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30 in a month, never been in a relationship.

I blame shitty religion for ingrained a very toxic and twisted concept of relationships personally, and a 12 year mental break after my school life collapsed.

Financially, I'm in an okay position now. But, other problems arise that somewhat get in the way of feeling comfortable with myself, like dental. (Gender dysphoria is something I just have to live with).

Frankly, I just don't know where to even begin at this point.

I've read somewhere that going into your first relationship can be considered an important first act of self-determination (i.e. you choose your actions yourself). As such, it is important to teach people to take responsibility for their own actions, and to demonstrate that they even can take action in the first place.

Nowadays, of course, things are more complicated. If you're a man, you better not make the first step or risk being looked at as a "creep" - regardless of how true your feelings may be. If you're a girl, and flirting, idk? There's few precedents in media, girls aren't taught to take the initiative. So, everybody's waiting on the other one to make the first move.

Then there's a whole lot of economic considerations. Having children is expensive, and evolutionarily, it makes sense to not date/have sex/have children when you're already in a bad spot economically (e.g. low food supplies). So, lots of today's people still have that (subconscious) idea that dating is wrong because the economy is fucked. Well, the economy is fucked and people should have fewer children (considering economic analysis) but that doesn't mean that people should date less. In fact, flirting/dating is an important element of social coherence and can improve "knowing-your-neighbour" - which can drastically help society forming groups/unions of people to "fight back" against the oligarchy elite. Unfortunately, the people are too busy infighting (consider the "man vs bear" debate and the "toxic masculinity" gender struggles).

In other words, flirting/dating is decoupled from having children in today's society (queer relationships, contraceptives, abortions) and dating has an important cultural elements. It probably helps against loneliness, depression, and the isolation of the individual in the society. It facilitates cultural exchange and creates group/societal consciousness. All in all, it has positive "health" effects on society. It's no wonder that (billionaire-owned) "fashion magazines" and other ~~propaganda~~ news tries to split society apart by making men seem like all-assholes and sowing distrust among the people. Divide and Conquer, as the romans called it: First you divide your enemy into smaller pieces, then you digest them one-by-one. Class warfare has been disguised as an "women's rights movement" by enraging women against men, and it has worked too well for me to believe it, if i hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The people have been tricked and fooled into fighting one another, instead of looking up and fighting the rich. It's a "don't look up; kick sidewards" scheme. And it's destroying society. Young people grow up to be full of anxiety, barely able to speak to one another, and it's not smartphone's fault, it's because they have been taught that normal human interactions are a crime, and that you better not do something stupid. I'd be surprised if today's youth will be anything but a nervous wreck in 20 years, if things continue as they are. Instead of focusing on reality and tackling the real problems, we're killing our instincts like insects. Probably the insects are indeed a good metaphor for our sexuality: Not only are we looking at them like a plague, we're also taking very effective action to eliminate them altogether from society. I also have more to say, but spare me the hassle. It's already a lot that i've said, though not enough. I'm thoroughly angry.

I don't think it's a bad thing, and I wouldn't call it a "rite of passage."

It seems like our culture has historically put a lot of emphasis on relationships. For example, one of my older friends (Gen X) used to be treated like he was broken or pitiful because he was single into his thirties. There has been a cultural shift toward the acceptability of singleness, which is much healthier in my opinion.

And on an anecdotal level, I think people are smart to wait until they're older. I made a lot of regrettable mistakes in my younger relationships that I would not have made had I waited a bit. Not saying that nobody should have relationships when they're young, but no one should be pressured into it.

My teenage daughter talks to me and my wife about her crushes, but she has no interest in further exploring them.

I wonder how much of it is silent undiagnosed depression. Lack of desire for dating from such depression?

Life sucks, the future looks really bleak for the young, billionaire exploiters are taking over, etc, etc. What are their prospects, if they can't become wealthy being their own boss as a social media influencer? Work a 9-5 till death to make a billionaire rich?

I dont know at all, just speculating if this could be part of it.

I remember my father and everyone else on both sides of my family giving so much crap for not being in a teen relationship. Like bruh, did you see the selection pool of my school? More red flags than China. I look back with 0 regrets.

I can't say since I'm an older millennial. Back in the day it was tough to find mates. So when personalities clashed, we try out best to reconciled or try to figure things out before breaking up.

I have younger friends who can't find a stable relationship because the second there is a slight conflict, they can find another person, in some cases on the day of the breakup.

My younger friends is constantly ina perpetual honeymoon phase. Never figuring out how to figure out conflicts and disagreement.

I'm 17yo and hadn't really had time to think about this stuff. I guess it'll just happen someday, I don't think that's a "rite of passage" tho, just something I want to explore someday.