Ep. 105: Single & Dating Like Cats

[00:03] Episode Preview: Sex Dolls, Robots & Relationships

Host: Dr. Kanwal Bawa | Guest: Sebas Peñaranda | Runtime: 33:09 | Published: December 5, 2023

Dr. Bawa: I'm not against a sex doll or a sex robot if they are used for entertainment. If a man or a woman decides, you know what, I want to have some fun with a doll. Have at it. You know, you think Tom Brady's handsome? You want to turn Tom Brady into your sex robot? Hey, I get that. You know? I get it.

Sebas: Uh-huh.

Dr. Bawa: So sorry, Tom. But my point is that it's okay in that sense, in my mind. But when you start to call that a relationship, now you have a problem.

[00:25] Welcome: Singles in America

Dr. Bawa: Welcome to America's number one sexuality podcast, Dr. Sex Fairy. I am Dr. Kanwal Bawa, America's favorite sex doctor, and I am here to transform your life. The Dr. Sex Fairy Podcast is now both audio and video, so don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, Dr. Sex Fairy, as well as subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today we are going to discuss some alarming facts from the January 2023 Singles in America survey about singles of all ages, especially Gen Z. Here are a few. 117.6 million Americans, or 46% of those aged 18 and over, are single....

Dr. Bawa: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a quarter of Americans, including 35% of Gen Z and 30% of boomers, say, “I am not looking for a relationship.” 8 in 10 Americans believe that finding the right partner is harder than finding the right job. 6 in 10 singles say that dating is becoming an unaffordable luxury. While we don't need a relationship to feel complete, human beings aren't meant to be alone. Joining me to discuss this major shift in perspective is Sebas Peñaranda, host of the podcast The Sebas Perspective. Welcome back to the Dr. Sex Fairy Podcast, Sebas.

Sebas: It's amazing to be back, honestly. It's a great podcast, and I can't wait to continue the conversation.

Dr. Bawa: That's great. And this time you're on video.

Sebas: This is my first time on video on this podcast. Before, I think we've done it twice on audio only.

[02:30] Generational Categories

Dr. Bawa: On audio only, yes, yes. Back in the dark ages of this podcast. Yes, absolutely. So before we go any further, I'm just going to clarify what these generational categories are. For instance, Gen Z: this is somebody born from 1996 to 2015; millennials, from 1977 to 1995; Gen X, 1965 to 1976; and baby boomers, from 1946 to 1964. I can never keep them straight.

Sebas: Honestly, I keep millennial and Gen Z pretty much tattooed to my brain, because that's all you hear whenever you turn on the TV. We're in an election year. So obviously you're going to hear those terms very often nowadays.

[03:12] Is Dating Becoming an Unaffordable Luxury?

Dr. Bawa: 61% of Americans think that dating is an unaffordable luxury. What do you think?

Sebas: I think at this point in the economic cycle, I would definitely say so. We are at the bottom of an economic cycle. So everything is going up when it comes to prices except for wages. Most people nowadays are having to move back in with their parents. I've seen statistics that over half of single people are trying to move back in with their parents. So obviously you have the economic factor, but you also have the social stigma of, “Hey, I would love to be in a relationship. I would love to get a partner. I would love to connect with someone. However, there is a social barrier of, ‘Hey, I can't really bring someone to my parents' house because either, one, I'm not ready for that, or, two, I would think that would just make them uncomfortable or maybe scare them off. It's only a second date, and you're coming over to my mom's house or my father's house. It's not really the best look.’” So I would say that right now it's definitely becoming unaffordable. But I also think that just means that people aren't doing what they have to do outside of dating. They aren't working on themselves. They aren't trying to increase their value in terms of economic value, social value. Maybe a lot of people don't focus on their fitness. So I think that a lot of people who maybe are feeling like that should look in the mirror first and try to address those areas. Then maybe the dating will come secondary after they already have those areas addressed.

