Love + Sex

Friday, November 20, 2009

Dating Advice You Should Ignore

They may mean well, but there are times when you should ignore your girlfriends’ dating advice
- Kaneisha Grayson, BettyConfidential.com

We women love to talk through our problems and dish out advice. We’re there for each other during good times and bad, and it makes perfect sense that we would look to our girlfriends for help and guidance in our dating lives. However, it’s important to beware of times when your girlfriends’ advice is exactly what you want to avoid. Read the descriptions below and see if you’ve been listening to dating advice from the exact wrong sources:

1. The chronically single girlfriend
All singles are not created equal. Some women are single because they choose to be single or they have yet to meet the right person. These friends often provide great advice, because they help you not be a desperate dater. Then there are the other singles — the women who really want to be in a relationship but just can’t seem to keep a man. Beware the advice of these girlfriends or you may end up just like them — single and wondering why.

Read: You Know You're On a Bad Date When ...

2. The rationalizer girlfriend
We all have that girlfriend that will always tell us just what we want to hear when it comes to dating. If he breaks up with you, she’s the first to curse his name. If he comes back, she’s already planning your engagement party. This friend is so blinded by wanting to make you happy, she becomes an accomplice to bad dating decisions because she can never see straight enough to help you see the truth!

3. The girlfriend trapped in an unhappy or dysfunctional relationship
Many times, your girlfriends subconsciously give advice that validates their own current and past bad decisions, rather than advice that actually helps you with the dilemma at hand. Here’s a perfect example of how a friend blinded by her own current relationship problems might give you bad advice: “Give him a second chance! Every person deserves a second chance!” (This coming from a woman who keeps taking back her cheating dog of a boyfriend.) Beware of dating advice from people who can’t seem to get it right themselves!

4. The girlfriend who never tells you her failures
Many women have a girlfriend who seems to have the perfect life. She met her husband at the library, dated him for three months before having sex with him, got engaged exactly after a year of dating, and loves her mother-in-law. Now they have wild, passionate sex five times a week and their first baby was born potty trained. You try out the advice she gives you and it never seems to work. That is because she is lying! The best advice comes from girlfriends who have made mistakes in the past and learned from them — not the Photo-Shopped tales of Miss Perfect.

5. The girlfriend who says you can somehow “make” something happen
Highly ambitious career women are used to making things happen — negotiating contracts, closing deals, hitting the numbers. We don’t let life happen to us. We make things happen. However, when it comes to dating, you can have flat abs, beautiful calves, perky breasts, shiny hair, an MBA degree with honors, and cook like gourmet chef. None of these things will “make” a man want you or love you if he does not. Channel your energy not on making things happen but on making yourself happy.

Great dating is both an art and a science. You may have a good friend who loves you, but it’s important to consider the source, when listening to advice. That will show you the difference between advice that really works — and advice that’s merely someone’s very misguided opinion.

Kaneisha Grayson is a MBA and MPA student at Harvard. You can read more of her dating advice at her blog Kaneisha’s CrazyGirl Nation.

To read more from BettyConfidential | Why Men Cheat

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From the Community…

Comments 1-10 of 26
  • Mauna's Avatar
    Posted by Mauna Thu Nov 5, 2009 5:44am PST

    From my past I must say, that the Girlfriends I had were not good influences(unfortunately), and what straightened out my mind and understanding was education and taking sexuality courses in college to clear up all the misconceptions. Plus when one gets themselves educated they can make 'better' choices of what is good and not so good on their own without any advice from girlfriends who all do have their differences when it comes to interpreting the understanding and HOW a relationship should be.

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  • candice's Avatar
    Posted by candice Thu Nov 5, 2009 7:49am PST

    I hate when girls pretend they have the perfect life, or when they judge you because you tell them the negative things & they keep all theirs to themselves ...

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  • Coug Girl's Avatar
    Posted by Coug Girl Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:00am PST

    I don't like the "Quick Comeback" girlfriends, I guess you would call them. If your significant other takes you to dinner, they put down the restaurant. If your significant other got you roses, they say they hate roses. When really, their significant other does nothing for them and that's their defense mechanism.

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  • katie's Avatar
    Posted by katie Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:10am PST

    The best dating advice I ever got was to never get advice about men from a woman.

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  • opiniononly's Avatar
    Posted by opiniononly Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:14am PST

    When I was dating, I'd get better dating advice from my guy friends

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  • Gregory's Avatar
    Posted by Gregory Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:33am PST

    I've always gotten the best advice from my good guy friends...it might not be what I wanted to hear but in the long run, they were always right on! :)

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  • erin's Avatar
    Posted by erin Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:39am PST

    I have the chronically single friend, she annoys me to no end. I have vented to her a few times and she now thinks my boyfriend is stupid and far beneath me. She has also tried to encourage me to cheat on him by going out on dates with other men and "looking around". I vented a few times and no matter what she makes it into me being better than him, which is why she is single. She thinks no man is good enough for her and that all men are cheating lying scum. I can't talk to her sometimes because she drives me up the wall with her nuerotic complaints. She ruins her relationships and wonders why she doesn't have a boyfriend and always compairs them to her dead ex, who was her ex then he died 4 years ago. People who are a drain on you like that should never be taken seriously.

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  • None's Avatar
    Posted by None Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:46am PST

    That's why I don't ask anyone's advice except maybe my mom, but I trust in myself, you secretly know whats right and wrong.

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  • C's Avatar
    Posted by C Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:02pm PST

    Posted by couggrrrl 53 minutes ago: I don't like the "Quick Comeback" girlfriends, I guess you would call them. If your significant other takes you to dinner, they put down the restaurant. If your significant other got you roses, they say they hate roses. When really, their significant other does nothing for them and that's their defense mechanism.

    MY REPLY: To add on to this.. I hate girlfriends who throw up in your face all the time what terrifically, fantastic things their significant other does for them every single day. Especially when they know for a fact that your SO doesn't do these things due to working two jobs just to try and support the household.

    I think friends would last a lot longer if people would take the time to consider their friends situations before they open their mouth to brag or criticize every five minutes.

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  • MrsKlingonPasadena's Avatar
    Posted by MrsKlingonPasadena Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:47pm PST

    Dating Advice You Should Ignore: Any advice. We really don't need advice, we usually know already.

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Comments 1-10 of 26

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