Everyone has their own expectations from their dating lives, and everyone has different deal-breakers and relationship-makers.
But let's be honest, some people's expectations and wish list items for a potential partner are a little bit weird.
Curious, Redditor Urjanhai asked:
"What's the most ridiculous dating preference you've heard of?"
But Have You Tried Switching To Trident?
"I once heard someone insist their date must have the same brand of toothpaste preference. Like, seriously? It's about compatibility, not dental hygiene uniformity."
- LovelyRosiePetal
Those Who Pray Together
"I work with someone who only wants to marry someone from her church. Not her faith; her physical church of 20 people."
- carolebaskins69
"Does she have a specific person in mind? lol (laughing out loud)."
- CatherineConstance
"She's either waiting for him to grow up or waiting for his current wife to die."
- sejay26
"See, that's what I thought, so I asked her, and she said she'll wait until 'the one' joins her church, lol."
- carolebaskins69
Unrealistic Beauty Standards
"A buddy of mine said he only wanted to date Korean girls. One of our mutual friends at college tried to set him up with her roommate, who was an exchange student from Korea. The next day she asked him if they were gonna see each other again, and he said no, she didn’t fit his 'standards.'"
"Turns out the only Korean women he wanted were K-pop idols."
- redkid2000
"It’s wild to me that it’s SO prevalent to think that way. Like, I find Korean men and women attractive, but not exclusively, I also feel like there are attractive folks in every race, I can’t imagine being like NO ONLY THIS ONE, especially if it’s not your own race (because there’s societal pressure sometimes)."
"And then to reject an actual Korean woman because she wasn’t idol-shaped. Don’t get me wrong, idols are absolutely stunning. It’s kind of their job to be that way. No human being can get to that level of physical fitness and physical attractiveness without being trained for years, without a sickening amount of hard work, and with stylists and makeup artists when they make it."
"I don’t even date, I shouldn’t be in this conversation to be honest, but I’m just so grossed out by that."
- thebearofwisdom
Unattainable Goals
"I have a roommate who is destined to be single forever. His preferences are too high and is not open to any changes."
"She must be shorter than he is. Blonde. Blue or Green Eyes. Virgin (and preferably never been kissed). Slim but not too muscular."
"Enjoys doing household 'duties.' Full-Time employment with benefits and retirement savings. No drinking alcohol, caffeine, or sugary sodas."
"Must have a sense of humor and laugh at his jokes. Must want three children. Must be financially set and planning for the future."
"He is a 46-year-old (suspected Virgin) 5'6" tall, balding, pudgy, evening desk clerk at two-star hotel, smokes a s**t-ton of weed and drinks a 12-pack of light beer daily. He has no hobbies but getting drunk and staring at things."
"He literally dresses and looks like a person you would not introduce your kids to and no way would you ever leave them with him."
"It's sad that he doesn't see how sad he is and thinks it's normal."
- RedditVince
"I'm not a psychologist, but it sounds to me like your roommate is setting these unattainably high standards so he has excuses as to why he doesn't have a girlfriend or wife."
- spartanbrucelee
A Study of Pigeons
"His girlfriend could only be somebody virgin (by the way, he is 35 years old and been with over 100 girls), because in case of having kids, the kids will not have DNA leftovers from her ex-partners."
"His dating preference is based on some genetics study done on pigeons."
- hotnmad
"He sounds like he's a pigeon. But not as nice."
- mashforever
A Very Specific Choice
"Dude wanted a Japanese woman who spoke Spanish and cooked Mexican food."
- Several-Assistant-51
"I was chatting with this gorgeous Mexican girl who had moved to the States. I'm Asian American, and she told me she had a thing for the Chinese Mexican guys."
"I was like, 'Where the hell are you going to find one of those?' But it turns out there was quite a population in the town where she was from."
- Memento_Morrie
Conflicting Criteria
"A woman I knew mentioned she was looking for a man who made 'at least $500k per year' and was also an artist type and not a workaholic. I was like, 'I think those items are in conflict, sweet thang.'"
- mazzystardust216
"Finance."
"Trust fund."
"Six feet-five"."
"Blue eyes."
- bstyledevi
Welcome To The Jungle
"I heard about someone who refused to date anyone who didn't have at least ten houseplants."
- bizzionizon
"'Hi, nice to meet you. Now, where are your houseplants?'"
- angularvisage69
Is This The Girl That Stole The Guy's Truck In That One Country Song?
"A girl I knew only dated guys with trucks, due to masculinity. Straight up said she couldn't take a guy who drove a woman's car seriously to do a man's role in her life."
"The guy she wound up with was shorter than average, small and scrawny, worked an office job, and was pretty much the opposite of the big burly masculine type, but he drove a truck."
"I found that so, so odd. I flip cars so what I drive can change on a daily basis, I can't imagine that being a deal breaker for someone."
- PhlippinPhil
Really Limiting His Options
"A kid I worked with said that he wanted to date someone who was physically fit, worked out at the same gym, had a certain style of hair, drove, lived by herself, and there was a whole host of other preferences."
"We did the maths, and there were roughly five people in town who met that list."
- Large-Meat-Feast
"When I read this, I thought he was purposely being so specific because he actually had one person in mind but didn't want to say who."
- Hibihibii
"'...whose first name is Jennifer, and whose dad's last name is Robertson.'"
- TonyzTone
Fair.
"Not the most ridiculous, but I got a good laugh when my friend said he wanted to set his dating profile to exclude girls with small dogs that can’t breathe well."
- PM_Your_Puppy_Dogs
"To be honest, valid. Every girl I've met with a small dog that can't breathe well was superficial and obviously doesn't care about over-breeding issues."
- Edna_Overboard
Political Agenda
"I dated a girl who full-out admitted that she was dating me (a POC) to look progressive."
- palinsafterbirth
"I bet she also has a pet gay friend."
- Abyssurd
"As a woman who has a gay male best friend, I (and he) absolutely hate when people consider someone their 'gay best friend.' He's one of my best friends who happens to be gay."
"I didn't know he was gay when we became friends, I was actually the first person he told, when we were in our 20s! I'm not friends with him because he's gay, and him being gay isn't the defining factor of who he is."
- CatherineConstance
"My best friend does happen to be a sassy gay Black man, but we've been friends since elementary school (30+ years, now), and he is NOT a collectible."
- Grave_Girl
No Car Guys Allowed
"I met a woman who confessed her hobby (restoring old cars) repulsed most men because it's 'not a feminine activity.'"
"Au contraire, I thought it was attractive as h**l, and we had lengthy conversations where I did some research, asked questions, listened her talk about her passion."
"She ended our exchanges when I casually told her I wasn't proficient with tools and tinkering (outside computers), her justification being 'a manly man knows how to use tools.'"
- Mediumaverageness
"My sister is big into car stuff and has a couple of project cars she works on. She will actively avoid dating any guy who is also into cars."
"According to her, 'car guys are the worst.' It irritates her that they'll always get mad if she knows more about a car than them. She would probably prefer a guy like you."
- Judge_Bredd3
More Of An Apple Person
"I had a work colleague reject a guy because he had a desktop PC. In hindsight, the dude dodged a bullet."
- SlickWillySillybilly
What Matters The Most
"I won’t date anyone that’s allergic to peanut butter. I’m not willing to give that up for any man."
- ReadySetTurtle
"I know people can't control their allergies, but that would be really difficult for me."
- Latter_Growth1185
From strange fixations on dating Asian people to setting unrealistic expectations that could keep a person single forever, there are certainly some strange things that people demand from other people. It's almost like they're collecting characteristics instead of dating a partner.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
