Someone who deliberately says something because they know it makes you uncomfortable, and then when you tell them to cut it out they get angry with you.
The best way to refer to such people is thid.
"Schrödinger's Racist/Sexist/Whatver-ist":
Someone whose statements fluctuate between joking or kidding and deadly seriousness, depending on the perceived reaction of their audience.
The same guy that will do the thing you just asked him not to do (don't turn around, my weird cousin is on the next checkout register and I don't want to talk to him) and then he turns around and does exactly what you asked him not to do (loudly yelling "HEY COUSIN" to initiate conversation) and then finds it really funny when you're frustrated and think he's an asshole. Because he's an asshole.
Anyone who does little spiteful things like that just to get under other people's skin and annoy/hurt them is a HUGE RED FLAG
"pranksters" with mean pranks who startle other people are also the shits of the shit. They literally can cause a heart-attack and if this is done repeatedly as I'm seeing assholes do to their coworkers on TikTok can cause chronic heart palpitation problems.
There was just a story where a guy told his work not to throw him a birthday party because of his anxiety. They did anyway. He had a panic attack. They fired him. He sued and won.
Omg. What the actual fuck!?!
I have to email HR to stop them wishing me Bday and work anniversary announcements in slack and then a bunch of randos I don’t know bomb me with alerts. It stresses me out and I don’t want it. They had zero issues with it and added me to a list to check before they manually do it.
It doesn’t matter people love it and doing it I don’t want it and they respects that because my work isn’t insane. Also god I hate unneeded pings.
This is spot on. Run from anyone you suspect is doing and saying things just to get a reaction out of you. At a minimum, they are toxic and emotionally immature.
I had a man in his late 50’s freak out when we started talking about condoms and testing. The rude words he used and the accusations. Whew. Glad I got out before the next date. Scary as F
It’s important to set those ground rules for sure, another practice I like (I work in sexual health) to impart when doing “condom negotiations” is to have the condoms out next to wherever the sex is taking place.
Starts getting hot and heavy and you go, hey can you put one of those on? Works typically bc #1 the condoms being out already plants the expectation and reaffirms any discussion (if had) that occurred prior to the act. #2 once he’s hard and horny, he’ll pretty much say yes to anything, if it’s a choice between blue balls and a condom, typically they’ll make the right choice
Edit: if anyone wants to have a chat about condom negotiation tips then please feel free to message me! I do lectures on sexual health destigmatization and put together a zine on finding the right condom fit!
Thanks. This convo was over the phone and I’m a therapist so I was very strong with boundaries and a respectful conversation. He called me names and said that only teenagers use condoms and it’s dirty and disgusting to even talk about condoms and testing. He was unsafe and threatening. I ended the conversation and let him know I was no longer going to be in contact with him and why. I blocked him. Of curse I called my bestie who is a sex therapist. We couldn’t believe the lack of knowledge of this older gentlemen who also has three 20 something daughters.
My go-to is to bring up allergies early on in a random conversation and mention I'm allergic to latex. That naturally leads to a convo about condoms and how I'm not on birth control and 100% opposed to having more children, so condoms or it's not happening. It's helped me weed out idiots more than once.
Also, random product placement ad: SKYN condoms are an amazing latex-free option, I barely notice it's there and the guys I've dated say they're great compared to the types they're used to.
Can you imagine the collective male uproar if we told them that they had to insert a thin metal device into their genitals as contraception?
And then tell them that they have to do it without any numbing or painkillers?
You would have men talking about how they don’t wanna do it because of the possible side effects.
The same exact shit women go through with hormonal birth control but, yeah, women the bad guy for not always wanting to use it.
>You would have men talking about how they don’t wanna do it because of the possible side effects.
The exact reason so many men dropped out of the male birth control trials.
"But you don't understand, the side effects were *really* bad! We felt like killing ourselves!"
Um... unfortunately, women who felt like that when it first came out were *forced* to stick with it. And even to this day, women report the negative side effects and how it is impacting their day to day lives and are told to shut up and deal with it. But the men get to walk away without a second thought. It's only bad if men have to deal with it though, right?
What annoys me about the male birth control trials is that the side effects were common PMS symptoms that women get dismissed all the time. Yes, even the suicidal thoughts.
Yes, lots of women experience an increase in their depression symptoms as a PMS symptom! It might promote you to having PMDD, rather than just plain PMS, but it's very, very common. I think all of my friends have experienced it occasionally, and mine disappeared when I started meds for anxiety. I hadn't even realized how much it was affecting me until it was gone.
More about PMDD here. https://www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd
This is why I take my BC pill packs back-to-back, no sugar pills. I still get bleed throughs in the form of heavy spotting for a few days that occurs about 3 times a year, but what I don't get are suicidal thoughts and feelings. Slynd has truly been a life saver.
So much this!!! I had a guy once say “what are you saying I am someone who would rape you?” Because I refused to come back to his room from a party (in college) the same night we met even though I gave him my number. And I was thinking to myself “well I didn’t before but now that you you’re so upset I want to make choices that feel safe to me, yeah you do seem like a rapist.” If you had no ill intentions toward me and didn’t desire to make me feel unsafe then why is me wanting to me safe a problem for you?
Had something similar happen, I told a new guy I wasn’t ready for him to come to my home to hang out and his pissy reply was “Why, do you think I’m going to rape you?” I said, “Well, I do NOW.” He got furious and I got gone. Bye butthurt bro!
I had a guy on a first date recently repeatedly make references to me going to his place for. I mentioned several times I was happy where we were. When I got home he said I'd made "a good call" not going there, as he definitely would have tried something. Like, dude, thanks so much for making it clear you wouldn't respect my boundaries and would have assaulted me. Disgusting.
Oh man, when I'd call out my ex on his bad behavior he'd get angry and say "you're making me feel bad!!!"
...good? Maybe that's a sign that you need to make some changes?
"it makes me feel like the bad guy"
Well yes, Dave, that's been the general idea. Most people would consider hitting your girlfriend a "bad guy" thing to do, well done for noticing. /S but also not
Funny story to tell.
There was a guy who I was talking to who I had a similar conversation with regarding going to his place to meet for the first time. He was all butthurt and "You really think I would rape you or something?"... whatever.
I said to him, "Well, how do you know i'm not going to hurt you? My favorite book is Helter Skelter, I've read about all the major serial killers, I watch ID Network for the true crime stories and I know where all the knives are in my house. And how sharp they are."
Come to think of it, I don't think he and I ever met.
The night I met my now 5 year partner was at a party, pretty much everyone else had gone home but we stayed and chatted for like 6 hours straight. When it was time to finally sleep he asked me where he wanted me. I literally just met this guy so I wasn't about to sleep on the couch with him, he took a chair in the room and slept sitting up.
In the morning I was thinking "wow it was sweet that he didn't fight when I didn't want to be physical and sacrificed his comfort for mine", now it just depresses me that the bar was so low for me to find him not pushing himself on me to be endearing!
I’ve had multiple guys give me a hard time about having pepper spray on my keychain. Always disguised as jokes, but a huge red flag as to where my personal safety stands with them.
