In real life I have always had to do a level of justifying when it comes to my single status but I have found that more and more I have to do it in Second Life.
It started the day before Valentines Day when I found out I wasn't going to be invited to a wedding the next day because I am not into dating. The wedding had been arranged for a month.
Throughout the week, after revising my profile to clarify my views on dating, I realised that whatever I said in-world was going to be twisted to be about dating. When I expressed concern about staff shagging regulars in my club it became about my single status. I decided I was already sick of dating, and I wasn't even dating.
I would love someone to tell me what reward there is to be had in contorting my avatar on a poseball and muttering dirty-not-so-sweet-nothings in Instant Message. As far as I can tell, people gave up asking me to participate in that kind of activity nearly 2-years ago. I flushed my virtual birth control down the toilet on deciding that I clearly did not possess the time or the inclination to keep a man interested - in the virtual sense.
Am I anti virtual world dating? No. It is fair to say I have more than my share of cynicism but overall it is purely the fact that the men I have been exposed to in-world have lied, cheated, been gold diggers, or gave up due to the fact I had other in-world interests and they didn't. I decided that I did not need to kiss a load of virtual frogs to find my Prince - In Second Life I will do as I please and not apologise for it. Unfortunately, no one told me that Second Life is about 20-years behind real life when it comes to social norms.
In a world where you can be anything you want to be, people choose domesticity, virtually speaking. Women have impossibly tiny waists, blonde hair, huge boobs and lost their IQ on login. Maybe it became detached while teleporting. All they want is a white picket fence, with their impossibly muscular (yet hideously tattooed) husband and fugly prim babies.
It would seem to me that whether or not I date is not the issue here. It is what I am willing or not willing to settle for. I am just in-world trying to tip toe around the misogynistic emotionally stunted male avatars on my way to talk to the people who treat people like they are ... well, people.
Whether I choose to date again is irrelevant, it certainly isn't something I have completely ruled out. What I am resentful of is the women who are perpetuating the myth that they cannot live without a man - in any life. So dull.
