
Is it better to be picky when it comes to dating or more open minded? What's your experience?

Eh... generally a mix of both is usually the best.
The person you're dating could potentially end up being your life partner you spend the entire rest of your life with, perhaps even have children with them, etc. And if you just end up settling for a person you don't truly love it can make the rest of your life extremely boring and unfulfilling. So that could be an argument for being picky.
On the other hand, if you want a person who is unrealistically perfect, the next Jesus Christ, a real life Superman/Superwoman, who shares all the exact same values you do with zero deviations, someone who is practically a clone of you except perfect, etc... you'll likely be single for the rest of your life as your expectations just aren't realistic. So that could be an argument for being open-minded.
So in the end, don't look for this person who is 100% perfect who might not even exist on this planet, but at the same time don't settle for the first person who says yes just for the fear of being alone.
If I had to just pick one or the other with no nuance though, I'd say it's better to be picky because it's better to be single forever then settle for the wrong person out of desperation. Nothing worse than settling with the wrong person.
I think this comes down to how much you TRULY want a relationship. I hear a lot of women say they want a relationship. But what they really mean is they'll entertain a relationship if it's on HER terms. And that's not a relationship. A relationship by definition is give and take.
It's not surprising that a lot of women marry young and stay married for life. And that a lot of 30 something wo. en have still not achieved it. It's because those first women REALLY wanted to be married. And they were going to do what was necessary to make that happen. They also chose well. Because these women had respect for themselves.
I have 4 sisters. They're all married. More importantly they've all stayed married. They're all strong women. But they're not in competition with thier men. They all understand to keep a man you have to respect him as a man.
I think a lot of women today have no respect for men. Yet they still want to be loved by one. That's not going to work. To make matters worse. Most of these women have absolutely no idea what to look for in a man, what makes a good man.
So I think you're asking the wrong question. I think what a person should be asking does this person's values line up with mine. You're not shopping for a car here. And if you approach it that way, it's probable a good reason why you fail.
It's really a mixture of both. You don't want to be too picky like have a certain height as your preference because you might be missing out on the love of your life who might be way shorter or taller but you don't want to be too open-minded where their views and values hardly match your own.
There needs to be a balance. Be sensible and wise of your choice, but don't be so rigid and unbending that you miss out on a good one.
I think this just about sums it up. We need a good healthy balance.
Exactly!
I wouldn't trade my fussy ways or my picky ways I wouldn't trade for all the gold 🥇🪙
Not "picky" like a moron who goes to a steak restaurant and asks for the vegan gluten free dish and then whines that it's bad... But selective in the sense of not letting everyone into your life with an "oh well, it is what it is" loser sort of attitude. Know who you are and go for someone who is OK with who you are; know who they are and be sure you're OK with who they are.
Opinion
38Opinion
There is two different extremes there is one extreme of having absolutely unreasonable standards and the other of just being with any snake in the grass that will allow you.
I think that if people take things slow and get to know someone for them. Before getting too carried away in a fantasy that they can figure out after a while if that’s someone they want to be with. Without also just shutting everyone out.
People do need some level of standards and boundaries. Know what you need and want but also keep a open mind to the fact sometimes we don’t really know what we want until we find it. But also not wanting someone whose narcissistic, lazy, immature, does drugs, has a criminal record, etc.
Long ago, my dad once called me picky, but I'm not sure which list of my boyfriends back then he was looking at because they were all shapes and sizes, all races, all types of jobs, but no gos for me were people who treated others like dirt underneath their nails, overly religious people (as I am not and don't want to convert to anything), then you get smokers, and druggies, and weirdo's whom you suspect are on the watch list somewhere. Like, you do need SOME type of standard other then, well, he looked at me, said I was cute, so therefore he's probably cool. You have to assess them as a person, not a fantasy (also agree), and yet be a little open to not seeking perfection because we are all flawed, or at least, others may find flaws in us.
I agree and some people aren’t bad people who you respect and like as a human being. But you would never want romantically. So why waste their time? When they can find someone whose genuinely attracted to them.
I think people need some sort of standards but there is the two different extremes. People who will be with anyone and people who are completely unrealistic.