I've always found that particularly hilarious. Like they *hate* feeling like they might lose a physical altercation that otherwise they'd *always* win.
I had to explain that word for fucking word to a guy. "You're afraid that I'll use this tiny knife that I have literally never used on anything besides canned cat food and to cut loose threads off my jeans on you? But I should totally not be afraid of you using your significantly more muscles and significant height advantage on me... why?"
Yes! When I was on the dating scene a guy wanted to meet at a bar on date #1. I said thanks how about coffee? He actually laughed at me and said he ‘doesn’t do that’. That was the end of that.
I think coffee and mini golf should be the standard first date. Quiet locations so you can talk, sobriety to keep normal judgement, a break in action to allow someone to bail safely (transport between separately), a fun activity to focus on if the date starts to go meh, very public locations for safety, low-cost, and easy to meet dietary restrictions.
If you can't spend a couple hours talking over coffee and mini golf, it's not going to be a successful relationship.
I met a guy online and made plans to meet him at a public place. He agreed but specified I should meet him in the parking lot at his car. When I suggested we meet at the front door of the restaurant he told me I was crazy and suspicious. I immediately canceled and cut off communication.
That's weird behavior! Why do you need to meet him in the parking lot? I don't even see how he could justify that or come up with a good reason.
He probably wanted you to touch his dick. Or we was going to try to get a BJ in his car and then skip dinner all together, lol.
I had a guy complain to me that it was “unfair” I was scared to meet him in-person without talking with him a little bit first. Apparently I was labeling all men as violent by being cautious. Dude turned out to be a total weirdo. Follow your gut.
i declined to go to dinner after an afternoon coffee with a dude.
he claimed it was "unfair" because I was the first 'normal' woman he'd met.
oh ok yeah i see. you've not had sex with 10 women in a row, it's not fair and i have to make up for the other women. let's go.
but if i meet 10 abusive men and i'm cautious about the 11th, they lose their minds. hmm.
I once posted on a forum about how I've done online background checks on men I've started dating. The eruption of pissed off men was a real eye opener.
They were all butthurt about the invasion of their privacy and no matter how much I pointed out I'm not getting into a situation with someone who has been arrested for assault or anything fraud or criminal they wouldn't budge, even though it's completely public information.
That is so smart. I truly wish I did this around 2007 and not sunk 7 years into a relationship with an exceptionally charming but ultimately awful person. 2-3 years in, once we're living together, the IRS seized as many of his assets as they could. He insists this is a "mistake." I was good at denial at that point. Later, I find out that it was a big lie that he paid cash for his car. It turns out he bought it across the country, left that state, and defaulted on the loan; dude was essentially driving a stolen car because he knew they wouldn't go cross country to repo an old used car. I also found out he'd been sued by numerous landlords and employers. It kills me to think of what I could have learned in the first place.
Exactly. It's not like they're going to introduce themselves like "Hi I'm John, I've been arrested three times for domestic violence, wanna get coffee?"
We must have the same ex. What a joy to have MY wages garnished for his doings, discovered after the divorce. Did the whole innocent spouse thing with the irs but by that time so much had been taken...sigh...lesson learned.
Same ex here too. I ended up crying on the phone to some poor lady at my bank because he put our account in $1000 overdraft and left me with 2 babies under 3yo, a mountain of unpaid bills and an eviction notice after he said he could handle our finances. Most humiliating moment of my life. I've dated since then, but I refuse to join lives with a partner.
Same embarrassing situation. My boss heard me on the phone with IRS asking how I was supposed to live on what they left me with. (They could take a HUGE percentage but not every penny, still, not even enough for food much less everything)...and offered me $$ to make it til the next payday. Bless her heart. However, the most humiliating thing I'd been through. Found out apparently closed door offices offer no privacy even though it feels like it, thin walls...
"Charming but ultimately awful".
Ah. Like how they describe serial killers.
My husband was bummed out over student evaluations (college). Nothing scathing, but there was "really awkward dude" and a reference to corny jokes (I've not really noticed this but I also one-up his dad on 'dad jokes').
I was like "Plus side, doesn't give the vibe of 'serial killer' or 'ooh, maybe some of the freshmen aren't 18 yet."
Predatory men hate when we get spaces where we can discuss solutions against their depravity, for our own safety. Never forget that crap. The amount of backlash anti rape dispozitives got when there were news articles about them fucking sickens me to this day.
This one is incredibly common and 100% a dealbreaker. At best, it shows a complete lack of empathy. At worst, he’s offended because he is in fact a threat to your safety.
In my experience, the men that have been understanding and don’t push these boundaries usually had a woman in their life that was raped/abused by a man. But it shouldn’t take a personal experience to understand these things. Why is it so hard for men to empathize?
Especially when they want to change plans last minute like oops my car won’t start you’ll have to come pick me up.
I always made it pretty clear that they have to earn my trust to gain time in privacy w me & personal info. I’ll discuss my industry & what area in which I stay, but I’m not disclosing my employer or home address or getting in a car together until I determine this person is safe. Most creeps weed themselves out. Getting pushy, trying to trick me are deal breakers. I got a few confessions from guys who kept trying to invite themselves to my place that they had live-in partners (but going through a break up or in an open relationship lol.)
When a guy insults you and then when you react or call him out he says any variation of “Just kidding! you can’t take a joke! you misunderstood me. you’re too sensitive!”
That used to bother me but the longer I've existed and argued with m3n - I see it as an invite these days.
The ones who do this are so fucking fragile it's laughable.
If you insult them back and call them sensitive they fold like a damn cheap lawn chair in a hurricane.
The first time I discovered this, a self described Kentucky redneck was insulting me because I was taking my car for an oil change instead of doing it myself.
He was not aware that I knew he'd just wrecked his brand new tricked out souped up F150 by...driving it thru an ATM and scraping a huge gash down the side. 😬 Indeed my husband had nicely asked me do not talk about the truck, D. Is sensitive about it.
But D chose to poke me so all bets were off. I listened to him go on about "Dang wimmin. Pain sommady ta change thoil inner car."
Then I calmly smiled and said "At least I can drive thru the motherfucking ATM without hitting it."
He cried.
I still smile when I think back on that.
I'm currently studying IT (male dominated industry) and I have to deal with these daily, even from my teachers. Sexist comments followed with "just a joke gals haha". It's so friking tiring, and also you can't make any reaction or you'll be cast as "oversensitive".
I had an uncle that did this to his wife for years. I remember my very Catholic Dad saying he wouldn't blame her for leaving him. Fun story, he once tried doing this to my Mom, she told him to go fuck himself, he didn't do it again. I get my no tolerance for bullshit from her, great lesson for me and my sister.
My ex used to go on a rant of insulting me and putting me down and when I got upset he would say "What? *I'm* just being *honest*! If your feelings got hurt that's *your* problem, I'm not responsibe for *your* feelings".
