The Art of Dating: Paris vs. New York

Typecasting · Paris · by Marina Khorosh

When it comes to dating, Paris and New York are like two famous men: both come with reputations that precede them. On one side of the Atlantic we have have the elitist Frenchmen, self-proclaimed ardent lovers who, paradoxically, reject the entire concept of “dating” as a restricting endeavor where romance goes to die. On the other side, we have the epicenter of neurotic overachievers who tend to overexert themselves in every department, dating included. Both cities are, at times, cultural parodies of their respective selves, and yet they are not without charm. Without further ado, let’s tally up some basic lessons on dating à la française vs. à la New Yorkaise.

Love Lessons from Gen Z

This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article on Gen Z, the generation born after 1995 that is now in its teens, ready to become the next batch of humans to mold the world. They are smart, savvy, physically wired to their smartphones, yet adamant about bypassing our millennial mistakes by avoiding Facebook albums, stream-of-consciousness tweets and blogging about their love lives. What scares me the most is how mature they look and feel – gone is the naivete of my teens, shaped by Britney’s low-riders and lyrics (listen to this for a dose of nostalgia); instead, you have a bunch of little Reformation mannequins walking around, spewing wearied wisdom. They are also strangely pragmatic about their love lives, to the point where I almost feel like sticking them in front of a never-ending marathon of The Notebook and force-feeding them Twizzlers until they cave in. Since I currently happen to have one of them co-habiting with me in Brooklyn, I took the opportunity to configure some principle dating rules from this cooler-than-thou bunch.

Love Lessons from Japan

Typecasting · Tokyo · by Marina Khorosh

My newfound obsession with Japan knows no limits. From the schizoid robot shows, to the ancient temples, to the food (the food!) to samurai practice in the middle of parks and entire streets dedicated to the most bizarre Japanese animé, the juxtaposition of the weird and the beautiful and the chaotic rings so close to my inner turmoil that I cannot help but feel a mysterious kinship with this culture. And so, I decided to investigate further and see if the Japanese dating scene held any gems that we could apply to our own lives, basing my research on a combination of articles, readers advice, and the conversations I had with a few people I met there. Here is what I found.

The Dbag Dating Guide to Scandinavian Men

Typecasting · Scandinavia · by Marina Khorosh

Ever since moving to Europe three years ago, and particularly since launching this male-objectifying exercise of a blog, I have been repeatedly advised – no, instructed – to go to Scandinavia. I’m talking about friends, coworkers, readers, you name it, all promising me some sort of cathartic experience in the land of herring and Ikea, complete with the discovery of my own 7-foot tall Bjorn Ironside with superpowers in the sack.

The Basic Douchebag

Typecasting · Paris · by Marina Khorosh

I think it was Mark Twain who said “Children and fools always speak the truth.” I will go ahead and add teens to this equation. I always find that spending time with my 17-year-old niece is an invaluable experience that allows me to see life through a simplistic prism and reaffirms the notion once so effectively conveyed via Mean Girls: real life mirrors high school. This time around, the kid hit a nail on the head while volunteering a description of a guy her friend was dating: “He’s just one of those Basic Douchebags – he is used to always getting his way and f*cking girls over, so once he finds somebody who can play his game, he’s like “she gets me” and decides he’s finally found his equal and he’s in love.”

What Kind of Dbag Dater Are You?

Typecasting · by Marina Khorosh

Dbag Dating is an art, a natural talent that one cannot fake. Not only do you have to be born with an intrinsic flair for the Weird and the Wrong, but you also have to work hard on letting it flourish, avoiding squelching it with a quest for silly things such as normalcy or healthy relationships. Below is a quiz that will help you determine if you’ve got what it takes, and, if so, which Dbag Dating category you fall into!