fuck the manosphere
I just want to vent a bit - I started seeing someone a few weeks ago. Old fling that I ran into through some friends that got rekindled, and I was excited that it seemed like more than just casual hookups this time. But there were some yellow flags I ignored that turned out to be red flags, and now I'm feeling frustrated and hurt.
Dude for real dropped the line that men are more "capable" and "logical" on me. That gender studies are "indoctrination." I told him we should probably stop seeing each other if that's really what he thinks. It wouldn't be logical for me to keep seeing someone that thinks lesser of me, now, would it?
I'm grateful to have some guy friends that I turned to after I left, cuz I wanted to go into "fuck all men" mode, but I know it's not true or helpful. Just like there are women out there that have internalized misogyny, there's feminist men, enbies, etc. We're all just people and we're not monoliths beholden to differences in biology. This is just sexist, manosphere bullshit in particular
Anyway. I'm still feeling angry and wanted to put it out there for some support and solidarity. Anyone have a recent win they'd like to share or something?
ETA: Thank you so much for the conversation y'all! I've been trying to keep up but I gotta get some sleep. I'll check in later but hope everyone has a good day. Keep up the empowerment! 💜
I don't know where they get this idea that treating women as lesser is somehow attractive*. I had one once tell me that I was lucky to have a pretty face because my body would put most men off, and then he expected to get laid. Like, what? My dude that is not how any of this works.
But experiences like this help us learn to spot those red flags earlier. And frankly it can also be a self-esteem boost, like you clearly respect yourself enough to have kicked this guy to the curb and that's something to feel great about! You know you're worthy of better and that you didn't bring this on yourself. Meanwhile he's just got another in probably a long line of romantic failures that are entirely of his own doing.
Have to admit, and I don't mean to pry, but I am SO curious how he responded when you laid it out logically for him like that.
Anyway, solidarity. So much solidarity.
* well ok, I do know. but it's very very silly.
Oh, that line I gave him about logic was one of the last things I said as I finished picking up my stuff to walk out the door. I followed up with "it's been fun - good luck." He had just kept digging in and I told him I'm not taking it upon myself to educate him. He can read a book or two about it
Thank you for sharing your experience, though it fucking sucks. You're right that I do feel empowered for recognizing my worth. Just hate that it's coming from mistreatment, you know? Here's to finding empowerment through healthy means and healthy partners 💜
Good on you for walking.
As a guy who has seen several women friends fall for the "I can change him" mindset, well done. It is not your job to fix the world view of a person who does not want to.
I remember an old joke:
"How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"
'One, but the light bulb has got to want to change.'
I know it sucks right now but at least he showed his cards early and you didn't have to waste too much time on him.
I love the joke, thank you. I'm feeling excited to move on:)
I’m curious what the yellow flags were. Did he lead you into the weird misogyny like systematically, trying to ease you into accepting it? If you remember anything he said where it might have suggested he had these feelings, I’d love to hear it.
And before you feel bad or anything like that, we’ve ALL ignored yellow flags when we think something might go somewhere and we’re into it. It’s like biological lol
Ok this turned into a novel, so buckle up I guess lol. Yeah, there was a lot said over the month that I pushed back on. There's nuance to it though, right? It's not like the manosphere content is built entirely on lies. Like, one of the first things that stuck out to me is him saying that when men lean into their masculinity then women can embrace their femininity. That can be true for some couples, but it's obviously not universal and is more often fluid.
He talked about his sister a few times, a psych major that I didn't know identifies as non-binary until he showed me their Facebook page by chance and I saw their pronouns listed. But he didn't care. He said they were "radicalized" after they went to college.
Another one: "choices have consequences" when discussing abortion, even though he did agree it should be available, it's just "morally gray" for him. His ex had one and he said he thought she secretly wanted him to push her to keep it. They broke up shortly after.
Anyway, most of the rest of it was just sprinkled in, and culminated in the conversation yesterday. It actually started the night before, I got upset and wanted to shut down the conversation cuz it was all really building up, but we repaired, went to hang out with our friend, and it wasn't until later it hit me he'd said that thing about men traditionally being the head of the household because they're more capable "if you look at the results." I dwelled on it forever after he fell asleep, journaled about it on my phone and had my responses ready the next morning.
Wow. Well I’m sure he’ll make some woman soooo happy one day (I mean, “woman happy,” so cooking, cleaning, churning out progeny, etc.)
So funny that he didn't see the logic at hiding his misogynistic world view. The point, i guess, was not to school you on logic but to test how much crap you'd put up with.
I hope he actually took a moment or two of self reflection and understands that he himself was not displaying much logic in the relationship. Who knows, maybe he'll even question one or two of his misogynistic beliefs.
I'm sorry you had to put up with that but at least you've learned what to look out for.
Fuck yeah lol you’re a badass. I would stammer something about needing to go and think of all that in the shower later.
To be fair, it started the night before and I stayed up journaling on my phone for a while after he fell asleep 😅
Hear, hear! I read your other replies and am glad you're feeling motivated to keep going. It's hard sometimes, but it's worth it when you find the right person.
Quite simply, men like this are not looking for a partner, they are looking for a servant they can fuck.
They have not progressed past adolescent dominance games.
Good on Op for walking away.
Or they are just looking for a repository for their negative feelings. Their own personal dumping ground, if you will. It's great that these men (and it's not just men) expose themselves with flat footed negging early on.
Amen to that.
A lot of the PUA routine is about putting women down, so they think saying that sort of shit is cool.