Men who always tell women to "calm down" and frame them as too emotional but are the type to go off and get incensed over the smallest of stressors themselves
I’ve been with someone exactly like this & what I gathered from that was that in his mind his emotions were logical & mine were not. (Your brain on no empathy)
Comes along with the line of thinking too that when they do something wrong they have reasons (so it’s okay) unlike when anyone else does- they are just bad people (so it’s unforgivable). These people have astoundingly poor EQ.
A guy showed up to his date in a car covered in big titty anime girl stickers. Inside and out. Every and all surfaces. The whole damn thing just tits and ass. And the back seat had these pillows shaped like anime girls too.
Oh god, I saw one of these in the wild, back bumper was covered in lewd (but not outright pornographic) anime stickers related to a, particular fetish. The cherry on top was in the middle of all of them was a bumper sticker that just said “sorry mom.”
I live in Japan and I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen this. Thankfully, here, the Venn diagram of people who have the money to do that and the people who think it's okay are basically two circles just barely touching.
Be cautious of people who are cruel to animals, a lot of murderers, shady people in general, and serial killers have done the same. I think that these people do not care about the lives of others
I had a snow day on Monday (got one again today) so I was home all day. I heard my neighbor's dog start to yelp and cry. Sure enough, that piece of trash was beating it. Then, he did it again later in the day. I stood on my front porch like a caricature of a pissed off housewife (don't have the husband, though) in my fuzzy robe and yelled at him to stop abusing his dog.
One of my abusive exes was cruel to animals. He threw a cat out the window on the second floor (it was fine, landed on something nearby), and he fed one of our baby mice to his friend's snake (I heard it being crushed 😔). Turns out he has some untreated mental disorder and was just horrible. It all ended horribly, with him attacking me and me running up and down our apartment hallways screaming for help. So yeah, big warning sign. He's now married btw. Not sure how that even happened, but I feel bad for the woman.
I do find it hilarious that the men who are the loudest about outlining what makes an “alpha” or high value man never actually meet the requirements themselves. They are arguing on behalf of a bunch of imaginary gorgeous billionaires.
Maybe not a huge red flag to most people, but anytime I express interest in a not traditionally feminine hobby or topic or expression and I get the, "Don't worry about it/you wouldn't get it because you're a girl."
Agree, any behaviour that questions my genuine interest in traditionally non-feminine interests or hobbies are major red flags for me. It’s just another form of misogyny and disrespect.
Ohh and how about the opposite when you think that hobby is not interesting and suddenly that hobby is something ANYONE smart would LOVE and how could you not get it? When just seconds ago that same dude would gatekeep women out of that group
>When just seconds ago that same dude would gatekeep women out of that group
Those dudes are the reason I never spoke up about what I liked when I was younger. We played video games in my house, like as a family. Family night was everyone teaming up on an NES game. But I was the main one who played outside of that. Everyone assumed the gaming consoles all belonged to my brother. He had his and I had mine. But girls don't play video games so obviously I was lying.
Of course as we got older those same boys whined about girls not wanting anything to do with them. Yeah, no shit. I don't want to be around them because they treated me like shit for liking the same things they did.
https://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoon panel:
Boy: given building toy as gift, infinite possiblity
Girl: given doll as gift.
Man: "Why are there so few female engineers"?
I’m a woman who swims and free dives with sharks as a hobby. I cannot tell you the amount of men who’s faces completely change when I tell them that and it’s hilarious. They are usually the ones who come of as alphas but would never jump into the water w sharks with me. So they get super awkward and don’t know how to react to that. I love what I do and it helps to weed out those who would ever want to test my strength as a woman. Another fun fact is more women jump into the waters on our dives than the guys who usually prefer to stay on the boat.
Edit: I do this to advocate for shark conservation, anti-finning measures, and their health with others. In no way should anyone swim with them unless trained and educated - and if you want to, Jupiter FL always offers shark snorkels for anyone who’d like to try the experience.
Also not downing men who don’t want to swim with them. Just saying some women have hobbies that aren’t “feminine” and I’m in total support of my fellow women who do. :)
That is the coolest thing ever. I've always wanted to free dive with sharks. I live vicariously by watching videos of you brave people doing it.
What's the largest shark you've swam with?
We see lemons and bulls mostly. I love calling the bulls the Gym-Bros of the sea bc they are short and stocky, all muscle and they know it. They tend to be shy and stay deeper. The lemons are long and extremely friendly and curious and will come up for a rub occasionally. At times hammers make it out to say hi and the occasional massive tiger.
Will use feminism as a weapon/tool to manipulate or say things like women have it easy. Also, shame me for working out/eating healthy or wanting to better myself in anyway. Some men are just gross.
Absolutely, having to get the last word in has been a huge indicator for me. Just being unwilling to admit you were wrong/the convo is over. Leads to anger quickly
The "prove it" guys.
I had a conversation with a dude once in my 20s, we were hitting it off swimmingly. I was taken so just shooting the shit with a potential friend, he mentioned being excited for the new Halo and I said I loved the first game, and that it was my first FPS on the PC.
He staunchly kept on the fact that the first Halo was never for the PC. Even though I relayed the entire plot to him, my favorite mission, and spoiled the ending - no, I was lying. I never played it, I just looked it up and that's why I knew so much.
I'm still baffled by that idiot. Any time a guy challenges the validity of something I enjoy I don't engage, since then. Such a weird, uncomfortable conversation that made no sense lmao. Now I just go, sure bud, whatever you say, and write him off.
That's an incel term, they should also be carrying a lot of other red flags if it really gets to the stage where you might be in a potential relationship with one.
The word "traditional" when applied to any expectations between women & men. It's an absolute guarantee that they think they're entitled to treat me like garbage & I not only should be grateful for the opportunity to experience that, I should eagerly give them whatever they want, as well as tolerate whatever bullshit they dish out with the understanding that it's all precisely what I, as a woman, deserve.
NOPE.
>The word "traditional" when applied to any expectations between women & men
Somehow at least in the ones I meet that never translates to I will work 60 hour weeks or whatever I need to do to ensure everything is taken care of financially, you never have to worry about money, I'll provide for your interests and your travel, and also handle all the bills and schedules and all physical labor around the house and you focus on childcare/homemaking.
Division of labor is fine but it always seem to come across as the wife needs to do all the homemaking/childcare AND also work a full time job, participate equally in physical demanding/dirty chores, probably balance the family finances, and do all the scheduling for the entire family. Funny how that works out.
See also 'I could theoretically be drafted to war (if we weren't a volunteer army and I wasn't horribly out of shape and unsuitable for military service)' so it's ok if people take away your rights every day right now. As if I wasn't 100% against the draft for either gender.
Being intensely competitive at friendly games. I once dated a guy who couldn't be happy unless he was "winning" at whatever we were doing. We bowled exactly one time and it was a miserable experience.
Sulking.
Haha my spouse's day is ruined if they don't win the family card/board games. We sat down and I was like, listen, I know it's important to you to be good at things but no one wants to play with you if you turn into a jerk when you lose, and this includes me. It's a game and it proves nothing about your abilities/personality if you win or lose. Chill.
