Dating : Women, how do you feel about dating a working class man in a skilled trade rather than a professional?
I have a bachelor’s degree, but I’ve found it to be not worth the paper it was written on. I tried to self learn coding, but it’s very difficult to get a job that way it seems. I’ve spent years trying to get some sort of professional job, in part because I feel like professional jobs just have more social cachet and there is a stigma associated with working class jobs, even though many of them actually pay better than lower end white collar jobs. (and I think there are factual data points that back this up)
Anyways now that I’ve accepted my station as working class I’ve started an apprenticeship program and I should be making pretty solid money in a few months, maybe someday own my own company.
I have a great appreciation for anyone who is a skilled trade worker. I actually find it more attractive than a man with a professional job. Capability is an extremely attractive trait.
I love it! Plumber’s Mrs here, and he’s lush. My ex was a business development engineer and a bit of a pretencious arse, and his office friends were worse. You go for it. Anyone who cares about your career field (unless you club baby seals for cash or something) you don’t need to be messing with. Good luck. ❤️
It just depends how driven you are. My biggest gripe with “blue collar” is when they have no ambitions. The fact you know your roadmap and working towards something, is a large attraction. Especially to women with careers. Congrats on the move, I know the feeling of “corporate burnout” :/
It all depends on the big picture, such as how that works out for you being able to support yourself, save money and your goals, such as wanting to buy a home. Lots of times working with things can get you closer to your goals than working in an office setting. And there is a lot of knowledge that goes behind working with things.
I don’t have a preference, what matters to me is his personality. I’ve met « professionals » who can be ignorant, ugly people on the inside, one lawyer in particular, so it doesn’t impress me anymore.
On the flip side, some men will typically date and marry women who are slim to maintain appearances, but are actually attracted to women who are not slim.
We limit ourselves and our happiness when we follow these preconceived ideas.
As long as he can pay his fair share of the bills and is proud of a job well done, I don’t care what he does for a living. If he’s a slacker he will be a slacker if he is a banker or a carpenter.
To me, it doesn’t matter about the job, so long as the person I’m with cares about their work, does their work well, and has ambition. Likewise, I’ve known trades people that like things considered “high brow” (museums, classical music), and white collar folks that like things considered “low brow.” And if I can find someone that likes similar things, regardless of job, then what they do for a living doesn’t matter to me.
Guess what, you ARE a professional.
To give a different, perhaps unpopular, response, I find it really off-putting when people (in general, not just men I’m seeking to date) stake their self-worth in their job and/or their money, regardless of their class. I say this a PhD student who was once a teacher and grew up in a middle-middle class family (not lower, not upper) with a military background.
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I don’t believe money and ladder climbing is the point of life. I don’t think software engineers should make 250k while social workers struggle to get by. This is not to say that I wouldn’t date a software engineer (I have went on dates with a few with varying degrees of success), but if they’ve drank the Kool-Aid and think they’re doing the most incredible work ever and don’t see any BS or injustice in it all, NEXT.
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I do not hold the stereotypical professional and upper middle class lifestyle on a pedestal. I instantly swipe left on people who are obviously very into showing you what material goods they have and what vacations they can afford. A big no for materialism and a bougie lifestyle or even bougie aspirations. Unfortunately, since this is the status quo aspiration of the Western world, it’s not only a class problem. Obviously people need money to live, but there are so many other things that have such greater value. If you have no ambitions outside of making more money, climbing the ladder, and/or gaining social and entrepreneurial cache, I find this very depressing.
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With that said, what struck me about your description of your situation is that it seems like you aim to live the middle class lifestyle but happen to work a blue collar job. This can certainly be done and it probably makes you appealing to a broader swath of women than a working class lifestyle. I guess I just want to throw it out there that it could be this equating of money with success, and not your job or class, that could be off-putting to some women (like me).
My ex was an engineer for a top tech company and had zero ambition. Just wanted to be a minion. The guy I’m dating now (the man of my dreams) works for the hemp industry and has life goals/ambition. That’s attractive to me.
It shouldn’t be a problem. It’s more about being a stand-up guy with a good work ethic.
Read an interesting article a few years about blue collar millionaires. [Not exactly this article ](https://invoice.2go.com/blog/small-business/highest-earning-industries-us-blue-collar-tops-list/) but same sentiment.
The working class lifestyle is quite different from the middle class lifestyle. It’s not just a difference of money. There are differences in every aspect of how you live your life. A person who wishes to live in the middle class lifestyle should date people in the middle class, and not working class; and people who want to live in the working class should date in the working class.
I can appreciate it from a friend perspective, but not from someone I’d potentially want to date.
I’m finishing up a graduate degree, and in a few years I plan on getting a doctorate. And most in my family have accomplished something similar.
So I’m personally really only attracted/interested in someone with similar aspirations.