At one point and maybe even traditionally, marriage was seen as a social and legally binding contract.

Two people, man and woman, unite via kills with the understood obligation of creating a conjoined unit for the purpose of companionship and to, ultimately, raise children.

Marriage grants political, social, and economic rights and… hopefully,,, stability. It fulfills societal norms and expectations.

It can, historically, unite families. A woman gains potential friends, confidents, and new parental figures through the husband’s family in the form of aunts and cousins. The man gains male companionship from the woman’s brothers, uncles, and father.

The male and female roles were stereotypically defined and, rarely, did one intrude on the other. The woman cooked, cleaned, and made the home. The man worked and provided.

So, although united legally and morally, the two people can also be individualistic.

This arrangement also suited to how the mind works. Voluntary vs. involuntary. The man could be seen as the sympathetic part of the nervous system. He is fight or flight. He is action, reason, and material. The woman is more parasympathetic. She provides a safe haven to promote relaxation, recovery, relationships, and substance.

Biologically, the man provides the seed. The woman provides the ground. She gestates and grows. He defends and provides. Together, the child is the harvest — the continuation.

Both aspects are required for a stable environment, relationship, society, and to provide grounding for the next generation.

Stereotypical. Simplistic.
Together, yet separate. They compliment each other while keeping individualistic traits. He builds. She maintains.

But society changed and there is profit to be made. Women entered the workforce which devalued the labor of men. The feminism liberation wasn’t to really liberate feminism but to make them more masculine.
It was sold to them.

………… I’ve totally lost my thread of thought. Class is ending and it’s mentally wrecked me. The 29 students, finals, oral presentations, and deadlines… Grades are due on Tuesday and Monday is the last day!

I’m just limping along here and messed up the weekend by all but insisting on staying home instead of going out on Saturday– the one day that Jason has free and not bound by schedule or obligations.

The place on my back has opened and I’m fearful that it’s infection. I have an appointment with wound care on Tuesday, I kind of don’t want to go. I’d rather just spend time with the little sister and hibernate for the rest of the day. That would be irresponsible of me but that’s how I feel.

Just stick me back into a hospital.

But I guess that this circles around to one of my points.

That people in relationships are becoming commodified. It’s not who they are but what they provide.

In a relationship, the focus from creating a family and having lifelong companion who would keep loneliness at bay and provide support during the sunlight years, changed.

It’s not the person but what the person who provides. Now, people expect a ‘perfect’ mate to be an accountant, mechanic, guardian, chef, maid, gardener, counselor, and sexual plaything.

If a person isn’t stellar in particular area or are lacking in one but not others, the consumer – one of the people – reject the other. The appreciation isn’t for the person and their experiences.

It’s just a more personal way of swiping left or right on a dating app.

But people still need to feel fulfilled. They like or like to believe that their lives matter. Personal growth and stability isn’t sought through relationships, but rather work. I see this in the opening weeks of class. Students echo phrases like “I seek personal fulfillment through my career.” or “I will become better through my job” or “My community and life will be more complete with… ”

It’s not through a person or their own actions. Self-fulfillment is through typically BS white-collar jobs that will, eventually, be replaced by artificial intelligence. Because of course it will. The jobs that government and corporations pushed people to be trained in will no longer be needed.

It’s like when the Democrats told everyone to learn how to code years ago. That’s one of the first careers to be struck down by AI.

Because relationships are becoming increasingly commodified, relationships will eventually remove the human element entirely. Why should someone go through the personal risk and messiness of finding a specific person to play a role when an artificial partner could do the same?

ChatGTP, Character AI, and others are already being leaned on for mental counseling. Their ease of use, complimentary nature, and perceived privacy, consistently provides a lot of aspects that people desire.

Note – desire – but not need.

Society concentrates on desire. Desire sales. Desire controls. People need companionship but desire services – not the person. People need nutrition – but desire chocolate. People need to feel productive – but not sacrifice.

—————
I’m so messed up right now.
I’m trying to get my brain straight but it’s difficult right now. I’m possibly a generator – kind of the ghost generator from Gauntlet.

I’m trying to pull it together.
There’s a lot of unknowns. But the mind is already jumping to stalker Medicare rides and a porch with a ramp. How long will it be before mental health professionals start needling me by asking “Are you going to self-harm…?”

Mom already remarked…. Watch your nutrition! Or something like that.
——— I know it wasn’t snide, mean, or evil. I just found the comment something that I did not need at that particular moment. It also felt that it undermined everything I’ve done — like maintaining my weight for close to a year. I haven’t significantly go up or went down. I’m stable – which is what I need or I feel I need.

I need some solid grounding and it takes a while. I need to go at my own pace.

The comment about nutrition was a Doubting Thomas moment. I didn’t need a finger moving around in a very obvious and gaping wound.

*** Deep breath **

Anyway, to wrap this up quickly.

Man keeping.



I’m exhausted and feeling very alone.

.

https://gender.stanford.edu/news/viral-uptake-and-future-mankeeping

I guess this is a new term which kind of illustrates my original point — the change of relationships, the AI becoming the “perfect” mate, and “meaning” coming from work.

I guess women are upset that they have to be supportive and not being paid for providing the feminine portion of the relationship…. ?

Anyway, I’m out.
This post has been hanging around all week.

I might revisit this topic but, right now, I need to move on.