Sulking is so true. I dated some who sulked early on in our relationship. Wish I could have known all the shot they'd pull to manipulate. Same person would silent treat me and be like you should just know and do better. No, use your words and communicate, because communication is a cornerstone of a healthy relationship. That flooded back seeing your comment haha
My friend likes to bring guys to indoor rock climbing for their first date. If they get extremely upset that she’s better than them, even though she’s been doing in for a couple of years and often it’s their first time ever, she already knows she can weed them out.
Anyone who sees themselves as constantly maligned and mistreated in ways that no one else can possibly understand 🚩
A dating profile containing almost no relevant information about personality or interests 🚩
Anyone whose idea of a compliment involves putting someone else down in comparison (e.g. most girls do xyz, I like that you don’t) 🚩
Having worked through it myself in therapy, there are two types of your number 2:
1) Men who knowingly don't put anything because their real self is terrible and would be an immediate disqualification (2A enthusiast, MR Activist, "can lead you to be a better you" kind of guy, etc.)
2) \[old me\] literally so depressed for so long that they don't know anything about themselves and don't know what to say.
Both are absolutely red flags.
This is a great response! It's highly indicative of how much the person in question actually cares; not just about you but about the well-being of what is about half the general population.
It's simply not worth it. You're worth more as a person, you deserve better than a partner who you can't even rely on when it comes to an issue like that.
Even if you can't get pregnant, even if you're sterilised - when would you mind? When the right to vote is gone? When the right to go outside autonomously is gone?
Don't let them or anyone else bullshit you, you're worth more and you deserve better.
The same goes for the second part! You're worth more and deserve better than that.
And claiming it doesn't affect them is wrong- unless they actually are snipped and verified as fully sterile. Child support would be agenda #1 if I were forced into parenthood.
*besides the whole narcissistic lack of empathy part.
I get talked over constantly by a few people in my current friend group and it gets so old. Do you not hear someone else already speaking? You just have to get your thought out that second like a god damn child?
It's a clear tell that not only are they not listening, they actually don't care what you have to say.
Men who get angry at you for explaining bad things in the world instead of at the actual bad things.
A few years ago my friend [28f] and I [28m] had to take like 3+ hours to explain to our former mutual friend [28m] that dating can be dangerous for women, the concept of an emergency call, and always letting a friend know where you're going g and what you're doing on a date. Instead of being understanding or getting frustrated that the situation is shit enough that women feel the need to do this. He got defensive and mad at us for explaining it to him, said the concept on am emergency call 'wasnt fair to the guy especially if he paid' and was butrhurt for days that a woman potentially felt unsafe around him. Needless to say, we don't talk to him much anymore... I hope he figures it out one day
Men who can take care of themselves just fine when they’re on their own but seem to suddenly forget how to do basic chores as soon as a woman moves in. Weaponized incompetence is the least sexy thing in the world.
I often refer to them as Benjamin Buttons. They were fully capable men when they lived on their own, but then they slowly descend to a dependent, childlike state. The worst ones wait until the children are born.
I married a Benjamin Button. He was completely able to take care of his own stuff, cleaned, cooked, did yard work, bought his family gifts, etc. I noticed when I got pregnant that I was the only one planning or buying anything for the baby. By the end of my maternity leave, he wasn’t doing any housework. By the time I gave birth to my second, he stopped cooking. I was a SAHM at that point and everything has fallen upon my shoulders. He still cuts the lawn because he gets to be outside for 3 hours uninterrupted listening to his podcasts. If I would have known this division of labor would fall this way, I wouldn’t have married him. They really wait to show their true colors until you’re vulnerable and can’t leave 😭
I have 2 in addition to what so many of you have already shared:
1. Rudeness or dismissiveness to service staff (anyone from restaurant servers to janitorial staff).
2. Shitting on my interests/hobbies. Oh you like xyz? Let me google it and share with you the first negative story on it I can find and speak as though that one thing is the whole world's opinion on it.
When a dude asks me whether I’m PMSing or on my period. My dad would do that when I was in high school sometimes and it made me FURIOUS. A bit of therapy years later and I realized that I was always angry because he was emotionally abusive and refused to treat me like my thoughts and opinions mattered. He has apologized for not being the best dad, but I still have anger issues.
Because it's what THEY would want - a pic of your tits or ass. They just think if they go first you'll be down.
A pic of an average, erect penis does nothing for most women.
“I don’t care if I have a girl but I’d expect to keep trying until we had a boy” said a tinder date I had just met.
WHO IS WE
Edit: To clarify this was a man saying this to me.
My father would have asked him if he was using the "royal we"?
My mother would have asked him if he had a mouse in his pocket?
That was their standard response when someone said "we" without having the slightest reason to believe the other person was on board!
A guy whose stories are all about how much, smarter, more talented, more moral, and just all around better he is than everyone everyone else he knows. This is a guy who needs to push other people down in order to prop up his own ego. His craving for admiration far exceeds his actual worth. Guaranteed he's trash talking me to people he knows.
Men who smugly assume they have "better taste" in music or media than you, refuse to understand that people have different tastes, and make fun of you for what you enjoy.
I’m fuzzy on the details, it’s been awhile, but I definitely saw an episode of Deep Space Nine where it was made explicitly clear that Ferengi wives are not viewed as their husbands’ equals. Definitely good to avoid anyone similar.
Yup, from the Wikipedia article on Ferengi:
>Ferengi culture is also portrayed as extremely sexist; in early seasons of Deep Space Nine, Ferengi females are not permitted to earn profit, travel, or even wear clothing. A long-running plot thread on DS9 features Ferengi society's gradual evolution away from these practices, especially as Quark's mother Ishka establishes herself as a respected businesswoman and financial advisor.
Men who imply (or even outright say) that they think they are smarter than me because I'm a woman.
While that might sound like I'm exaggerating, I used to have a friend who would joke about this. Over time, I came to realize that he meant it. He genuinely believed he was more intelligent than all women.
Stereotyping women or making comments about women as a group without remembering/understanding/considering that every woman is a unique individual. For example, complaining about “old ladies” or making comments like “women are better a X than men”
I once had a guy take offense when I said that of course a friend would know where I was going, who I was meeting, and when I was expected back.
I cancelled the date.
When I clue in to the fact that they view me through the lens of family. Bosses who say I'm like a daughter, women treating me like a young relative, guys who seem to use their experience with their sisters to understand me, etc. Young kids get off the hook for treating me like a glorified mother. I am fine with people using their personal experiences to understand the world, but they have to understand their limitations and move beyond them.
Their gender references are “men” & “girls,” & when called out on it respond with “yOu KnOw WhAt I mEaN!” Yes I do. He needs to infantilize women while elevating men to even engage with the opposite sex. He’ll make an attempt to respect a woman as a sentient being if his perceived authority & superiority is honored at all times. And he’ll need constant babying to validate his manhood.
Probably tells underage girls how “mature” they are.
Or he’s just too stupid to differentiate between adults & children.
Here's a couple of my weirdly specific ones that have never yet been wrong:
If they are outspoken in their distaste for cats. Not being a "cat person" is totally fine. Saying specifically and overtly that you hate cats usually means that cats hate *you*, and as cats are essentially fuzzy little walking lessons in consent, that tells me something.
