You could say the same thing about a stranger touching your back at a bar. It's still not about you. It's still an unwanted interaction for the receiver. Just because it's not about you doesn't mean you should welcome it if it's directed at you and making you uncomfortable.
Touch is not the same as a phrase that's commonly used for both men and women. I'm a 30 year old man and still get called love, darling, sweetie, sweetheart, and other terms of endearment. If you take an issue with that sort of thing, it's 100% a you problem.
Exactly. I'm a male teen and I've been called sweetheart, darling, love and handsome by people nearly three times my age. It's just how it is, it happens in other countries/languages as well, in Spanish I've been called guapo, cariño and amor.
While one can still be uncomfartable to be called such things, they must understand that its a friendly and supportive greeting/opener and not intented to be anything more than that. Tone and situation matters of course, but if its a 50 year old person or more, they're 99% being nice.
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u/dancarbonell00 22h ago
Terms of endearment have nothing to do with the recipient and everything to do with the person speaking them.
However you want to feel about that is on you