We had just gotten back from a ten-day trip abroad, and I was at brunch with a few girlfriends catching up. One of them had her phone out, scrolling through my Instagram stories.
She looked a little disappointed. "The trip looked cute, but did he not book that viral floating breakfast? Or the private boat tour? My algorithm is full of guys surprising their girls with these heavily curated, luxury experiences. I feel like if a man takes you out of the country, he should be acting like a full-time concierge. It's about the aesthetics of being spoiled."
I took a sip of my mimosa and just looked at her.
What she didn’t see on my Instagram story was what happened when we landed. She didn't see him silently taking my 50-pound suitcase the second we got off the carousel and carrying it up three flights of broken subway stairs because the elevator was out. She didn't see him physically placing himself between me and an incredibly aggressive street vendor who wouldn't take no for an answer. She didn't see him stay up an extra hour in the hotel bed, meticulously mapping out the absolute safest walking route for us the next day so we wouldn't end up in a sketchy neighborhood.
The internet has completely rotted our understanding of what it means to be "taken care of." We have been brainwashed by TikTok to believe that a man’s highest purpose on a vacation is to be a luxury event coordinator for our social media feeds.
We are out here complaining that a man didn't buy us a $200 aesthetic fruit platter in a pool, completely ignoring the fact that we spent the entire week walking through a foreign country with absolute, unbothered peace of mind because he was acting as our personal logistics manager, navigator, and human shield.
I realized right then: The timeline wants a man to curate an aesthetic. I want the man who absorbs the chaos of the real world so I can actually relax.
One of your primary responsibilities to yourself as a lady is to avoid getting pregnant by a dude like this. They should show this clip in 6th grade sex ed