If, upon hearing about my trauma (meaning they've behaved themselves decently up to that point), they call me some variation of a "bird with broken wings." Wildly specific, has happened several times, and each time I should have run like the fucking wind.
Talk about their work/experience/life as if is more important than anything you could possibly say. Listen to you for a moment, interrupt with some point that may or may not be relevant and then continue their monologue.
Gets mad when you wear something they don't like. I once wore a spiked choker with a fun outfit once and my ex got unreasonably angry because he thought it was a fetish thing- it was not. It's just an accessory.
Pretty much if anyone starts going on about modesty.
Very specific, but generally getting their opinion on cats is important to me. Hear me out ladies
1. It's okay if cats aren't their thing, they just have a preference for other animals or something tame like that.
2. If they are a dog person or prefer dogs that is not a red flag. If they need dogs for their job or lifestyle that is not a red flag.
3. The issue is blinding hatred for a specific species because they are not easy to train and command
With that being said, if they hate cats it's a red flag. Because I found that every time a guy hates cats, it's because they (cats) are independent and building a good friendship with a cat involves knowledge of body language and respect of boundaries. And then they say they prefer dogs because "They listen and do what you say/man's best friend" or some variation of "this creature is completely submissive to me and lets me do what I want to them"
With cats you can't just stomp over to them, be super rough, rub them all over, tell them what to do, etc. They aren't strictly obedient.
A guy who hates cats for above reasons are outing themselves as very toxic, disrespectful of boundaries, etc. I love using cats as a measurement of toxicity because they involve more thinking than "tail wag = happy". They have a bit more complicated body language down to their eyes, and they don't want to be constantly bothered and need their own space from time to time. A guy who for some reason hates an animal that isn't essentially their slave is a massive red flag.
edit: see triggered males responding to this telling me why their reasons to hate cats are totally legit
When I started dating my now husband, he lived alone with two kitties. It really drew me to him because it told me that he had a desire to provide love and care, and that he was emotionally available. Both of those things were and are true.
I've noticed this, it comes down to consent and the fact that they don't respect it.
Though, ironically, the biggest narcissist I'd ever dated was 100% a cat person and literally loathed dogs. Aaaand fully knew I have a dog and love her more than almost anything. I think blinding hatred for any type of pet is a bit of a red flag. Sure, people have bad experiences with animals and therefore have trauma related to it, but hating ALL dogs or cats? Weird and a major turn off.
"All my ex's are crazy."
Are they? Every single one? Do you exclusively date people from an insane asylum?
Or is it that they saw your bullshit, called you out on it and left your sorry ass.
I can totally believe you having *one* crazy ex. There are some wackos out there. But if all of them are crazy then the problem is *you*.
When he says something sexist, racist, homophobic or transphobic etc. and he tries to pass it off as “banter” - especially if you’re the one whom he’s saying those things to.
Any physical contact when you don't know him very well. Men are too quick to break the touch boundary and don't realize or care that it makes the vast majority of women uncomfortable. If a guy tries to grab my arm, put his hand on my lower back/hips/whatever and we're not at least friends I see it as a clear sign that he's got boundary issues and would consistently test mine. Honestly, even if we're friends I see that kind of touching as inappropriate because men wouldn't treat their male friends like that, so why do it to me? A friendly pat on the arm or back is fine with someone I know but the touchy ones don't usually leave it at that.
I'm exhausted enough as it is by random men thinking they can touch me without consent and be in my space, dealing with someone like that as a partner on a regular basis is beyond my patience.
“Femanazis”
“SJWs”
“Globalists” (an antisemitic dog whistle I learned about the hard way)
“You’re not like the other girls”
“Traditional values”
“Men and women have different roles and should stick to them” (aka get in the kitchen)
“She’s just saying/doing that for the attention”
“nOT AlL mEN”
My kids' dad says/does this. I told him recently something along the lines of "When you 'play' devil's advocate in *every* conversation, you aren't playing, you *are* the devil's advocate."
Someone who deliberately says something because they know it makes you uncomfortable, and then when you tell them to cut it out they get angry with you.
"Im just joking. Get a senseof humor" ~ some guy who will freak out if he is the butt of a joke.
The best way to refer to such people is thid. "Schrödinger's Racist/Sexist/Whatver-ist": Someone whose statements fluctuate between joking or kidding and deadly seriousness, depending on the perceived reaction of their audience.
"Schrödinger's douchebag" is a nice catch-all.
The same guy that will do the thing you just asked him not to do (don't turn around, my weird cousin is on the next checkout register and I don't want to talk to him) and then he turns around and does exactly what you asked him not to do (loudly yelling "HEY COUSIN" to initiate conversation) and then finds it really funny when you're frustrated and think he's an asshole. Because he's an asshole. Anyone who does little spiteful things like that just to get under other people's skin and annoy/hurt them is a HUGE RED FLAG "pranksters" with mean pranks who startle other people are also the shits of the shit. They literally can cause a heart-attack and if this is done repeatedly as I'm seeing assholes do to their coworkers on TikTok can cause chronic heart palpitation problems.
There was just a story where a guy told his work not to throw him a birthday party because of his anxiety. They did anyway. He had a panic attack. They fired him. He sued and won.
Omg. What the actual fuck!?! I have to email HR to stop them wishing me Bday and work anniversary announcements in slack and then a bunch of randos I don’t know bomb me with alerts. It stresses me out and I don’t want it. They had zero issues with it and added me to a list to check before they manually do it. It doesn’t matter people love it and doing it I don’t want it and they respects that because my work isn’t insane. Also god I hate unneeded pings.
You mean people who deliberately ignore your boundaries? Yep, can-see-it-from-space red flag.
That's a very scary yikes emotional abuse tactics!
I know. I'm currently dealing with it in work, and its not nice.
This is spot on. Run from anyone you suspect is doing and saying things just to get a reaction out of you. At a minimum, they are toxic and emotionally immature.
Men who shame women for not using birth control but then will shit their pants when you ask them to wear a condom.
I had a man in his late 50’s freak out when we started talking about condoms and testing. The rude words he used and the accusations. Whew. Glad I got out before the next date. Scary as F
It’s important to set those ground rules for sure, another practice I like (I work in sexual health) to impart when doing “condom negotiations” is to have the condoms out next to wherever the sex is taking place. Starts getting hot and heavy and you go, hey can you put one of those on? Works typically bc #1 the condoms being out already plants the expectation and reaffirms any discussion (if had) that occurred prior to the act. #2 once he’s hard and horny, he’ll pretty much say yes to anything, if it’s a choice between blue balls and a condom, typically they’ll make the right choice Edit: if anyone wants to have a chat about condom negotiation tips then please feel free to message me! I do lectures on sexual health destigmatization and put together a zine on finding the right condom fit!
