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As someone who was born and brought up in South Asia, I can't help but notice the complexity of dating and marriage here.
Hardly a good percentage of the population understands what dating actually means, and when someone from the outside world explains it to them, they think it's absurd to go on dates with different people and not establish an official relationship with one person from the get go.
It's also looked down upon to have more than 2 official relationships. They don't say it outright but there have been thousands of memes on the relationship and solar system "joke".
So, especially women and most women usually settle with whatever man they're in a relationship with, instead of dumping him. It just doesn't help when the entire male population has a huge chunk of LVM/ZVMs.
Women in the West get to go on as much dates as possible, without it being something unconventional. Yes, Western men are shitty too, but when you have the freedom to date as much as you want, it means you have a choice to choose or reject outright.
Same goes with marriage. We all have come across the cool single aunt meme once in a while. It's not impossible to be that here, but not preferable. Women, as much as they want, hardly go down that route. They could be as financially and educationally independent as they want, but ultimately succumb to the pressures of the family and society, to just settle down. Even our law has more provisions for married women than unmarried and single women. Also, Divorce is a big taboo here, so women keep staying in unhappy and toxic marriages.
Again, this is something different from our Western counterparts. Women could be in their 50-60s and still have that option to date, or remain single, or even marry again. It's so liberating to have that choice. 90% of women here, would have benefitted if they had that choice for themselves.
I think it's really hard to stick to all FDS principles when you are in a region or brought up in a culture like this, makes me also think maybe that's why we have so much pickmeism here.
I'd also like to know more about your culture and how FDS principles align with it. Please do share your insights.
I live in a so called "Western country" but I don't feel that differently from you. Often when talking about the West we lump together very different things. To keep it vague I can tell you that "the West" defined as US/UK is a VERY different West from South Europe (for bad and sometimes for good).
I don't see women dating multiple people here. People are assumed in a relationship when they date and I always thought this perception was very damaging bc it takes away agency. Men are extremely entitled to women's time, space, life from the beginning. Many men who seem more laid back end up being some flavor of avoidant and maybe don't want to define the relationship, still they're in the minority. Women are completely devoted to men. Even "empowered" women are completely man centric. Violence awareness is non existent. Toxic relationships are the norm. The brainwashing is waay deeper than the US or the UK. The new generation is a bit better luckily, but millennials are basically the same as boomers in this regard.
One cultural difference that really impacts how I see FDS is that it's fairly normal for men in my country to be well groomed, chivalrous, pay for dinner and treat women to fancy restaurants. They are still the most toxic breed of men I've known. That's why I'm always weirded out by reading things like "he puts in high effort/he invests so he's a high value man". Er.. No, he invests in you as he would invest into a car. It's nice to be treated but it's in no way measure of intrinsic value. I think there must be such a laziness crisis in the US that going to the restaurant is somehow seen as the dating holy grail. Here people go to the restaurant all the time, so it literally doesn't tell you much about a man. I really don't get the obsession with restaurants lmao.
I'm a desi who grew up in the West and I'm not actually sure which option is worse. On the one hand you're right that it's easier to dump people and try out others in the West, but on the other men have basically 0 commitment here. Every single divorced couple I know is white, while I don't know any desi divorcees (which could reflect the fact that desi women settle more or the fact that they can rely on their husbands not to cheat on them and leave them in their 50s).
I've pretty much only dated white guys and they suck (they're emotionally constipated, waste years of your life before dumping you on a whim, and often are broke or porn addicted or have alcohol issues - seriously, the prevalence of basically alcoholism in tying white families together is truly something else). I also think they expect you to do way weirder kinkmeisha shit than brown guys generally do. On the other hand, tons of desi guys treat desi women as second options and openly prefer white women, which is the main reason I don't go anywhere near them. I basically only entertain dating a guy if he really pursues me, and it just so happens that only white guys have ever done that.
I hope this isn't too radical but....I would rather be a wealthy, single women ANYWHERE in the world than be stuck with a LVM (most men are LVM).
For example, as a Westerner traveling in UAE (tolerant, moderate Middle Eastern country) and in Eastern Europe- men working for me had no choice but to stfu. And anytime someone tries to shame me about being unmarried/ no children, I mostly disregard because it is entirely people in unhappy marriages and financially struggling. They NEED me to feel bad to justify that their choosing "love" was worth it...
Also, my family is cool but women who have their own resources can take vacations in the West to get away from their culture's pressure.
I recently met a Filipina woman who owns an island in the Philippines but lives mostly in Austria. I guess that was her solution to dealing with family pressure about not being married or having children. But you are never going to hear this narrative other than in a space like FDS.
The reason that liberal feminists focus so much on "sexual liberation" (vomit in my mouth) is that economic power for women is what really sets us free.
I am NOT a brutal capitalist and I would have loved to meet an HVM and have had a family. But that didn't happen for me. It is like me being depressed about not winning the lottery. I think a lot of women would feel better if they knew how rare provider/protector/monogamous men are...and that it is not a personal failing if you don't get found by one.
Lastly, the American style dating process you write about that sounds fun is the stuff of tv/film. I can count on one hand the amazing, cool dates that men have taken me on. American style dating mostly sets women up for confusion and men who waste their time. Most of it isn't courtship, its just men looking for sex but pretending otherwise.
I've lived in America my entire life so I can't say I have any experience with South Asian dating, but I do empathize. I wonder if you could modify FDS to fit your culture? Since commitment is expected from the beginning, then you need to be extreeeemely selective in your initial vetting. Instead of going on dates with guys one on one, maybe try to do group activities in first? That way you can still see their personality and how they react in a crowd, without the "stigma" of dating a lot of guys. Also, I might focus on only going for guys who have a more "liberal" mindset, and won't be so scandalized by a woman who plays her options. Like you said, a lot of women in your culture settle, so that makes it even more important for you to keep your standards super high.