[04:34] Gen Z, Online Dating & Dating Fatigue

Dr. Bawa: We've spoken previously about online dating and that whole difficulty straddling different worlds, as it were. This survey literally says that 44% of Gen Z say, “I'd rather clean the toilet than go on another date.” I find that deeply disturbing.

Sebas: I could see why. I would say that most of the people that are likely feeling like that are feeling like that because online dating nowadays really serves one purpose, right? And that's really a reflection of the society that allows the online dating to become that, which means a portal just for sexual activity. That's really what a lot of people just hop on there for. They go, they want to find some easy sexual pleasure, some easy sexual gratification. So they go on the application, they get what they want, but then the hole that they have is still there, right? So they keep trying to find and fill that hole on the same place without changing anything. So I don't think online dating is anything bad. I've done it, I've had great girlfriends because of it, good relationships, good connections, good memories. And I think that if people just come in with a good mindset of, okay, I know what I want, then I think online dating could be beneficial. But the problem is most people don't do that.

Dr. Bawa: I've seen quite a few couples that have found love on dating apps.

Sebas: It's very possible. Very possible. I'm one myself. I found love. It was great. It didn't work out in the end, but it was still a great experience. But most people, when I tell them that story, they're like, “What? How is that possible that you found a girlfriend on online dating?” I said, “Well, if you come in with good intentions, I don't think it's that difficult.”

[06:12] Why Finding the Right Partner Feels So Hard

Dr. Bawa: 79% of Americans think that finding the right partner is harder than finding the right job. Your thoughts?

Sebas: I would say that most people nowadays are lacking one big thing, which is purpose. Purpose in their life, right? They can't find purpose in their family, they can't find purpose in their job, they can't find purpose in their surroundings. So a lot of those people have holes in their life. Most people have holes, and those holes cause insecurities. And those insecurities, therefore, lead you to want to find someone to fix those insecurities for you instead of you fixing them yourself. So finding the right partner really comes down to what are you looking for? And what does the right partner mean for you? What are your needs? What do you value? For me, a great partner would be a woman that could be a good mother, but some people don't want to have kids. Some people don't care about the family aspect, but an individual like me does. So I think that finding the right partner is really an arbitrary question. Because what do you mean by a good partner? What's a good partner for you? What are your needs? The needs of a 25-year-old are very different than the needs of a 45-year-old in terms of what they're looking for and what they need.

[07:42] Rubber Bands, Insecurities & What Holds People Back

Sebas: And before you can even get to that point of finding out what you need, first I think most people should figure out what's wrong with them, right? What's holding them back? If you take a rubber band and you try to separate it together like this, eventually the stretch is going to hurt your fingers and you won't be able to break. It's going to cause resistance. That little rubber band is most people's issues, most people's problems, most people's anchors. That could be the job that you hate, that you work for a horrible wage. It doesn't give you happiness and doesn't give you any purpose. It could be the family that disapproves of every decision that you make and that doesn't give you any confidence in your ability to achieve something greater than you have set out for yourself. It could be the friends that are constantly bad mouthing you, or just the people around your life that don't give you any sort of motivation to step outside of your shell and become a little bit more uncomfortable. So I think until people can figure out those rubber bands in their life that are holding them back, they won't be able to find the ideal partner because they'll just be looking for someone to fix the issues that they have instead of looking for someone for the right reasons, which is to complement what they already bring to the table, them as an individual. “I bring this, and I'm looking for someone to complement what I already bring so we can unite, become one, and then make one family.” That should really be the end goal of most states or most marriages. It should be create something new that doesn't already exist. That's the whole purpose of love. So the people who say that they can't find the right partner, one, maybe they're not looking in the right place. But two, most importantly, I think they're not looking hard enough in the mirror to figure out what they really need.

[09:09] Monogamy, Polyamory & Fear of Commitment

Dr. Bawa: Some people aren't even looking for a monogamous relationship. They're looking to play the field. And you see that with the rise of polyamorous relationships, with a lot of these, you know, it's complicated type relationships where they're not really committing. They don't want to commit.

