-of-crabs that want to invent increasingly baroque social opprobrium to justify their self-loathing and keep others from ever climbing out of the pit of despair, is the first step towards recognizing the toxic bubble you’ve found yourself in. And once you recognize how the world doesn’t work on Reddit/4chan/incel logic, it’s kind of astounding how quickly things start to improve.

Go out and touch grass, dude. You need it.

Please send your questions to Dr. NerdLove at his website (www.doctornerdlove.com/contact); or to his email, doc@doctornerdlove.com

DEAR DR. NERDLOVE: I’ve been really struggling as of lately with this issue.

My last ex of 5 months was long distance and he broke up with me 15 days ago. Because we were long distance, obviously, there was no physical touch or sex in the relationship. At first this was hard for me because, if I am being honest, I was a bit of a sex addict but then after a little while I was actually okay with it and didn’t mind that we couldn’t be physical. It was the first time I felt like the sex was not important, but the important thing being our love for each other. I really did love him and still think about him to this day, but he lost interest in me.

After we broke up a few of my guy friends tried to slide in and started heavily flirting with me, but it really felt like all of them, or at least most of them, just wanted me for sex.

The first guy, we’ll call him Matt, says he would date me, but he’s always very horny and sexual towards me. I’ve also never seen him date anyone, so I think he just wants me for sex.

The second guy, we’ll call Dave, likes me and thinks I’m very attractive, but does not want any relationship. So again, just wants to have sex.

The third guy, we’ll call Damien, says he really likes me and wants to be with me and that he “hopes we work out”, but every time we hang out he wants to have sex with me. I try saying stuff like “I’m tired right now” or “I’m not really in the mood”, but he just questions me as to why, keeps asking for it and pushing it until I give in. And because of that we have had sex quite a few times even though not once I went into his house wanting to have sex. When I asked him why he likes me he said “because I’m comfortable with you and we have great sex”. It doesn’t seem he likes me for me.

And the last guy, we’ll call sal, is one of my exes. We only dated for a few months but we were very serious in those few months. Already talking about marriage and our future etc. I broke up with him because I didn’t think our interests, personalities, or future goals aligned or clicked, but he has always loved me from the beginning and never stopped loving me even after I moved on. He’d do anything for me and cares about me more than anything or anyone, but he is also very horny and sexual and whenever we’re together he’s always very touchy.

I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship just yet and I’ve said this to all of them, but Damien and sal seem to believe that as soon as I am ready that I’ll get with them.

Honestly, right now I just want them to go back to being my friends, and I’ve tried to say that to them but it’s like it goes in through one ear and out the other and then they continue flirting and being sexual and I just give up and give in. Which in a way I do feel guilty about because I feel like i’m leading them on.

I do like Matt and Dave a little bit, but I don’t want someone who just wants me for sex. I don’t think I like Damien because he’s really cocky and so honest he comes across mean. And I don’t think I like sal for the same reasons I broke up with him in the first place.

I haven’t gotten that crush feeling. I haven’t gotten excited over texts from any of them and I haven’t been constantly thinking about any of them as if I did like them, which is weird for me because it’s been a long time since I haven’t liked anyone.

I just want someone who will love me for me without constantly wanting to have sex with me. I want to feel what I felt, in my last long distance relationship, again.

Please help me I don’t know what to do and it’s been stressing me out so much. Thank you.

More Than A Toy

DEAR MORE THAN A TOY: Um… I hate to tell you this MTAT, but you need a better class of friend. Or friends at all.

What you have are a bunch of dudes who, going by what you’ve written, have been sitting around waiting for you to break up so that they’d have a chance to get into your panties. And more to the point: you need to kick every single one of them to the curb with the trash because what the pluperfect f--k??

I mean, none of them seem to actually be concerned about your feelings or the fact that you and your boyfriend just broke up two weeks ago. The fact that they didn’t even wait for the metaphorical body to go cold is kind of telling. If anything it’s more akin to vultures circling and waiting for an animal to stop moving before they move in.