How'd you ever settle on one or even just one - if so he must've been quite the man 👑 I'm picky as hell with my women 🤩 lady I tell ya.
@NicholasRedone ok…
@NicholasRedone
when you're young, attractive then of course you can afford to be picky. but once you get old and ugly, being picky means a life of being alone forever
I think the majority of people eventually just settle. Divorce rates nowadays are a good reflection of that. Either go big or go home. Go for incredible compatibility or don't date them. That's my advice.
I'm going with just be yourself be happy have fun You don't have to have a blueprint
Definitely one way to approach it.
Better to be open-minded. There are more choices that way. You can be more picky if you start to get serious.
Women and girls will always be picky, and that will never change. I know, I have pursued and dated girls, talked to them online, even on sites like these, the majority of my family are women, I have only older sisters and no brothers, and the majority of my cousins are females. I know how y'all think. To every female reading this y'all will never be open minded, you will judge men and guys very harshly even if he is 5'8, 155 pounds, athletic build, handsome, good job, good with money, doesn't do anything stupid like drugs or partying or sleeping around or theft or supports Israel's genocide in Palestine. Females will always be picky until 2 things happen.
1) God stops their life and tells the angel of death to take her soul or 2) God sets the day of judgement on earth where every soul shall taste the afterlife of heaven or hell. End of the day, here's the spoiler: Guy's should take every single interaction with a female with a grain of salt that's buried beneath so far deep in the earth's core because female's are ignorant and picky and I would say 99.9% of the time they will always be picky and never choose you, so fella's focus on yourself because you won't get a second date from her so no need to post GAG questions on here entitled "does she still like me", just move on. There I just kept it 100 for the guys and men.
That's why dating apps suck for guys. To think if a woman or girl matches with a guy and his opening line is, "hi, how's it going?". But in a girl's or a woman's mind, she wants the guy to have some Chris Rock or Mike Myers from Saturday Night Live type humour to wow her with the funniest comment ever to get her attention. I truly believe in my heart, and I will take this to my grave one day. Women and girls won't care how charming, funny, genuine and handsome you are, they will overlook it and take it for granted. I see a lot of women in the future dying single in their homes with a dog or a cat or in a nursing home. That's just the cold, hard reality that father times always catches up to everyone, and one of the biggest thoughts at old age is regret of past mistakes.
Open minded.
People waste time with tingles and feelings and chemistry and such.
People focus too much on superficial things like having the perfect body type or make a lavish salary.
People don't date intentionally. They want to play around and have fun, focus on superficial things, hold out for super picky expectations, rely too much on fleeting feelings.
It usually boils down to 2 things:
1. Are you attracted to them? Is their face/body combo something you like.
2. Get straight into core values, beliefs, life goals (such as handling money, having kids, religion, views on sex, expectations for the future)
But doesn't that mean to some degree or a lot of degree, especially your second rule, that you do have to have picky in you?
People have to be compatible on the big stuff to last.
Wow I would have said picky 6 years ago. But since I met the most amazing person ever. I have to check myself and realize that if ten years ago you had described her to me, for a blind date setup. I would have said pass. That would have been a catastrophic mistake. Sometimes you gotta just walk through those double doors and see what's on the other side. No matter what you think is back there
@Stevepro68 Steve you wouldn't believe - I'm picky. Im picky alright - and that's even knowing how I look in the mirror - yet I still look at only certain ladies 🥳👀
Recollecting my trajectory, I went from a wild open-mindedness to being picky, as each relationship, over time, tends to refine my tastes and wishes. So, if I projected my life onto others, which isn't that wise, then it looks like what's better depends on where you are in your life.
When I was picky guys responded to me in 30 min when I wasn't and talked to everyone guys respond to me under the 1 or even in 20 seconds so I definitely prefer not being picky personally.
Now the only guys I bother getting interested in and those that are into me first.
It's better to be very picky and fussy 🙂 so that way it's first time and no second time - aka if you're a germ freak like me, folks, adult virgins should stick to fellow adult virgins - and be each other's first and only or first and keepers 😋👌🏻🎉🥳👀😅😈 the horror of STDs/Herpes/HIV etc
Others may have their own viewpoints 😋
Yet I know what would work for me : 🎉👌🏻🙂
It's not the waitress asking how you like your steak cooked, it's an interpersonal relationship and as much as variety is to spice of life stability is the source of contentment. Be picky when it comes to who you let in your life. You could always send the steak back...
