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Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @04:01AM (#23219622)
It's about the power dynamic. You're talking about someone who isn't from the area, who doesn't know anyone nearby, and who is supposed to sleep at your place. If you are aggressively flirting with them, they may be forced into the impression that either they sleep with you or they sleep on the street. And that would definitely be assault
Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by hombre_fatal on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:49AM (#23221655)
I could give you some tips if you think "hitting on women" means strong-arming them into an implicit deal that they have to fuck you or else.
Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:50AM (#23221665)
Hence the term "aggressively flirting"
Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by globular-toast on Monday May 18, 2020 @05:42AM (#23220325)
They are women who have chosen to stay at a male stranger's house. Do you think women are completely naïve about how the world works? I've known two women who couch surf and it was de rigueur to have sex with their hosts.
Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:21AM (#23221409)
> They are women who have chosen to stay at a male stranger's house

They are people who have chosen to stay at a stranger's house

> Do you think women are completely naïve about how the world works

No, but I don't think they want to have to take every decision based on probability of getting raped

> I've known two women who couch surf and it was de rigueur to have sex with their hosts

And I know male hosts who had sex with their male visitors. Does that mean that if I couchsurf at a man's flat I should be expecting intercourse for my bed?

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by globular-toast on Monday May 18, 2020 @09:00AM (#23221754)
You seem to be confused between what you think should be true versus what actually is true.

If you think women can afford to take the same risks as men when travelling then I just really don't know what to say to you. That's just hopelessly naïve. Attractive girls learn very early on that every man wants to have sex with them. It's just part of life for them.

> Does that mean that if I couchsurf at a man's flat I should be expecting intercourse for my bed?

No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by buttersbrian on Monday May 18, 2020 @10:10AM (#23222516)
> No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation.

Why, on a site like couchsurfing, would there be any implied sex, or opportunity for misunderstanding around 'sex for surfing'? It's blatantly outside the standards and norms of the community.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by CapricornNoble on Monday May 18, 2020 @12:19PM (#23224430)
I think he's arguing (and I would agree) that it is blatantly WITHIN the standards and norms for some dudes to complete ignore community mores and bend/break every rule imaginable to get laid. The risk is non-zero. At the individual level, everyone should acknowledge the risk, assess it, and implement control measures to reduce its potential impacts on you, personally. To fail to account for it is simply dangerously naive.

I don't think I've used Couchsurfer since....2012? Roughly the same time I discovered Tinder. I absolutely treated CS as a dating site where you had to be extremely discrete/low-key in your approach. I rarely offered my couch but did offer local tour guide-like services to cute women which was essentially a first date. I would never consider staying at a male host's place; even as a Marine I would assume the rape/murder risk too high. Maybe I'm just a misanthropic cynic but I don't trust anyone to behave themselves. I also have never seen the appeal of the "broke backpacker" travel methodology, perhaps colored by experiences living out of a backpack in the military, which usually sucks. If I have the money to fly halfway around the world, I should have the money to afford comfortable private accommodations. If I'm going to mingle, I'd prefer to mingle with the locals rather than other foreigners on a shoestring budget (or rich people PRETENDING to be on a shoestring budget).

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by buttersbrian on Monday May 18, 2020 @12:53PM (#23224935)
Yes, dudes are going to be creepy. The earth is round. Some will work outside the spirit of couchsurfing. Yourself included, to a degree. Ok.

But he also was arguing, IIUC, that the sex for stay is implied for women. I get that people will use it that way, but implying that it is any sort of norm is a very perverted view of couchsurfing. One that I never experienced, or found to be normal from many people i've talked to along the way.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by CapricornNoble on Monday May 18, 2020 @01:42PM (#23225703)
>>>But he also was arguing, IIUC, that the sex for stay is implied for women.

Ok, I see the distinction you are making but....I think all women should operate under the assumption that if a man invites you into a private residence, for ANY reason, sex is on the menu. At least that way one is never (negatively) surprised. If I have daughters I think this is an important thing to drill into their heads. A guy says he wants to show you his collection of Warhammer 40,000 figures, at 1pm? You still won't be taken aback when he's suddenly pantsless.

>>>implying that it is any sort of norm is a very perverted view of couchsurfing. One that I never experienced, or found to be normal from many people i've talked to along the way.

I think my experience is just the opposite, but about 95% of my social circle is manwhores, the other 5% are males who aren't manwhores, but wish they were (a mix of younger, inexperienced officers or civilian IT/engineer guys). But this is why I'm on HN, to step outside of my bubble and exchange experiences with people with radically different backgrounds and perspectives.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by buttersbrian on Monday May 18, 2020 @02:22PM (#23226348)
LOL @ warhammer. I understand the sentiment, and the reason one might prepare one's daughter. I think that is healthy, in preparing them to deal life. But that doesn't mean it should be accepted, tacitly or otherwise.

>I think my experience is just the opposite, but about 95% of my social circle is manwhores

I get ya. Been there. I just feel we need to move from is implied consent. Couchsurfing and implying consent means the women either puts up with it (leveraged consent is ugly) or ends up on the streets. That is not good, and can be avoided if people are just more forward, even tactfully so. I suspect that this leverage is exactly why they choose the couchsurfing, and that mixed without transparency is ... eeesh, imo.

I'm not apart of the "tinder" generation per se, but I think the (at times gross) honesty is largely positive. People who scoff at the screen shots of people openly discussing sex are being prudish and don't understand that merely being transparent is a net positive.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by globular-toast on Monday May 18, 2020 @01:23PM (#23225403)
It's not creepy, it's how human babies are made.

I didn't mean it was sex for stay, just that for many people the whole experience was very much sexual. I mean, for crying out loud, it's a young, attractive woman going to stay at some dude's bachelor pad. Some people here must think women are so stupid. They know exactly what's going on.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @12:29PM (#23224594)
> If I'm going to mingle, I'd prefer to mingle with the locals rather than other foreigners

I don't understand you here: that's the whole point of couchsurfing! You're staying with "real people", instead of yet another backpacker hostel

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by CapricornNoble on Monday May 18, 2020 @01:12PM (#23225258)
Sorry I kinda jumped subjects mid-post from Couchsurfing to backpacking, after reading some comments of how many CS guests are just trying to get a dirt-cheap roof over their head and don't interact much with their host. I don't recall many "local single woman hosting single guy" posts back in 2011-12 when I used CS anyway, not for places I was considering (Eastern Europe and SE Asia).
Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @09:05AM (#23221791)
> what you think should be true versus what actually is true

That's what laws are for. Shaping society so that it's like what we want rather than the jungle

> If you think women can afford to take the same risks as men when travelling

When did anyone in this thread ever say that?

> No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation

I'd prefer to live in a world where I don't have to make that choice, hence society shunning people who would put others in that position

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by blaser-waffle on Monday May 18, 2020 @09:28AM (#23222037)
> it was de rigueur to have sex with their hosts.

On which website and what country is this?

To anyone reading this -- that is absolutely NOT the norm, speaking as a dude who has hosted and couchsurfed a bit.

Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by weakfish on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:49AM (#23221659)
Jesus christ, this is wrong on so many levels.
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Re:The Death of Couchsurfing? by namdnay on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:29AM (#23221470)
No, lately there's a completely normal trend of taking into account that true consent can only be given without constraint.