The Internet Has Broken Your Dating Standards

Are gold diggers actually lurking around every corner, just waiting to drain your bank account…or has dating advice on the internet convinced a whole bunch of men to fear a problem they most likely don't have?

In this episode of Do As We Say, Not As They Did, Liz Powell and Harris O'Malley read through a Reddit post on r/DatingAdvice that 100% violates the community guidelines and promises men "how to avoid gold diggers."

And the real kicker? The post is supposedly written by a woman…

Between repetitive advice, rampant fatphobia, a judgemental attitude toward Slavic women, and a bunch of misogyny, the post opens up a much larger discussion about how toxic masculinity can impact both men and women in the dating world, and how social media has warped people's definitions of beauty.

Grab your popcorn and get ready for:

• A very serious discussion about a Beauty and the Beast x Heated Rivalry crossover

• The "plague" of gold diggers

• You can't say your role as a man is to provide and get mad when women expect that

• The difference between wanting a partner and wanting other people to envy your partner

• You need to stop looking at Instagram and look at people in the real world

• You might want the Instagram model, but what could you even offer her?

Whether your pockets are full of gold or pretty empty, Harris and Liz are here to remind you that love and attraction means a lot more than physical attraction and your net worth. And if you're determined to date an Instagram model while living a decidedly non-Instagram-model lifestyle, then maybe the problem isn't women.

Time Stamps

00:00 – Do you truly need a Lambo?

00:31 – Welcome & a brief AO3 tangent

05:41 – r/DatingAdvice: "A Guide for Men on How to Avoid Gold Diggers (From a Woman)"

07:06 – Instagram models & Dubai girls

13:15 – How social media impacts who you find attractive

15:53 – Dating for yourself vs for other men

17:12 – The podcast test for spotting a gold digger

21:03 – The fatphobia behind "maybe you can only afford a fat woman"

24:04 – Surprise! A brief capitalism rant

26:43 – You will never be skinny enough for the internet

29:28 – W-2 knowledge is somehow dating advice now

35:47 – Should you date a woman who works a trade?

37:41 – Most couples don't look like IG models

45:12 – Why low-stakes first dates can be great

48:22 – "All women are naturally expensive" & other internet BS

51:43 – Beauty and choice feminism

53:44 – How toxic masculinity creates the gold digger problem

56:23 – If you're not rich, you probably don't have a gold digger problem

59:58 – Where to find Dr. Liz & Harris

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