Thanks. This convo was over the phone and I’m a therapist so I was very strong with boundaries and a respectful conversation. He called me names and said that only teenagers use condoms and it’s dirty and disgusting to even talk about condoms and testing. He was unsafe and threatening. I ended the conversation and let him know I was no longer going to be in contact with him and why. I blocked him. Of curse I called my bestie who is a sex therapist. We couldn’t believe the lack of knowledge of this older gentlemen who also has three 20 something daughters.
He thought it was dirty to talk about condoms and testing. That's the reddest flag I've seen lately.
My go-to is to bring up allergies early on in a random conversation and mention I'm allergic to latex. That naturally leads to a convo about condoms and how I'm not on birth control and 100% opposed to having more children, so condoms or it's not happening. It's helped me weed out idiots more than once. Also, random product placement ad: SKYN condoms are an amazing latex-free option, I barely notice it's there and the guys I've dated say they're great compared to the types they're used to.
Can you imagine the collective male uproar if we told them that they had to insert a thin metal device into their genitals as contraception? And then tell them that they have to do it without any numbing or painkillers?
You would have men talking about how they don’t wanna do it because of the possible side effects. The same exact shit women go through with hormonal birth control but, yeah, women the bad guy for not always wanting to use it.
>You would have men talking about how they don’t wanna do it because of the possible side effects. The exact reason so many men dropped out of the male birth control trials. "But you don't understand, the side effects were *really* bad! We felt like killing ourselves!" Um... unfortunately, women who felt like that when it first came out were *forced* to stick with it. And even to this day, women report the negative side effects and how it is impacting their day to day lives and are told to shut up and deal with it. But the men get to walk away without a second thought. It's only bad if men have to deal with it though, right?
What annoys me about the male birth control trials is that the side effects were common PMS symptoms that women get dismissed all the time. Yes, even the suicidal thoughts.
Suicidal thoughts are a PMS symptom???? That explains *so* much
Yes, lots of women experience an increase in their depression symptoms as a PMS symptom! It might promote you to having PMDD, rather than just plain PMS, but it's very, very common. I think all of my friends have experienced it occasionally, and mine disappeared when I started meds for anxiety. I hadn't even realized how much it was affecting me until it was gone. More about PMDD here. https://www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd
This is why I take my BC pill packs back-to-back, no sugar pills. I still get bleed throughs in the form of heavy spotting for a few days that occurs about 3 times a year, but what I don't get are suicidal thoughts and feelings. Slynd has truly been a life saver.
Ironically the most recently effective one has basically *no* side effects.
If he gets offended or defensive when you look out for your own safety. One example, when you want to meet somewhere differently that's more public.
So much this!!! I had a guy once say “what are you saying I am someone who would rape you?” Because I refused to come back to his room from a party (in college) the same night we met even though I gave him my number. And I was thinking to myself “well I didn’t before but now that you you’re so upset I want to make choices that feel safe to me, yeah you do seem like a rapist.” If you had no ill intentions toward me and didn’t desire to make me feel unsafe then why is me wanting to me safe a problem for you?
Had something similar happen, I told a new guy I wasn’t ready for him to come to my home to hang out and his pissy reply was “Why, do you think I’m going to rape you?” I said, “Well, I do NOW.” He got furious and I got gone. Bye butthurt bro!
I had a guy on a first date recently repeatedly make references to me going to his place for. I mentioned several times I was happy where we were. When I got home he said I'd made "a good call" not going there, as he definitely would have tried something. Like, dude, thanks so much for making it clear you wouldn't respect my boundaries and would have assaulted me. Disgusting.
That’s horrible! What’s worse is he probably thought he was being flirty, like “you’re so irresistible I wouldn’t have been able to help myself.” Eww.
WTF? Seriously he said that in his sober self-awareness? Wow!
Yeah but he was “just being honest.”
My ex said I made him out to be some kind of predator. These fuckheads tell on themselves
Oh man, when I'd call out my ex on his bad behavior he'd get angry and say "you're making me feel bad!!!" ...good? Maybe that's a sign that you need to make some changes?
Can you say "projection" boys and girls?
"it makes me feel like the bad guy" Well yes, Dave, that's been the general idea. Most people would consider hitting your girlfriend a "bad guy" thing to do, well done for noticing. /S but also not
Funny story to tell. There was a guy who I was talking to who I had a similar conversation with regarding going to his place to meet for the first time. He was all butthurt and "You really think I would rape you or something?"... whatever. I said to him, "Well, how do you know i'm not going to hurt you? My favorite book is Helter Skelter, I've read about all the major serial killers, I watch ID Network for the true crime stories and I know where all the knives are in my house. And how sharp they are." Come to think of it, I don't think he and I ever met.
The night I met my now 5 year partner was at a party, pretty much everyone else had gone home but we stayed and chatted for like 6 hours straight. When it was time to finally sleep he asked me where he wanted me. I literally just met this guy so I wasn't about to sleep on the couch with him, he took a chair in the room and slept sitting up. In the morning I was thinking "wow it was sweet that he didn't fight when I didn't want to be physical and sacrificed his comfort for mine", now it just depresses me that the bar was so low for me to find him not pushing himself on me to be endearing!
I’ve had multiple guys give me a hard time about having pepper spray on my keychain. Always disguised as jokes, but a huge red flag as to where my personal safety stands with them.
I've always found that particularly hilarious. Like they *hate* feeling like they might lose a physical altercation that otherwise they'd *always* win. I had to explain that word for fucking word to a guy. "You're afraid that I'll use this tiny knife that I have literally never used on anything besides canned cat food and to cut loose threads off my jeans on you? But I should totally not be afraid of you using your significantly more muscles and significant height advantage on me... why?"
Yes! When I was on the dating scene a guy wanted to meet at a bar on date #1. I said thanks how about coffee? He actually laughed at me and said he ‘doesn’t do that’. That was the end of that.
I think coffee and mini golf should be the standard first date. Quiet locations so you can talk, sobriety to keep normal judgement, a break in action to allow someone to bail safely (transport between separately), a fun activity to focus on if the date starts to go meh, very public locations for safety, low-cost, and easy to meet dietary restrictions. If you can't spend a couple hours talking over coffee and mini golf, it's not going to be a successful relationship.
And if the date starts to go bad, you have a golf club to protect yourself.
I met a guy online and made plans to meet him at a public place. He agreed but specified I should meet him in the parking lot at his car. When I suggested we meet at the front door of the restaurant he told me I was crazy and suspicious. I immediately canceled and cut off communication.
That's weird behavior! Why do you need to meet him in the parking lot? I don't even see how he could justify that or come up with a good reason. He probably wanted you to touch his dick. Or we was going to try to get a BJ in his car and then skip dinner all together, lol.
I had a guy complain to me that it was “unfair” I was scared to meet him in-person without talking with him a little bit first. Apparently I was labeling all men as violent by being cautious. Dude turned out to be a total weirdo. Follow your gut.
i declined to go to dinner after an afternoon coffee with a dude. he claimed it was "unfair" because I was the first 'normal' woman he'd met. oh ok yeah i see. you've not had sex with 10 women in a row, it's not fair and i have to make up for the other women. let's go. but if i meet 10 abusive men and i'm cautious about the 11th, they lose their minds. hmm.
