What would you spend for male companionship if it wasn't available for free (see price list in details)?
The rules are that no relationship is free. You get what you pay for. What you pay for is based on what you can afford and what options you are interested in. Here is the model and option list (all prices are per year):
Model 1: Male, age 18 to 25 $25k
Options:
A) good looks $5K
B) education $10K
C) humor $5K
D) faithful* $5K
E) likes older women $10K
F) risktaker* $10K
* Can not have risktaker and faithful on same model
Model 2: Male, age 26 to 55 $50k
Options:
A) good looks $10K
B) education $15K
C) humor $10K
D) faithful* $15K
E) likes older women $5K
F) risktaker* $15K
* Can not have risktaker and faithful on same model
Model 3: Male, age 56 to 70 $75k
Options:
A) good looks $20K
B) education $30K
C) humor $25K
D) faithful* $10K
E) likes older women**
F) risktaker* $40K
* Can not have risktaker and faithful on same model
** NA
Model 4: Male, age 71 up $45k
Options:
A) good looks $25K
B) education $40K
C) humor $30K
D) faithful* $5K
E) likes older women**
F) risktaker* $50K
* Can not have risktaker and faithful on same model
** NA
Of course, this is just off the top of my head. Feel free to mention other things you would find valuable and try to place a value on them no matter how artificial this exercise is. I know people can’t be valued in monetary terms, but this is really an attempt to get a sense of relative value of various attributes of men for each of you individually. So please play nice. If you want to change the rules, please offer helpful suggestions in the spirit of this question or start your own question.
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17 Answers
Oh my…
Male, age 18 to 25 $25k (17-ish)
Good looks $5K
Education $10K
Humor $5K
Faithful* $5K
Guess who’s staying single? ;D
I suppose (if I must) I’ll take Model 2 and it would cost me around $35 (good looks, humor, risktaker). I’d also like to mention that doing this exersize makes me feel uncomfortable. Certainly, if someone was talking about women in this manner, more people would have a knee-jerk response. Since I have knee jerk responses when any gender is objectified, I wanted to say something. :)
Zero. The only men I pay are in my harem of help. Gardeners, spa guy, computer tech, contractor/handyman. I get the bonus of their charming personalities and humor for free, it’s a package deal and a fine arrangement. Gardener comes with bonus herbal essence. lol
Dude, what Mitt Romney planet are you living on? The base version of model #1 is 93% of my annual salary.
I can’t afford any of these. It also makes me wonder what I’m worth… aged 46, not good looking, slightly overweight, no college education, disabled. My only saleable feature is a good sense of humour, and at least I’m clean, employed and moderately intelligent. Offers?
@Simone_De_Beauvoir, ;)
I did not really give you an answer. I would order the relative importance of the attributes you listed something like this:
education >= humor > good looks > likes older women > faithful = risktaker
But personally I do not think any of these attributes are especially important. Intelligence, but not education, is critical. Kindness, compassion, patience, empathy—all of these greatly outweigh looks, humor, etc.
And you already know this, but the most important thing is just having the right fit with each other. Understanding each other and sharing values and goals. The other shit just doesn’t matter.
Yeah, @nikipedia. Try organizing this exercise yourself. It could have taken all day. Or longer. I figured in the end that people would use the items provided as proxy measures for the things they valued. So education is a proxy for intelligence (I suppose I could have had a price for each additional year of education, and if this were real, you can bet I’d do that).
I made hundreds of unconscious assumptions, I think, and they could all go other ways.
I do think it is interesting about the affordability issue. But, you know, think of it as an investment. You might spend 93% of your income, but the dude might come with an income twice yours. That’s part of your calculation. As we all know, people aren’t slaves (at least, not officially), although men are often seen as “success” objects.
But we do “pay” for company in one way or another. That is to say, there is an exchange going on. Usually the exchange is in things like love and compassion and empathy and all that. But if we had to try to say what these things meant to us, how much would we be willing to “pay” for them?
I.e., @Coloma values her gardeners and spa guys and all the others. She may not pay them money, but she does offer things in exchange for their services. How much does she value the various attributes they have? Clearly herbal essence is importance. But does the gardener have a sense of humor? Or is he just totally into the earth and that gives her a charge of some kind for some reason? And if he raised his price in some way, how much could he raise it before she decides he isn’t worth it?
or…
Model 6: Male, age 40 $00*
*Completely free so long as you provide fresh baked cookies and weekly comic books.
If an offer looks too good to be true…. it is!
@wundayatta My gardener “Scott” is worth his weight in gold, rolled and otherwise. Heh! ;-) He has been a faithful and much loved member of my stable of stable boys for 6 years and counting. He is the man!
Besides, I’d so miss calling him up with “our” joke….” Het Scott, I need a blowjob!”
Now what man wouldn’t come running to “service” a woman that asks for a blowjob? lol
Ha, ha. I’ve already got all the male companionship I need, what I need is a good, hard worker.
I thought fluther didn’t allow self promotion, I mean….come on!
@Bent, I’m not looking, but I’d place humor pretty high, and you should remember, being a jelly is worth a great deal!
@bent Sure! Just prorate that $50k a year…. call it $25/hr….
Hey I humor! I educated! I can be faithful an hour at a time!
__line forms to the right__
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