There is a particular kind of woman who gets hurt in dating over and over again, and it is not the woman who is too picky, too demanding, or too independent. It is the woman who dates from an empty cup. She comes to every first date, every new connection, every hopeful text thread, carrying a silent desperation that she has learned to disguise as openness. She is not open. She is hungry. And hunger, in the context of dating, is a dangerous thing.

Hunger makes you ignore red flags because any food looks good when you are starving. Hunger makes you cling to a man who is giving you crumbs because crumbs are more than nothing. Hunger makes you abandon your friends, your routines, your solitude, and your standards the moment a man shows you sustained attention. Hunger makes you pour yourself into him, not out of generosity, but out of a desperate hope that if you give enough, you will finally feel full.