I think it's a normal thing for a person's opinion of people as whole to gradually lower as they get older. As time goes on, you've dealt with enough people to notice a pattern, and that's why we have certain beliefs about certain things. If you've been around fire enough to know that it's hot and that it burns, you know better than to act stupid around fire and put your head inside it. If not, then you get what you asked for, and you can't blame anybody else except for yourself.
That said, I believe there's great women out there. Do I believe society has a big role to play in everything? Yes, and that's why it's important to set boundaries for yourself, I think. You can't let the world and the collective consciousness shape how you think, because you'll end up caring about things that are shallow in nature. I don't like anything about Love and Hip Hop and the entire Reality TV format, due to the negativity and drama that it thrives off of. I'm also not a fan of the obsession with social media that's commonplace right now, because it teaches people to seek validation in imaginary numbers and external validation instead of seeking self-love within themselves. Given those two facts alone, I can tell that I'm probably not going to be a match with someone who's on IG or SnapChat all the time (and it's not for constructive reasons) and finds drama and confrontation thrilling. But that's just me.
I completely understand why there's so much cynicism, though. I don't think it's wrong, but I think it's a matter of perspective as well. Good character as a whole is highly valued for a reason. All I know is, there's plenty of people out there happily married and made it to 90, so I know there's at least SOME hope out there.