Sebas: I think a lot of that comes from fear. Fear of, “Okay, if I truly do commit, either one or two things happen.” Either one, I'm missing out on more fields to find. Or two, I am scared of getting more heartbroken because I've already had my heart broken in the past. So I think a lot of people take that baggage that they've established with other individuals and they continue it with new people. And you could find a great person that has no baggage, but you combine them with a person who does, and then they end up damaging that individual. And then the cycle just continues over and over and over across all of society. So I think that people should take a risk, right? Nothing that is safe is worthwhile. Right. Any individual who has been written in a history book took some sort of risk. Individuals like Abraham Lincoln, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, and so on and so forth all took risks of their time. And every single one of us takes a risk every single day by interacting with people, by having conversations, by seeing who we like and who we don't like, and most importantly, by being vulnerable with certain kinds of people. I think the individual that you could find yourself being vulnerable with is truly an individual worthwhile. But some people, like you said, don't want that. They don't want that monogamous relationship. They want the multiple individuals, the endless sex. But I think a lot of those individuals are really just lacking an individual that they can be vulnerable with.

[10:56] Virtual Reality Relationships

Dr. Bawa: You know, the other problem that I see in society right now, something that really boggles my mind, is that the very concept of sex has changed. Because now people have virtual reality relationships. I thought I was being punked when somebody first told me that they knew somebody in a VR relationship. I said, what is a VR relationship? I really didn't know. And they looked at me like I was really very naive. I guess I was.

Sebas: I'm also naive because I've never heard of VR relationships.

Dr. Bawa: I've heard of a virtual reality girlfriend. But people are in relationships, quote-unquote, with VR people. So with the rise of artificial intelligence and whatnot, you could in theory put on a virtual headset and have a woman talk to you or a man talk to you, whichever, you know, whichever way, whatever floats your boat. And you can convince yourself that's a person, that you are in a real relationship. But what could be further from the truth? You're not in a relationship. No way. So we need to you know, it's one of those situations I think where we're almost afraid to call out craziness for what it is.

Sebas: 100%.

[12:00] Sex Dolls, Sex Robots & What Counts as a Relationship

Dr. Bawa: And I'm sure there are people who leave me nasty reviews for saying this, but I'm sorry, that's not a relationship. That's a game. Since when did games become your reality? It's like games which have crime in them. People say, “Well, I don't become a criminal just because I'm playing Grand Theft Auto or something like that.” Okay, but you're in love because you have a VR girlfriend. I'm confused. How does that make any sense? And there's also quite a rise of sex dolls. They're not a new concept, but now they have gone to a whole other level. Now you have robots, sex robots that will talk to you. I have read stories about people who have a sex robot wife or a sex doll wife, and they take, they literally take this doll out of places. I cannot make that up. I could not believe it. I read in Daily Mail, I was shocked. Like these people are serious about this. So, in a world where you can have a sex doll and take her to a restaurant and be completely okay with it. Well, clearly your concept of a relationship is perhaps very different from what my concept is or what your concept is. So I guess they would want to poke their eyes out, Or, as I read—one second, let me tell you. 30% of Gen Z said they'd rather walk on hot coals than go on another online date. Well, why would you need to? You have a sex doll.

[13:27] Fear, Control & Escaping Reality

Sebas: Yeah, I think that everything you just said puts one word in my mind, which is fear. All these individuals are terrified of human interaction. They're terrified of the risk of rejection. And to save themselves from that anxiety, they find something that they can control 100%. Artificial intelligence will tell you what you want to hear, right? a sex doll will let you get whatever sexual desire you want, right? Because you can control it 100%. But that fear of being out of control, which is where love comes in, right? Because a lot of times it can be uncontrollable. The emotion is so strong. I think that a lot of people are afraid of that.