It's a mixture like be picky for the non-negotiable, like the way he treats you, but be open-minded to superficial things like looks, obviously if he's ugly, don't date him, but if he's just not you're type but still somewhat attractive that should be fine as long as he treats you right. Don't block your blessings because you're overly picky.
Let's say we are using selective criteria that 50% of the desired gender meets.
1 criteria -> 50% left.
2 criterias -> 25% left.
3 criterias -> 12.5% left.
Add one 20% criteria and we are at 2.5%.
Or say three 20% criterias instead of 50% and we are at 0.8%.
You have to be picky where it really matters but be open minded otherwise.
Unless if you are a one in a million 10.
Then you can be picky.
A bit of both. It's good to be open to different types of people, but also have red flags for one's own safety and peace. Never put up with pettiness, manipulation, and emotional, physical, & mental abuse. Never Feed those behaviors, otherwise it will make your life hell.
You need to pick what’s good for you. Being open-minded means a whole bunch of different shit to other people what does it mean to you? They might have tendencies that you might not have or ever want to have one of them think fuck it all up. I don’t know about being picky, but you need to pick the right one thats best for you.
Depends picky about what? If you're picky about looks yet you are a 4 then you have no business being picky. unfortunately most women are like this. Theyre very below average in looks yet want a brad pit. Not gonna happen
Picky with morals, values, and general intentions and life goals (as in do you want marriage and children), somewhere in between with appearance, and more open in terms of hobbies, careers, and the like.
I tend to be more picky now as I have been hurt before and don't see a huge need for a partner since I doubt I will ever find the love of my life at this point.
@PeachyPie93 in hindsight : do you think : "should've been pickier the first time?" True?
@NicholasRedone Not really because seeing how guys treat me was a good lesson. My first boyfriend loved me but didn't know how to treat me caringly besides giving me stuff. I am now kind of scared to find the next dude to fall in love with. Though I at least know what I am not looking for now and won't accept from men, where as before I was pretty naive and didn't even know what I wanted in a partner.
@PeachyPie93 what's your views on STIs and STDs and having more than one partner though? Some folks myself included, while I'm not a "wait until marriage person" I am from a health germ freak nature me sense a person who "prefers to only score with one woman and mate with one woman for life, not having mated others and her likewise" - aka "avoiding folks who've slept around" 🧴😕
@PeachyPie93 hence my original query about you thinking should you have been pickier in that department sense at least because "well now I have to go look for a new male lover she says" and it's like "yet that means more risk of catching something unwanted" 👀🤢
@NicholasRedone I kind of had a similar view point as you as I wanted to mate for life with one person but he wasn't a perfect fit for me unfortunately so I dumped him. I am not that worried about STD's or STI's since both guys I dated were virgins and I have been tested. Anyone who isn't a virgin I will get their papers and ask their background before I sleep with them and they would have to be someone I am really sure about before I even consider them for sex. Hence I am not in a rush to find one lol.
Be picky when young.
after 30 … don’t want kids - don’t care
wnat kids… can’t be picky. But harder to be picky.
women - can’t fight with nature and reality.
Well you certainly don't want to go for someone who isn't compatible or who's values differ significantly from your own. Other than that, you don't want to be too picky.
Women are more likely to be picky.. height, bank account, looks, size…all matter to women and much much more
Guys.. they like anyone who’s friendly, loyal and not super overweight..
That said.. I’ve never been picky
There’s loads of picky guys. But the majority of men just want a nice partner, she obviously has to be pretty and in shape.
But these days especially, with so many simps online, women all have become “models” and “princesses” so they “deserve” the best. Even a woman who’s a solid 4/10, thinks she entitled to a 10/10 man
A healthy balance of both is probably best. Knowing what you need in a partner is important, but it's also important to know that nobody is perfect
It depends upon the context. I'm open-minded about things like race and type of work. I'm not open-minded if she's Nazi or communist or otherwise totalitarian or racist.
God, I hope not!
