Wasn’t there something demoralizing about it: the way romance with a woman so often asked that I advocate for myself and trust that I would be loved once I had shown how I could care for and excite her, how this kind of relationship seemed to rely on my convincing a woman of my value? What a pleasure it was to be obvious, even if what was obvious was merely my body. I knew that it haunted women that their bodies were designated for sex—even
Isn’t this a cop out? Self objectifying?