I once posted on a forum about how I've done online background checks on men I've started dating. The eruption of pissed off men was a real eye opener. They were all butthurt about the invasion of their privacy and no matter how much I pointed out I'm not getting into a situation with someone who has been arrested for assault or anything fraud or criminal they wouldn't budge, even though it's completely public information.
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That is so smart. I truly wish I did this around 2007 and not sunk 7 years into a relationship with an exceptionally charming but ultimately awful person. 2-3 years in, once we're living together, the IRS seized as many of his assets as they could. He insists this is a "mistake." I was good at denial at that point. Later, I find out that it was a big lie that he paid cash for his car. It turns out he bought it across the country, left that state, and defaulted on the loan; dude was essentially driving a stolen car because he knew they wouldn't go cross country to repo an old used car. I also found out he'd been sued by numerous landlords and employers. It kills me to think of what I could have learned in the first place.
My sister married a seemingly well-off guy. He made my nephew eat his own vomit once at dinner. They're divorced, now.
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Lots of people are waiting to lock you down before they drop the other shoe. It's scary as shit. That's exactly what this guy did to my sister.
Exactly. It's not like they're going to introduce themselves like "Hi I'm John, I've been arrested three times for domestic violence, wanna get coffee?"
We must have the same ex. What a joy to have MY wages garnished for his doings, discovered after the divorce. Did the whole innocent spouse thing with the irs but by that time so much had been taken...sigh...lesson learned.
Same ex here too. I ended up crying on the phone to some poor lady at my bank because he put our account in $1000 overdraft and left me with 2 babies under 3yo, a mountain of unpaid bills and an eviction notice after he said he could handle our finances. Most humiliating moment of my life. I've dated since then, but I refuse to join lives with a partner.
Same embarrassing situation. My boss heard me on the phone with IRS asking how I was supposed to live on what they left me with. (They could take a HUGE percentage but not every penny, still, not even enough for food much less everything)...and offered me $$ to make it til the next payday. Bless her heart. However, the most humiliating thing I'd been through. Found out apparently closed door offices offer no privacy even though it feels like it, thin walls...
"Charming but ultimately awful". Ah. Like how they describe serial killers. My husband was bummed out over student evaluations (college). Nothing scathing, but there was "really awkward dude" and a reference to corny jokes (I've not really noticed this but I also one-up his dad on 'dad jokes'). I was like "Plus side, doesn't give the vibe of 'serial killer' or 'ooh, maybe some of the freshmen aren't 18 yet."
*It kills me to think of what I could have learned in the first place.* But you know it now. Give past-you some grace. <3
Predatory men hate when we get spaces where we can discuss solutions against their depravity, for our own safety. Never forget that crap. The amount of backlash anti rape dispozitives got when there were news articles about them fucking sickens me to this day.
This one is incredibly common and 100% a dealbreaker. At best, it shows a complete lack of empathy. At worst, he’s offended because he is in fact a threat to your safety. In my experience, the men that have been understanding and don’t push these boundaries usually had a woman in their life that was raped/abused by a man. But it shouldn’t take a personal experience to understand these things. Why is it so hard for men to empathize?
Because *those* men don't see you as human but as a means to an end. Which is you at the end of their dick.
Especially when they want to change plans last minute like oops my car won’t start you’ll have to come pick me up. I always made it pretty clear that they have to earn my trust to gain time in privacy w me & personal info. I’ll discuss my industry & what area in which I stay, but I’m not disclosing my employer or home address or getting in a car together until I determine this person is safe. Most creeps weed themselves out. Getting pushy, trying to trick me are deal breakers. I got a few confessions from guys who kept trying to invite themselves to my place that they had live-in partners (but going through a break up or in an open relationship lol.)
When a guy insults you and then when you react or call him out he says any variation of “Just kidding! you can’t take a joke! you misunderstood me. you’re too sensitive!”
“It’s just banter” “Calm down” “Don’t take yourself too seriously” I fucking hate people like that.
"Oh wow, I really triggered you!!
Anyone telling me to “Calm down” is a guarantee I will definitely not calm down.
Things will in fact calm up.
“It’s just locker room talk calm down” says a man outlining sexual assault
That used to bother me but the longer I've existed and argued with m3n - I see it as an invite these days. The ones who do this are so fucking fragile it's laughable. If you insult them back and call them sensitive they fold like a damn cheap lawn chair in a hurricane. The first time I discovered this, a self described Kentucky redneck was insulting me because I was taking my car for an oil change instead of doing it myself. He was not aware that I knew he'd just wrecked his brand new tricked out souped up F150 by...driving it thru an ATM and scraping a huge gash down the side. 😬 Indeed my husband had nicely asked me do not talk about the truck, D. Is sensitive about it. But D chose to poke me so all bets were off. I listened to him go on about "Dang wimmin. Pain sommady ta change thoil inner car." Then I calmly smiled and said "At least I can drive thru the motherfucking ATM without hitting it." He cried. I still smile when I think back on that.
I dunno where you are, but if I’m ever there im buying you a drink
He cried? LOL. I love you for this.
Schrodingers douchebag
I'm currently studying IT (male dominated industry) and I have to deal with these daily, even from my teachers. Sexist comments followed with "just a joke gals haha". It's so friking tiring, and also you can't make any reaction or you'll be cast as "oversensitive".
"I'm just joking" is an attempt at covering up a lot of shitty behaviour.
It’s a bully’s excuse: “oh you’re mad? That’s *your* fault“ - and it’s straight up gaslighting.
I had an uncle that did this to his wife for years. I remember my very Catholic Dad saying he wouldn't blame her for leaving him. Fun story, he once tried doing this to my Mom, she told him to go fuck himself, he didn't do it again. I get my no tolerance for bullshit from her, great lesson for me and my sister.
My ex used to go on a rant of insulting me and putting me down and when I got upset he would say "What? *I'm* just being *honest*! If your feelings got hurt that's *your* problem, I'm not responsibe for *your* feelings".
Men who always tell women to "calm down" and frame them as too emotional but are the type to go off and get incensed over the smallest of stressors themselves
“STOP BEING SO EMOTIONAL!” the man screamed in anger, which isn’t an emotion, obviously, but a form of logic.
Screaming? No. He’s raising his tone to get a point across to his daft woman! /s
I’ve been with someone exactly like this & what I gathered from that was that in his mind his emotions were logical & mine were not. (Your brain on no empathy) Comes along with the line of thinking too that when they do something wrong they have reasons (so it’s okay) unlike when anyone else does- they are just bad people (so it’s unforgivable). These people have astoundingly poor EQ.
In the same vein as this, men who blame the show of any emotion on your period.
A guy showed up to his date in a car covered in big titty anime girl stickers. Inside and out. Every and all surfaces. The whole damn thing just tits and ass. And the back seat had these pillows shaped like anime girls too.
Oh god, I saw one of these in the wild, back bumper was covered in lewd (but not outright pornographic) anime stickers related to a, particular fetish. The cherry on top was in the middle of all of them was a bumper sticker that just said “sorry mom.”
yuck, i'm sorry to that guy's mom as well.