In another word a MAGA
Open minded because then you can be less judgmental and build a more clear picture of the kind of person who will fit best with you
We don't really 'date' in Australia. You meet someone you like, go out and see if it works. The system seems to work just fine.
What does that mean...go where and do what if not a date?
PIcky or the rest of your life, you're going to spend with a bum and nobody likes bums.
@MySunflowerSophia uhh I do like female bums and their buns 😈😅😋👀🥳 however I know you mean slobs and poor folks and druggies - no one wants trash 🗑️
@MySunflowerSophia I prefer to call them butts - the American English lol 😆😂 has won me over
Depends on how badly you want to date somebody. In my experience, it's always good to like someone first and date later
That’s totally true. Rushing into things rarely ends in anything positive.
It’s always better to be open minded…. Picky will cause you to miss possibly some good opportunity.
You should be a bit more selective and careful, but not picky unless it comes to core values.. People are often picky about the wrong things..
It's better to be picky about your non-negotiables. You just have to be sure that your non-negotiables are realistic.
Picky.
Open minded people let their brains fall out.
I've had this conversation a lot, specifically on this site, when it comes to men arguing their frustrations that because of xyz, girls aren't picking them, and they feel like girls should be more open minded towards whatever it is, they specifically are, but in that sense, I think we are all to some degree picky to very picky. This is a dumb example, but maybe you've dated 5 people with no education and they've all had no plans for the future, so now you're looking for someone with a higher education. I think there is a reason we become picky(er), especially as we go along in life, because the experience of not being picky(er) in some cases, has burned us badly.
So to clarify what I mean by picky:
She has to be a virgin and have no STDs.
She has to be unusually clever, like inventor clever.
She has to be silly, bubbly, goofy, and full of joy, the type to have an "infectious" laugh/smile.
She has to have a cute face, very thick scalp hair, a petite body, and huge boobs.
She has to not want any kids.
She has to be an artist/illustrator (being an animator, programmer, and musician as well is a plus, but not required).
She has to like science, sci-fi, fantasy, CGI, practical special effects, and anime/cartoons.
She has to be a collector of geeky/nerdy things.
She has to be good at difficult video games and not a sore loser or gloating winner.
She has to be altruistic, but not a martyr.
She has to be lewd but not promiscious.
She has to like bugs, spiders, snakes, dinosaurs, cats, etc
She has to be an atheist.
She has to have never drank any alcohol, never smoked, and never did any other recreational drugs.
She has to be of legal age and in the United States.
I get hit on frequently, I look 15 according to most women, and so most of the women who hit on me are teens or early 20s, and none of the ones who were adults and fit the above criteria were in the united states.
I'm desireable, if I were not picky about mental compatibililty I'd have been married by age 18.
But I know such a marriage would result in me initiating a divorce.
And thats what I mean by people letting their brain fall out by being open minded.
People who are too different won't get along well enough to stay married.
Open minded. You meet a lot more interesting people that way.
I think I'm somewhere between being picky about what you expect and what you don’t expect.
Picky people rule the world @BloodyMary6
I just simply have standards and I stick to them I'm neither open minded or picky.
I tried to be open to different people. Most of the time it was a horror show.
the pickier you are, the harder it is to get married. You will realize that most people are married because they simply aren't that picky
And yet I'm glad I have zero regrets 😋😅😈
@NicholasRedone
you may not regret being single now, but you might regret it when you're at the end of your life. The game won't be the same all throughout your life
I find an afterlife and building good karma towards that happy place, as worth it for my coping mechanisms lol 🤭🙃
*belief in an afterlife 🙂🎉
you can be surprised by trying new experiences
Open when selecting people to go out on a date with; and progressively more selective as you progress in a relationship with someone.
I'm very happy with my dating choices 😀 which include my boyfriend and his like
But if I need a friend I may be open minded
What do you mean by “open minded”? Different personalities yes. Different races, trans etc is a no.
picky, women die from picking the wrong ones, ain't gonna be me
I'm picky, and I'm still single, always have been :(
Most women prefer a Chad white guy or a tall Black dude with a BBC
I think you should be more selective, you dont want to endup with the wrong person
picky in values, open minded though beyond.
Definitely picky it's serious business.
70% picky 30% open minded...
You seem like a female
Picky.
Open minded
Picky