[14:35] When Escapism Replaces Human Connection

Sebas: And also, a lot of people would rather escape reality than live in the reality that they're in. We're in a time in the world where rewarding mental illness is seen as a virtuous concept, as something that we should do, as something that we should encourage when that's further from the truth. We should never encourage mental illness to rise in the levels and skills of society and rewarding people for bogus behavior. So a lot of these people, one, they need help, right? They genuinely need someone to come into life and say, “Hey, what are you doing?” Right? This isn't normal. This isn't right. There's better ways to live your life than to hide away in a reality that doesn't exist, right? Whether it's the virtual reality, whether it's a prop, whether it's with a toy or a video game. It's a reality that doesn't exist, right? And instead of trying to live a life that doesn't exist, you should focus on making the life you currently have become one. Because what happens? A lot of these people, they do that now, but they're going to grow old one day, right? One day they're going to be 70, 75, alone, no family, no descendants, no one to take care of them. They're going to see all of their other neighbors talk about how their grandkids and their great-grandkids and their children are going to come visit them. And then they're just going to be alone with no one to talk to.

Dr. Bawa: They have the sex doll. They're not talking about it.

Sebas: They have the sex doll, but the sex doll can only take you so far. It can only let the lust in your mind go to a certain point before that real loneliness starts coming back in.

[15:54] Culture, Family & Pseudo-Relationships

Dr. Bawa: Well, you know, we've talked about this before because you know, we're friends off this platform anyway, but we've talked about how our cultures are very similar because you come from a Latin culture, you come from an Indian culture, very pro-family, very pro-long-term relationships. Oh, yes. So for us, in some ways, it's harder to wrap our brains around some of these pseudo-relationships that some may say, how can you call them pseudo-relationships? They're real to me, perhaps, but that's not a human being. So to me, that's not a real relationship.

[16:27] Cast Away, Wilson & Objective Reality

Sebas: I remember a movie long time ago called Cast Away with Tom Hanks.

Dr. Bawa: Yes, great movie.

Sebas: Great movie, great movie. In the movie, however, it talks about how Tom Hanks has a volleyball, right? And it becomes a real friend to him, right? But at the end of the day, it was just a volleyball, right? So people could try to put their own perception on reality, on inanimate objects, or on certain things, but you can't force people to see your own version of reality when there's a thing called objective truth. So the objective truth is this thing isn't alive, right? And it doesn't matter how much you try to convince people it's alive, it's not alive.

Dr. Bawa: You can give it a name.

Sebas: You give it a name. Give it a name. I'm going to call this chair I'm sitting on right now Willie. I'm going to call this other part of it Free. I'm going to combine it, and now it's Free Willy, and it's my pet.

[17:21] Sex Dolls as a Coping Mechanism

Dr. Bawa: I think a lot of this is that the sex doll or the robot or the, you know, the virtual reality girlfriend is a coping mechanism. So you can't handle the fact that you're alone, that perhaps you're an introvert, or maybe you had some real psychological dilemma growing up that hasn't really been processed fully, that you haven't sought any help for, either because you were embarrassed or because it simply wasn't available to you growing up or in, you know, your adulthood. So you are using that to disregard what's really going wrong in your life or that has gone wrong in your life in the past. So I'm not against a sex doll or a sex robot if they are used for entertainment. If a man or a woman decides, “You know what? I want to have some fun with a doll.” Have at it. You know, you think Tom Brady's handsome, you want to turn Tom Brady into your sex robot? Hey, I get that. You know, I get it.

Sebas: Uh-huh.

Dr. Bawa: So sorry, Tom. But my point is that it's okay in that sense, in my mind. But when you start to call that a relationship, now you have a problem.

[18:33] Words, Language & Redefining Relationships

Sebas: Yeah, because words mean things. Words have very powerful uses, right? It's why for a long time, right, many empires, the way that they would control their subjects would be through education, right? Through language, because words have meaning. So the issue of today is we try to change the meaning of words to suit things that do not apply to those words. And then we force the change of language to therefore apply to a change in culture. And there we have things like, like you said, the sex dolls, the pseudo-relationships. In 10 years from now, next thing we know, we're going to start saying that stuffed animals are our real pets.

