Hi! I (21M) recently developed a lot of tender feelings towards the idea of a particular kind of relationship lately.

For many years, I knew that I was heterosexual, but I never felt any romantic spark that made me want to actually pursue a relationship. Eventually, I assumed that I wasn’t interested, but a part of me always wondered if I was wrong.

One day, I got bored and tried to imagine a hypothetical relationship that would feel wonderful and natural for me, irrespective of societal norms. After hours of roleplaying hypothetical scenarios and writing down what made my heart the most happy, I finally settled upon a coherent vision for a theoretical partner.

She’d be really sweet and loving, but the twist is that she’d often take lead over me. She’d be on the confident and assertive side and would totally break my brain. She would often initiate affection unexpectedly, and I’d get all flustered and totally melt for her. She would adore my softness instead of expecting me to suppress it. She would call me cute nicknames like “Cupcake” or “Pumpkin”, and I would feel very comfortable and safe with her.

This blew my mind because it went against everything I thought hetero relationships were. And yet, I responded so strongly to it. I began searching to see if anyone else felt this way and I found “role reversal,” a term referring to the inversion of traditional heterosexual relationship dynamics. I found a role reversal community and it had the most adorable art I’ve ever seen and perfectly encapsulated what I wanted. (Some of this content can be found on Lemmy at !rolereversal@lemmy.ml. I love this post in particular. Honestly, I’m thinking of reviving it and posting content there myself!)

A day later, I woke up with constant euphoria and a nonstop firehose of vivid romantic fantasies. It lasted all day, every day. For 10 days straight. My feelings were so intense that I barely ate anything and only slept for 3-4 hours a night without getting tired.

Those fantasies not only showed me how wonderful a relationship would feel, but also that I myself would want to be very affectionate and adaptive to my partner’s needs, not just my own. I was enamored with the idea of being the sweetest, most loving boyfriend I could be for her. It wasn’t long before I wanted a relationship like this more than anything else.

In retrospect, perhaps it’s unsurprising that my ideal relationship would be nontraditional. After all, I have spent my whole life fighting masculine gender expectations. I’m super outwardly emotional, I love to make people happy, I’m very gentle, I love adorable things, and I make myself look cute, nerdy, and non-threatening. I loved it when some of my female friends called me adorable and gave me cute nicknames, and I was full of admiration and gratitude when one of them physically protected me.

I feel like the phenomenon of role-reversed relationships is likely more common than the actual usage of the term. But perhaps I’m still a bit of a unicorn. So, what do you think? Have you seen relationships like this in the wild? Have you known about these dynamics, or are they unfamiliar to you? I’d like to know your thoughts!

  • LibbEnglish
    18·
    3 months ago

    it’s not that uncommon, What you call role reversing is quite normal for many persons and is no reversal at all.

    Just don’t fall for the trap of thinking people need to be this or that, depending their gender. More often than not, people are a mix. Which make them so much more interesting to meet and learn to know. Imho ;)

    My spouse (we’re both 50+ and have been together for 25 years) is assertive and not the romantic kind (if you want to get slapped in the face try offering her flowers) but I am romantic (like, really) and ,yep, I do like flowers (I’m the one buying flowers to decorate our place). It happens I’m also as assertive as she is and we both have or had jobs with lots of responsibilities — ‘had’, because in my case I retired a few years ago from that job and decided to live a much simpler life, whereas my wife still works for a large corporation and still works with a small army of people).

    Then, next to that, there is also the more or less extreme version of… let’s call it ‘gender role reversal’ for lack of a better word whereas one should in reality understand a ‘gender cliché reversal’. Where the supposed ‘male figure’ will be a dominant woman and the ‘feminine one’ will be a weak/gentle/soft male. More often than not, it will err on the side of fetishism eroticism and, that should not be a surprise, there is also a lot of erotica/sex business around that kind of role ‘reversal’ for the obvious reason that it sells. Which means that enough people are into it to make it a profitable business… much more people (male and female) than will dare to admit it ;)

    So, what do you think? Have you seen relationships like this in the wild? Have you known about these dynamics, or are they unfamiliar to you? I’d like to know your thoughts!

    If I could give you an advice iy would be to go meet different kind of people. Imho, it would help you realize men are not just ‘male’ and harsh and women are not just ‘soft’ and romantic.

    Those fantasies not only showed me how wonderful a relationship would feel, but also that I myself would want to be very affectionate and adaptive to my partner’s needs, not just my own.

    Isn’t it what a (working) relationship is supposed to be for both parties in a couple? Be affectionate and attentive to the other’s needs not just one’s own?

    Don’t be afraid of your ‘fantasy’. Imho, don’t be afraid to not call it a fantasy. The moment you try to meet people for who they are and not who you want them to be you will be surprised how… rich (and understanding) some of them can be. Not all of them.