this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
33 points (97.1% liked)
askchapo
23247 readers
324 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Who are you to say what the social purpose of some widespread human activity is? I have to agree with SerialExperientsGay, that sentence reeks of incel "philosophy." Maybe to someone else the social purpose of flirtation is to engage in a lighthearted and enjoyable way of helping people feel better about themselves and each other without risking the many emotional and physical dangers of a relationship or sexual encounter. To me, and to anyone I've ever met irl, including people I have flirted with both as the one who initiated it and as the one that started on the receiving end of it, OP is not misusing it at all, they're doing it exactly as countless people have across different cultures.
euphemistic interaction is developed when forthrightness is taboo or dangerous. there's discourse about it not being safe to be forward in feminist literature, i don't understand where the incel jacketing is coming from.
if we didn't have slutshaming culture and men would reliably take no for an answer we wouldn't have invented the shitty neurotypical verbal dance.