Dr. Bawa: Well, they are easier than real pets, aren't they? Just like the sex doll is easier than a real girlfriend.

Sebas: And that's really, I think, the culmination of the issue. It's easy, it's controllable. You don't have to deal with any issues, you don't have to deal with any fights, you don't have to deal with trying to please anyone else. It's all about you. It's all about you, what you want, your desires, etc. You don't have to think about anybody else. And I think that's where the big disconnect here is, is that's not real love. That's not a true relationship. A relationship is between two individuals, right? Some people might try to say polyamorous, et cetera. Oh, I'm a man, but I have four, five, six, seven women that I love and that I care for and that please me, right? But they don't, those women don't love each other. They love you. And you care about those women, right? It's a two-way street every single time, right? It can't just be all about one individual, right? Because then you have not a relationship, right? But more of a situation. Yeah, or I was going to say more like a slave master kind of situation where like you please me, and I don't care about anything that you do.

[20:32] Sister Wives & Polyamory

Dr. Bawa: Have you seen that show, Sister Wives?

Sebas: Never seen it.

Dr. Bawa: Okay, well, yeah, firstly you didn't miss much, but there was this guy, he had four wives.

Sebas: Uh-huh.

Dr. Bawa: He had three to begin with, I think, when the show began, and then he got number four. And for the longest time, they made it appear like everything was kumbaya, everybody was getting along. Small issues, but mostly a united front. Now that family has fallen apart, smashed into smithereens, and you see the cracks that were always there, despite what they wanted you to think.

Sebas: Yeah, because that the polyamorous model isn't sustainable for society, right? it isn't sustainable for kids to grow up in a house with 10 or 12 different half siblings, right? One father and multiple different women all around them. That's not sustainable, right? Because imagine if every single individual did that, right? How would you rule a society like that? How would you deal with taxes? You know, how would you deal with education at school? Where is the morality coming in, right? Morality is being twisted. So I don't think that polyamorous relationships are really useful for long term aspects. Maybe they're fun, right?

Dr. Bawa: I'm assuming they bring the spice into it.

Sebas: Yeah, it'd be I'm assuming it'd be very fun, you know, to go around and fulfill every deviant desire that your brain can conjure.

Dr. Bawa: Well, you're going to get me in trouble if you talk about polyamorous people as being deviants. You'll get me in trouble.

[22:02] Real Connection Requires Risk

Sebas: It's okay. I'm already in trouble myself. I'm the guilty one, okay? No, not her. Me. Yes. Come in my Colombian inbox, please. But at the end of the day, people need each other, right? They need a real connection and real relationships. And you can't find that behind a VR headset. You can't find that with a toy or a video game. And most importantly, you can't find that by just sitting at your house complaining that the world isn't fair, that the world sucks, and that not everything's in my control. Sometimes you guys have to take a little bit of risk.

[22:39] Relationships Take Work

Dr. Bawa: You know, my late father used to joke. He said, “I don't know how these men handle all these women. I have enough trouble just handling your mother.” He just said it seemed like a lot of work.

Sebas: Uh-huh. It is. It is, definitely. But most people don't want that work, right? They don't want it. They want the easy road. And I think also the fact that let's say divorces are so high nowadays is probably a reason for that. People are scared of like, “Hey, I don't want to get into a relationship, and then 10, 20 years down the line, someone just wakes up next to me and tells me they don't love me anymore.” Even though I gave them a lot of kids, even though I provided for them, or I did things for them, or I gave up my career for them. That's that fear, right? Fear is driving everything, so many individuals to make so many decisions that they wouldn't make normally if they were just thinking rationally. But because that fear is there.

Dr. Bawa: And boredom.

