Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

Why So Many People Have Never Been Treated With Respect in Dating

16 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this monologue, the speaker argues that respect is the essential foundation for any dating relationship and highlights a recurring problem: many women report never having been treated with respect by their partners. The speaker notes that this lack of respect often leads to feeling objectified and unsatisfied. He suggests that the root cause is low expectations and a failure to set higher standards when choosing partners. By encouraging people—especially young women—to raise their standards and recognize that there are many respectful, high‑quality individuals out there, the speaker believes they will attract better matches and experience healthier, more respectful relationships.

Chapters

It's got to start with respect. If you don't respect your partner and they don't respect you, is this going to be an amazing experience? Probably no. In fact, might somebody be treated like an object? Yeah, that's problematic. And by the way, some of you going, well, Mike, that seems like a no-brainer. However, I've met many high schoolers who will tell me, I don't know that I've ever been treated with respect and I've been dating for a while. Now, I want to be transparent. What gender do you think I hear that from? That is typically women that I hear that from, females that I hear that from. Is that messed up? Yes, it is. All of our parents would have been better off to tell us there's so many amazing people out there, why would you want to be with one of the few jerks? It sets the standard much higher. We're looking for the amazing ones. When you set a new standard— there's so many amazing people out there— you start to see more of the amazing people. And every now and then somebody comes to you, go, well, you don't know the ones around here. Then pick better people.