Hi Martin! Very good that you recognize that men and women are equally human and that emotional intelligence is a vital trait regardless of gender. ;) Even though I wrote this from the standpoint of wanting to share some personal experiences of being woman who dates men, I'm glad the human universals shine obviously through. Always a sign that a piece I wrote has done its job, yay!

One thing I will politely disagree on is the idea that dating apps are "a veritable ego buffet for women." I think it depends heavily on the person; emotionally healthy women aren't putting themselves out there to fish for validation in the first place, but even for women who are seeking validation, apps are not the place to find it: tons of women have highly negative experiences on apps, receiving heaps of disrespectful attention from droves of desperate guys who right-swipe on anyone just to increase their chances. This is another thing women realize: most of the male attention we're getting on apps is not genuine, since a lot of men right-swipe on us just because. So, no, apps are not an ego buffet: they're a major time drain, and they're a place where a lot of women are vulnerable to mistreatment.

As for negging, there is no valid justification or excuse for it. No matter who does it, or why, it's toxic. It's sad that so many people still defend and believe in it. Hopefully that'll change...