But then there’s the fact that you’ve told them this isn’t what you want and you’d rather go back to being friends and they ignore your clearly stated wishes? That’s honestly the single biggest sign that these are not your friends. They’re treating you like an ambulatory Fleshlight, not a person and certainly not a friend. A friend would actually, y’know, listen when you say “hey, I’m not up for this” or “It’s bothering me when you act like this please stop.”

The fact that they also don’t take “please stop, I’m not in the mood” or “I’m tired and not interested” as a red light is… really f--king concerning, actually. Constantly asking “why” or pushing and pushing and pushing until you give in? That’s incredibly s--tty of them and honestly, that’s a very good reason to throw the whole man out. That’s not you “leading them on”, that’s them ignoring your boundaries and stated wishes, making it clear that their desire to stick their dicks in something supersedes your interest in… well, literally anything else.

And yes, this includes Sal. I’m not gonna speak for him and say he doesn’t love you, but I will point out that “do anything for you” doesn’t seem to include “keep it in his pants and not constantly bother you for sex that you don’t seem that interested in having”.

Your problem here isn’t that you aren’t feeling crush-y feelings for them (it’s been two weeks since you broke up, give yourself some time here), its’ that you’ve got a bunch of guys who said that they were your friend but clearly weren’t. They all seem to think you exist to be a consumable object for them and don’t give a six-legged rat’s ass about how you feel about it. They’re treating you with serious disrespect at best.

I’m not surprised you’re stressed and upset. You’ve got people you thought were your friends suddenly showing that they were nothing of the sort. I’m just a little surprised that you’re considering dating any of them in any way, shape or form instead of grabbing the nearest blunt object and swinging like you’re trying to win a home run derby with their junk as the ball.

To be perfectly blunt, none of these guys should be in your life. Not Sal-the-ex, not any of them. You need to take this opportunity to take out the trash and tell all of them in no uncertain terms to f--k off. No, f--k off further. Further than that. F--k off as far as they can and then as soon as they reach their outer reaches of f--king off, hop the Nope Train to F--k This S--tville because Jesus tapdancing frogs you need better friends.

Then do yourself a favor and be single for a while. Reconnect with yourself and figure out your relationship with your own sexuality… without a dude in your life trying to exploit it. Once you decide how sex and sexuality fits in your life – not someone else’s desires, but your life – then it’s time to work on some boundaries and enforcing those boundaries. That includes adopting the mantra that “I’m not interested” is the only answer you need to “why” and “no” is a complete sentence. Your telling someone “I’m not in the mood” isn’t the start of a negotiation, it’s you telling them that Sex Is Not Happening, And If You Keep Pushing It’s NEVER Happening. If they’re inclined to take “no” or “not tonight” as a sign to keep asking, then it’s time to either kick them out or grab your s--t and go home because they’ve told you everything you need to know – that they’re not interested in you as a person.

Get rid of all of them. Rebuild your social circle from scratch if you need to.

For now though? Practice being your own best friend and advocate by standing up for yourself. Kick these s--tbirds out and then enjoy being single and solitary for a bit while you work on your boundary issues. Strong boundaries make for stronger relationships.

There’re guys out there who you can date, who will make you feel special and awesome without constantly hounding you for sex when you’re not up for it. But you’re not gonna find them when you’ve got a flock of horny vultures circling in hopes of watching your next relationship die.

Good luck.

Please send your questions to Dr. NerdLove at his website (www.doctornerdlove.com/contact); or to his email, doc@doctornerdlove.com

DEAR DR. NERDLOVE: One of my best friends is going through a lot right now. A tornado wrecked her house earlier this year and the�amount of paperwork is seemingly endless. Not long before that she discovered she has new food allergies that basically prevent her from eating out or eating anyone else’s cooking.��While this won’t apply until she’s out of survival mode (and to be clear, she says dating is paused until then!), I know that she is interested in having a romantic life.��She’s into ballroom dance, and we’re both into nerdy sci-fi and anime conventions, but she hasn’t connected with any guys at either of those.��She wants marriage and kids eventually, but it starts with a date. I’m not particularly skilled at dating either, but being asexual it’s far less of a priority in my life.��My own hobbies mean that I do know some single guys that she does not. Is there some way to get a group of people together to have a good time and see what happens?��I lack practice at initiating social events, so where would I even start?

