Lifestyles
"Nice" Doesn't Have to Mean Neglected (page 1 2 3 4 5)

Related Links:

  • BunnyApe - Susan K. Perry, Ph. D.’s Web site- Information about Dr. Perry and her husband’s work and recent publications.
  • Revenge Productions - Author Daylle Deanna Schwartz’s Web site- Information about some of her recent publications.
  • Heartless Bitches International - A somewhat scary place for nice guys, but it does hold some very useful information.
  • Love Lessons from Bad Breakups - Information about Sherry Amatenstein’s Book, Love Lessons from Bad Breakups.
  • The Q&A Dating Book - Information about Sherry Amatenstein’s Book, The Q&A Dating Book.

Other Stories in Lifestyles:

By Patrick Dresh
Lifestyles Editor


“'Also, not only does insecurity make you unattractive, it makes you a target. "
Definitional Dilemmas

You never argue with her. You always let her decide how to spend your time together. You pull out chairs, you open doors, and you do everything that you’ve been told a ‘nice guy’ is supposed to do. Yet in the end, things just don’t work out. The reason for this is given in the phrase: “I’m sorry, but you’re just too nice.”

Hold on. Too nice? How is that possible? You’d think that the nicer the better right? Well, if you really look at it, it makes sense. As relationship counselor and author of “Men Are Jerks Until Proven Otherwise,” Daylle D. Schwartz points out, there is a different between ‘nice’ and ‘doormat’ or ‘icky’ nice. “People like this,” continues Schwartz, are “just too needy” and “ready to give themselves away to anyone of interest that comes along.” Basically it comes down to the fact “some people just don’t respect themselves and it’s hard to be attracted to that.” As Isadora Alman, author of the “Ask Isadora” relationship column of The Village Voice, said in response to a “nice guys finish last” letter, you don’t have to “act like an asshole” you just have to realize that “self-confidence is an attractive quality.” Also, not only does insecurity make you unattractive, it makes you a target. According to a rant posted on the Heartless Bitches International Web site (a scary place indeed for the nice guys of the world, yet still full of surprisingly relevant information) insecurity is “a big red-target for the predators of the world…looking for a sucker to take advantage of” (www.heartless-bitches.com).

The best answer to dealing with insecurities again comes from Daylle Schwartz who basically says “get a life.” Now hold on, it’s not what you think. Schwartz is simply saying that you need to find a life of your own and not always “make the person you are attracted to your life.” In other words, pay attention to your woman, but try not to plan every minute of your day around her. Do the things that interest you; have some fun on your own terms. If you’re out of the house more, then the woman you are interested in will see that you are capable of finding things to do without her. This will take a lot of pressure off the situation. The woman in question won’t feel guilty spending some time with her friends. She’ll see that you’re secure enough in the relationship to spend time away from her. Not spending every day together will make the times you do see her better as a whole. Hey, if nothing else getting out and about will give you a different answer to “what did you do today” other then the staple “I tried to call you but you must have been out.”

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Patrick Dresh, a junior journalism/professional writing major, is also the lifestyles section editor for the current edition of unbound. Dresh's professional writing interests include young-adult psychology, relationship psychology, and current Type 1 diabetes research. His other interests include short story writing, illustration, and live-theatre performance.

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