Sebas: Yeah, and boredom too. I mean, don't even get me started on the boredom. That's a whole different topic. But the fear, I think, drives a lot of people. But that's something that we have to change on a societal level. But all of societal changes start at one place and that's the house, right? At the dinner table, on the couch.

[23:52] Career Culture vs Family Connection

Dr. Bawa: But do you know that very often Americans are not even having dinner together as a family?

Sebas: Yeah, because again, they are so caught up on the environment, not environmental—the economic aspect of life. “I need to get the money to pay the bills. I need to get the money to pay for food. I need to pursue my career,” right? Here in the U.S., we're trained since we're little kids to think about our career. And we're taught to think about it since eighth grade. Hey, where are you going to go to high school? Because this certain high school is going to give you a better chance to go to a better college. Okay, now you're at high school. Which college are you going to go to? Certain colleges have better programs for ex-careers, medicine, law, economics, etc. And then you get to college. Okay, let me join certain clubs because that'll give me better opportunities to get a better job. And then you get to the job. Okay, now I have to do certain positions because that'd make me better for certain promotion. It's always a hierarchy aspect.

Dr. Bawa: Well, you know, I can understand working hard and always having that goal to achieve and all of that. Otherwise, I wouldn't be where I am because I had to get past a lot of competition to get into a good college and to get into a medical school, getting into a prestigious residency at the Cleveland Clinic. So it's a lot to go through to get there. But I think the enemy is not goals. I think the enemy is losing perspective of what's important ultimately.

Sebas: No, that's what I was going to say. It's never goals. Goals are essential. Working hard is essential; working very intelligently is also essential, and making the right decisions. But like you said, it's more about, “What are you working for? What's your purpose?” If you lose sight of that, you have nothing.

[25:36] Family, Cancer & Perspective

Dr. Bawa: Absolutely. And for me, it's always been family, and getting sick and almost dying of breast cancer didn't change my perspective at all. Some people think that maybe cancer made me more appreciative of family. Not really. I was already there. People think COVID was great in some ways. They think, “Oh, what did you get out of COVID? How did you benefit from COVID?” I said, “COVID sucked.” And they said, “But don't you think it brought you closer to family and loved ones?” I said, “If I needed COVID to bring me closer to them, man, I had a bad relationship with them to begin with.” So we all have such different points of view when it comes to that.

Sebas: I think it's because, like I said, the culture here in the U.S. is great in terms of pursuing the American dream, starting from the bottom, making it to the top, making it to the middle, etc. But I think it could be bad to be it's a it's a very hustler kind of culture where it's always work, work, work, work, work, work, work. But it's never, okay, let me go and let me spend time with my kids. Let me go, let me spend time with my husband or wife, let me go and let me spend time with my friends. We never take a break. Most people don't even take a break to eat lunch.

[26:49] The Sweetness of Doing Nothing

Dr. Bawa: Oh, absolutely. And I think I'm guilty of that sometimes. But, you know, the Italians have this concept of—and I may be mispronouncing it or missaying it—il dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing.

Sebas: Yep.

Dr. Bawa: We don't have that concept here in the U.S. We absolutely don't.

Sebas: We do not. We do not. It's about production. It's about results, right? Winning. Right. When I was in the military, we'd often hear a saying: “Second place is the first loser.”

Dr. Bawa: Right.

Sebas: So it drives that competitive aspect of, hey, you can't get second place because you're the first loser in everything. Second place isn't good enough. You have to be number one. And it's good to have that mindset. But you could also lose sight of what's important, like you said, and excess of anything could be very harmful to you.

Dr. Bawa: 100%. There has to be a balance in life.

[27:43] Balance, Competition & a Young Nation

Sebas: Absolutely. So I think the U.S. is still a young nation, right? I think right now we're going through a period of adolescence. And I think that most individuals are also going through that period of generational adolescence.

Dr. Bawa: Well said.

Sebas: We don't have everything figured out yet. Our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents had an easier path because things were a lot simpler, right? Survival, and that's it.