Thanks,�Getting People Together

DEAR GETTING PEOPLE TOGETHER: I’m sorry your friend’s having one of the worst years possible, GPT, and I hope she sorts out her insurance and living situation quickly.

Now, I have a quick preliminary question: has your friend asked for help meeting guys? Yeah, you may know she wants to date or find a relationship, but has she actually, specifically, asked for your assistance? Not in a vague or abstract way (“god I wish someone would just throw some guys in my path”) but “Hey, GPT, do you know any single guys I might be a good match with?”

Don’t get me wrong: I know you want to help and it’s a noble goal. But it’s also the sort of thing that can, good intentions or not, can go sideways and feel pushy or intrusive if the person doesn’t actually ask for your assistance. That goes double when someone’s entire life just got turned upside down. It sounds to me like she’s got enough on her plate right now and wanting to date is likely going to be on the backburner until not only have things stabilized but she’s actually adjusted to her new status quo.

I mean, I have several friends who’ve dealt with severe food allergies, and these can be insanely disruptive to even just basic day to day life. Getting to a place where she has a handle on how to manage her situation and navigate the world without accidental anaphylaxis is hard enough. Doing this while also dealing with a potential partner who may not know, understand or respect how serious her condition is, is a whole different ball of wax.

(And as someone who’s dated women with complex allergies that ran from “mildly inconvenient” to “If you kiss me after having come in contact with this allergen hours ago, it will kill me dead and you won’t have time to inject me with an EpiPen before I die”, I can tell you that navigating how that will affect your day to day life is a skill in and of itself.)

So the first thing I would suggest is to not play matchmaker until either she’s asked for help or you’ve asked if she’d like your assistance in meeting some guys. Maybe she would… but maybe she wouldn’t. Inserting yourself into the mix without being asked first can feel pretty invasive, even when you’re coming to this with the purest of intentions. So ask her, specifically: would she like you to introduce her to some of the folks you know? If so, you want to make sure that the guys you know are guys she might want to date.

Now, if and when you’ve gotten the go-ahead, there a few things you could do. The first is just old-fashioned introductions; put your friend in touch with some of the folks you know and let them take it from there. This may feel a little awkward or contrived – you want to make sure that they’re both interested in meeting other people and are open to being matched up – but at the very least it means that everyone knows what the score is.

If you want things to feel a bit more organic (even if it isn’t), then the easiest thing would be to just throw some sort of get together. My personal favorite is to throw a cookout or a potluck; it’s a quick and easy excuse to get lots of people together in a low-stress, highly social evening, where mixing and mingling is expected. Make sure folks who are coming know about food restrictions (especially if your friend has the sort of allergies where cross-contamination or even just airborne contact are problems) and why and then put your host hat on and introduce your separate social circles to one another.

When you’re acting as host, it’s entirely normal and expected to say “hey, I have someone you should meet!” and facilitate the meet-cute between your friend and one of your single guy friends who might be down to meet somebody cool. Make the initial intro “Hey, this is X, this is Y, congratulations, you’ve both met someone awesome” and then step back and let things take their own course.

But, again: this starts with making sure that this is the sort of help your friend wants. It doesn’t do much good to throw guys in her path if she’d rather do it her way or wants to meet folks from different walks of life than where your other friends come from. So double check with her first… when her life is far less chaotic.

Good luck.

Please send your questions to Dr. NerdLove at his website (www.doctornerdlove.com/contact); or to his email, doc@doctornerdlove.com