The 24 Year Old Project

Stop taking what I say out of context and let me explain.

Before you get into your usual assumptions, let me take out the fire before it starts. I am not in love with Joyce Lee. What I said the last time, it wasn't in a completely romantic context. I mean, yeah, sure, I am interested in her but only as a guy who just met a girl who has completely shattered most of my expectations. I actually like being friends with her and letting our relationship stay that way. Can't a guy like someone enough for them to stay friends?

Whoa. That's something I never thought I'd say in my lifetime. I always believed that men and women can't be platonic friends, that someone will always drop the ball and fall in love with the other. Maybe it is like that, that Joyce might fall in love with me, which is highly unlikely. Or I might fall in love with Joyce, which is much more likely to be honest. But no, that's not going to happen. Pride is one thing, but to feel extremely emasculated by the fact that she's living life better than me sucks.

Let's talk about that for a second, maybe not about gender equality, but what makes a man feel like a man. Since the dawn of time, man has been wired to be the provider. We hunt for our women, and our women serve us after a tiring day of hunting. I don't know if blowjobs were a thing during the caveman times, but I'm pretty sure that if it was a thing, that'd be man's special reward after the meal. Forgive my crass storytelling; I just feel like there's a need for explicit humor these days... I'll explain later.

So anyway, going back to my point, society has made this imbalance in gender expectations way before society was comprehensible to humans. Think about it though; is it really an imbalance if this is what we're programmed to do? Or have we reached a point in human history where our genetic markings provided us with the ability to evolve beyond what society expects? Not that I'm giving sole credit to our genes, but it's a better basis for evolution, is it not? I'm not expert, but we clearly have evolved to an extent where we, as humans, need to be progressive for the sake of society's stability.

I'm clearly losing my point... I'll keep it short and simple then.

Girl is famous, girl travels a lot, and girl's financial stability is through the roof. Guy is unremarkable, guy is technically a slave, and guy's financial stability is as unremarkable as him. Guy like girl, but guy feels he can't be a man who can keep up with her success. It's not like the guy is intimidated, nor does he need motivation to be better. This social stigma has always been present in our present society, and it's quite hard to just accept it but easier to let it be as long as it doesn't affect us... until it does, which makes it a difficult cycle to get off of.

Alright, I'll need to be more specific. Let's say that I am in love with Joyce, but she doesn't love me back, that's the end of it, right? Now let's say that Joyce is in love with me, but I don't love her back because I can't match her success; I'm being stupid now, right? Now let's say that Joyce and I are in love with each other and we don't let society define our relationship, perfect scenario right? Except that nothing is truly perfect.

Now you might be saying that this cynical prick who's the lead in this story is no one interesting. You might be all going "Aw man, this Mason dude is a choosy douche who just can't be comfortable with his own masculinity." One thing I've learned in my days of watching a bunch of crime shows is that you can't just openly conclude something you haven't understood yet. I have more than a ton of issues in my life that need solving, and I complain a lot about it. The fact of the matter is I am just like everyone else. So take this part of my story as the semi-introduction combined a few flashbacks part

Hi, I'm Mason Gonzales! I'm 24 years old, an executive assistant to a music producer (notice how I use the word 'executive' as a euphemism to how I perceive my job). I'm currently single, not looking for anything serious. I am exceptional at being bored, unremarkable, and weird. I read a lot of novels, comic books, and men's magazines. I only use Facebook as my sole social media app, and I am brilliant with taking awful selfies. I play video games and sports just like a normal Filipino guy would. And I am passionate about long talks in the beach (not really), and beer drinking in the garden (really).

My friends say that I reached the summit of my sex life way too early, and that I was wrong to combine it with serious relationships. I have had four serious girlfriends since I was 15 years old, and had multiple sex partners who I haven't gotten into a relationship with. I have never cheated on a girlfriend, nor have I had myself a threesome. I've been single since I was 21 years old, and I vowed not to get into a serious relationship until I am certain that she is the last one. Don't get me wrong though, I've been dating every once in a while but nothing ever serious comes into fruition. It's either I get tired of it way too easily or vice versa, or the girl that I really want to be in a serious relationship with doesn't want to be in a relationship with me.

Seeing the unhappy, insecure, and downright depressing (for us readers) posts we see on our news feed in Facebook of girls, and occasionally dudes, complaining about their current relationship statuses. I see that as a form of whining if you tell everyone that you have a happier single life than your ex, or if you constantly post hurtful poems of pages like "berlin-artparasites" or "Poems Porn". If you're a Facebook friend, you're welcome to tell me to unfollow or unfriend you; I won't though, because believe it or not, we are similar in some way. I just don't use my Facebook timeline as my diary. Not anymore, at least.

I'm not a total ass when it comes to happy relationships. Most of my friends are in serious relationships, or are already married. I support them wholeheartedly. Let me go through my own pace; let me discover things I haven't discovered yet. After all, this is what the "24 Year Old Project" is about. An autobiography of sorts, with tons of flashbacks and unpopular opinions about the world we live in. If you're expecting for a love story, or maybe a twist ending where I get taken into a new galaxy and be a Jedi (although that would rock), I apologize in advance.

This is the life of Mason Gonzales, not yours. Deal with it.