Is the trend of failed relationships and the rise of lesbians in cartoons some weird ploy to make young men/boys more complacent? After recently coming back to /co/ I've noticed a lot more threads complaining about lesbians, and while this can be partially explained by a desire for the increased representation, the fact that in a lot of cases the lesbian character comes out as lesbian or solidifies her leaning as such by rejecting a male love interest, sometimes the main character. I also feel like I see more male characters attempting to attract a female character and it not working out, and not in the more typical "nerd loves the hot girl" fashion. The male character also typically fully accepts this when it happens and sometimes continues to be good friends with the female character while continuing to catch feelings (like some weird ntr shit). Is this something where the nerdy creators project their own experiences onto the characters they've made? Has anyone else noticed this trend over the past 10 or so years?

In the past romance, especially in cartoons, was usually very straightforward and played for comedic value. Now it's a lot more complex and awkward. I can't help but think it's to lower the expectations of the target demographic of usually one cohort below the shows subjects.