Men, Competition, and the Double Standard

The ongoing saga of dating: What is right for men versus what's right for women.  In this case, it's competition and expectations of seeing multiple people.

I think it takes men by surprise that women have more than one man in play.  When I say I'm talking to another guy, other than the one I'm with at the moment, they get kind of put out or slightly more aggressive for my attention.  I was on an online dating program, months ago, and I told a guy I'm doing what all the guys were doing, casting a wide net, and he got really put out and stopped talking to me.

Another, my date last night, got a little bit more straightforward about his hopes and dreams for us, and that he really felt like he was in competition with someone whom I hadn't even met yet.  He wanted to know who had the edge.  I told him last night, that since this was the first date I got out of either of them and the other had messed up his schedule to meet me twice, not to mention the other's language barrier, it was definitely a no-brainer.  He was relieved after that. 

So, what makes women seeing more than one man any different than a guy seeing a different girl every night?  Why does that make us terrible people when we are told not to keep all our eggs in one basket, and that makes the guy "the champ" of love?  Double standards are everywhere, and this one, to me, is disturbing.

It doesn't make me any less virtuous, it doesn't make me a commitment-phobe, it doesn't make me a tart.  But yet, it makes the guy look like he's the man of the hour, that he should be hailed for being able see whomever he wants, at his bidding.

Since sex is so prevalent in this day and age, I can see where that plays into the puzzle, but if you hold to what you want, and hold off on that, it doesn't matter whose in play. 

Since I haven't begun to incorporate either into my life yet, and I have only had one date from one of them, I am certainly not going to make a snap decision in who's going to "survive" this ultimate game of "forever."  My investment is in my goals, dreams and needs, not in making any man be the "Tarzan" of my life.