Maybe I am living in some over-actualized reality, but I have been noticing- more often than not- friends and family sharing or talking about or referring to "old love." Now at first, I didn't pay attention to it because A. It didn't pertain to me B. I didn't really care C. It wasn't a picture of a cat. I look back now and notice this trend, this idea that we need to follow an old standard of love.

Hit the brakes here... I thought we were moving forward, not hitting rewind? The idea here is that men are only good when they're "gentlemen" which equates to the idea that they should be opening doors for women (note* this is stereotypically left for heterosexual couples... completely exclusive to their Queer counterparts), paying bills, picking up the checks when they're out, doing "hard work" and so on.

........................................................................... What?

Look, I appreciate someone holding a door open for me just as much as the next person, but that does not mean my partner should feel obligated to do so as I am just as capable of opening a door, paying bills, picking up the check, and doing any damn thing that I want as anyone else would. THIS DOES NOT MAKE A MAN A GENTLEMAN.

Kindness and acceptance are the beginnings of a gentle person- not what they can do for a partner.

Dating, marriage and even friendships should always be a partnership (I am in no way stating that they all are, but they should be). Nothing in this world should be one-sided.

I am so tired of hearing "man-up" or how openly being emotional or someone who is not as strong as male stereotypes concede, then they are "like a woman;" as if being my gender is a sin.

Listen, I can respect you for your thoughts and needs, truly I can - HOWEVER, you need to be open to the idea that someone else has a different opinion, and even if you're correct in your thinking... so are they.

I am not asking people to change, the sheer idea is tumultuous. People will be people, but that doesn't mean you can't be a kind person. Create partnerships rather than having a standard of living that one person takes on more than the other.

Create inclusivity between the spectrum of identities as we each play our part. Evolve and be a better partner, then there won't have to be this line in the proverbial sand. Be the line.