Conventional wisdom (unless you listen to pickup artists, in which case it’s unconventional stupidity of course) goes that it’s preferable to present your true self to your date. And certainly to your partner in a relationship. But wisdom and practice are two different pair of shoes, and sometimes life (well, we) has a habit of deviating from the ideal. How much of your true self do you present to people you’re interested in? Are you somebody who’s rather quick to open up about who you truly are, or does it take a while to coax you out of your shell? If so, what do you present to your person in the meantime? Or going further than being slow to open up, do you ever deceive them — either by outright lies or lies of omission? Are you in a long-term relationship and there is still stuff your partner believes about you that is incorrect for some reason? And so on, and so forth.

As always, anything related to dating, relationships, intimacy and so on is fair game and welcome.

And of course, as usual: This is supposed to be a space to talk about intimacy and sex and relationships in safety, so don’t shame people for their kinks. But please also refrain from objectification and similarly problematic behavior. People are supposed to feel safe and comfortable here.

Have fun!