Dr. Bawa: And conventional gender roles.

Sebas: And conventional gender roles. Now, everyone is trying to figure out left or right, right or left, up and down. They're trying to go all sorts of different directions. But it all comes down to the basic point. Everyone's still trying to figure out who they are.

[28:30] Success, Dating & Insecurity

Dr. Bawa: I mean, I'll tell you honestly, people get very uncomfortable with what I do sometimes, and men especially. And the fact that I am successful at what I do makes them especially uncomfortable.

Sebas: It brings a certain insecurity because you being a successful woman, right, now you're in a higher echelon where either a man is at your level or he has to be higher. Right. Because women typically don't date down. They don't typically date down. They want someone who is at least on their level. A minimum. So that must make it very difficult for you finding a suitable partner, because that must bring out a lot of insecurity, right? Of, “Oh my goodness, she's so successful.” And then it makes them look in the mirror like, well, what am I doing? Right? We're the same age, but we're living two different complete lives. So that must be very difficult for you, honestly.

Dr. Bawa: It can be tricky.

[29:31] Unlimited Options & the Search for Perfection

Sebas: Absolutely. For me, not so much. We live in a world now where realistically you can get to any country on the planet very economically. very quickly. I remember looking at flights and looking at the fact that I could get from Miami, Florida, to Sydney, Australia in 24 hours, right? A day. A day, and I'm on the complete other side of the planet. What does that mean from a dating aspect? That means that now options are truly unlimited for people of my generation. That it's not just the individuals in your hometown anymore or in your home city or at your neighborhood school, right? It's now the entire planet. You go anywhere and potentially find someone that matches everything you want. So that is awesome, but that could also simultaneously be an issue because then you're trying to find that perfect person that checks off every single little thing. And the moment you find an individual that's great, fantastic, 10 out of 10 by some metrics, but doesn't check off one box, then you're not happy. You're not satisfied because you're trying to find that right, right person.

[30:37] Penguins, Cats & Dating for Life

Dr. Bawa: Nobody's perfect, and then no relationship is perfect. And I think that's where a lot of us are losing out. You know, this survey talked about penguins mating for life and cats finding their partners very disposable. I'm definitely a penguin. And unfortunately, we're living in a cat world.

Sebas: Yeah, we're living in a world of a bunch of individuals who are a little tense.

[31:02] Where to Find Sebas Peñaranda

Dr. Bawa: Anyway, Sebas, a great conversation as always. How can people find you?

Sebas: you can find me at The Sebas Perspective on Instagram. you could also look it up on Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts. I'm on pretty much all the social media networks you could find. So if you want to hear more controversial takes, if you want to hear a lot more thoughts and perspectives that might very well resonate with your own, go and check me out and we could have a great conversation.

Dr. Bawa: Well, thank you for being on the podcast again.

Sebas: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

[31:37] Recorded Outro

Dr. Bawa: It is clear that the landscape of relationships and dating is evolving, with more individuals, including a significant portion of Gen Z, expressing a lack of interest in pursuing relationships. Additionally, the increasing perception of dating as a costly endeavor only adds to the complexity of modern romantic connections. Half of Americans, like penguins, want a mate for life. Then you have 19% of Gen Z wanting to date like cats, indifferent and allowing partners to come and go. While independence and self-sufficiency are empowering, human connection remains a fundamental aspect of our well-being. I hope that you find that connection somewhere on the spectrum between penguins on one end and cats on the other. Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Dr. Sex Fairy Podcast. If you are watching this on YouTube, don't forget to leave questions and comments. I will answer them personally. Make sure you like this video and subscribe to my channel, Dr. Sex Fairy, so that you never miss a video. If you are listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or elsewhere, do subscribe to the Dr. Sex Fairy Podcast. We have lots more great content and guests to come. Check out my super-hit TikTok account, Dr. Sex Fairy, and my Instagram, The Real Dr. Sex Fairy. Until next time!