Even though strong women are likely able to handle assholes better than most women and men on Earth, they shouldn’t have to do this—and they’ll almost certainly be happier if they don’t bother.
Dating can easily be the best use of your time and energy, but it can just as easily be the worst use of your time, energy, and life. It goes without saying that no relationship will be perfect, but when the number of imperfections increases to a certain extent, there is virtually never a good excuse to continue moving forward (or at all) with your partner. Despite their significant dependence on you and the potential negative impact on their lives without you, your devotion to your partner still steals your happiness.
Most men have at least one quality or two that makes them desirable, whether it be a fit body, good looks in general, above-average intelligence, humor, wit, etc. However, keep in mind that most human beings possess at least one desirable quality, so this is not a beneficial enough reason on its own to enter into or stay in a relationship. Furthermore, the negative traits that almost always accompany the positive ones, like lying or cheating, are more like choices than traits; they are behaviors that are correctable but still persist.
One way to avoid being dragged into these relationships, or to avoid being dragged along with them, is to genuinely be happy while single and to simply be open to additional happiness with someone else. It may seem as though being single is lonely, and it certainly can be. However, being in an unhealthy relationship can make you extremely lonely (perhaps even more so).
Quite frankly, you should consider and judge actions more seriously than words, and if you are not receiving the treatment you deserve, you should act to benefit both parties in the relationship. After all, these types of relationships never last (or at least they shouldn’t), and the sooner they end, the sooner both of you can begin to recover, move on, and move closer to real happiness.
Buddha may have said it best: “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