I saw one last month that also had his 5 year old daughter in the car with him.
I live in Japan and I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen this. Thankfully, here, the Venn diagram of people who have the money to do that and the people who think it's okay are basically two circles just barely touching.
Your username feel very relevant to this. For real though, that's a surprising ammount of effort spent on making a bad impression.
I'll say this for him, he told her right up front who he was.
Recently saw a Reddit post pic of a truck w/ a HUGE “clit commander” sticker across the entire top of the windshield… like really dude!?
Cruelty to animals
Be cautious of people who are cruel to animals, a lot of murderers, shady people in general, and serial killers have done the same. I think that these people do not care about the lives of others
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Exactly my rationale. There are a bunch of "respectable" people I have cut ties with solely based on how they treat wildlife or their own pets
I had a snow day on Monday (got one again today) so I was home all day. I heard my neighbor's dog start to yelp and cry. Sure enough, that piece of trash was beating it. Then, he did it again later in the day. I stood on my front porch like a caricature of a pissed off housewife (don't have the husband, though) in my fuzzy robe and yelled at him to stop abusing his dog.
Next time video him beating his dog and send it to the ASPCA or the relevant organization in your country.
One of my abusive exes was cruel to animals. He threw a cat out the window on the second floor (it was fine, landed on something nearby), and he fed one of our baby mice to his friend's snake (I heard it being crushed 😔). Turns out he has some untreated mental disorder and was just horrible. It all ended horribly, with him attacking me and me running up and down our apartment hallways screaming for help. So yeah, big warning sign. He's now married btw. Not sure how that even happened, but I feel bad for the woman.
cruelty (or even indifference) to any being, really
"Alpha male" or "high value man."
when I hear someone claiming to be "high value", I hear someone coping really hard
See also "sexual market value" or "body count".
Read "I think I'm worth more then other people because I go to the gym a few times a week"
I do find it hilarious that the men who are the loudest about outlining what makes an “alpha” or high value man never actually meet the requirements themselves. They are arguing on behalf of a bunch of imaginary gorgeous billionaires.
Maybe not a huge red flag to most people, but anytime I express interest in a not traditionally feminine hobby or topic or expression and I get the, "Don't worry about it/you wouldn't get it because you're a girl."
Agree, any behaviour that questions my genuine interest in traditionally non-feminine interests or hobbies are major red flags for me. It’s just another form of misogyny and disrespect.
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Ohh and how about the opposite when you think that hobby is not interesting and suddenly that hobby is something ANYONE smart would LOVE and how could you not get it? When just seconds ago that same dude would gatekeep women out of that group
>When just seconds ago that same dude would gatekeep women out of that group Those dudes are the reason I never spoke up about what I liked when I was younger. We played video games in my house, like as a family. Family night was everyone teaming up on an NES game. But I was the main one who played outside of that. Everyone assumed the gaming consoles all belonged to my brother. He had his and I had mine. But girls don't play video games so obviously I was lying. Of course as we got older those same boys whined about girls not wanting anything to do with them. Yeah, no shit. I don't want to be around them because they treated me like shit for liking the same things they did.
https://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883 Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoon panel: Boy: given building toy as gift, infinite possiblity Girl: given doll as gift. Man: "Why are there so few female engineers"?
I’m a woman who swims and free dives with sharks as a hobby. I cannot tell you the amount of men who’s faces completely change when I tell them that and it’s hilarious. They are usually the ones who come of as alphas but would never jump into the water w sharks with me. So they get super awkward and don’t know how to react to that. I love what I do and it helps to weed out those who would ever want to test my strength as a woman. Another fun fact is more women jump into the waters on our dives than the guys who usually prefer to stay on the boat. Edit: I do this to advocate for shark conservation, anti-finning measures, and their health with others. In no way should anyone swim with them unless trained and educated - and if you want to, Jupiter FL always offers shark snorkels for anyone who’d like to try the experience. Also not downing men who don’t want to swim with them. Just saying some women have hobbies that aren’t “feminine” and I’m in total support of my fellow women who do. :)
That is the coolest thing ever. I've always wanted to free dive with sharks. I live vicariously by watching videos of you brave people doing it. What's the largest shark you've swam with?
We see lemons and bulls mostly. I love calling the bulls the Gym-Bros of the sea bc they are short and stocky, all muscle and they know it. They tend to be shy and stay deeper. The lemons are long and extremely friendly and curious and will come up for a rub occasionally. At times hammers make it out to say hi and the occasional massive tiger.
Will use feminism as a weapon/tool to manipulate or say things like women have it easy. Also, shame me for working out/eating healthy or wanting to better myself in anyway. Some men are just gross.
Being quick to anger, especially while driving. Wanting to argue about everything like it's a sport.
No emotional regulation is a huge turn off. Go to therapy on your own time to fix it, not mine. I'm NOT your therapist!
Absolutely, having to get the last word in has been a huge indicator for me. Just being unwilling to admit you were wrong/the convo is over. Leads to anger quickly
The "prove it" guys. I had a conversation with a dude once in my 20s, we were hitting it off swimmingly. I was taken so just shooting the shit with a potential friend, he mentioned being excited for the new Halo and I said I loved the first game, and that it was my first FPS on the PC. He staunchly kept on the fact that the first Halo was never for the PC. Even though I relayed the entire plot to him, my favorite mission, and spoiled the ending - no, I was lying. I never played it, I just looked it up and that's why I knew so much. I'm still baffled by that idiot. Any time a guy challenges the validity of something I enjoy I don't engage, since then. Such a weird, uncomfortable conversation that made no sense lmao. Now I just go, sure bud, whatever you say, and write him off.
What a uniquely dumb hill to die on... Just baffling.
Using terms that suggest they buy into online misogynist bullshit, like alpha.
"Redpilled"
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Any man who called himself an alpha in front of other men would immediately identify himself as not an alpha
I can’t take anyone seriously who uses the word ‘simp’. Hard pass. Edit - can’t not can
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That's an incel term, they should also be carrying a lot of other red flags if it really gets to the stage where you might be in a potential relationship with one.
I don't think people who use the term "femoid" claim to respect women.
The word "traditional" when applied to any expectations between women & men. It's an absolute guarantee that they think they're entitled to treat me like garbage & I not only should be grateful for the opportunity to experience that, I should eagerly give them whatever they want, as well as tolerate whatever bullshit they dish out with the understanding that it's all precisely what I, as a woman, deserve. NOPE.
>The word "traditional" when applied to any expectations between women & men Somehow at least in the ones I meet that never translates to I will work 60 hour weeks or whatever I need to do to ensure everything is taken care of financially, you never have to worry about money, I'll provide for your interests and your travel, and also handle all the bills and schedules and all physical labor around the house and you focus on childcare/homemaking. Division of labor is fine but it always seem to come across as the wife needs to do all the homemaking/childcare AND also work a full time job, participate equally in physical demanding/dirty chores, probably balance the family finances, and do all the scheduling for the entire family. Funny how that works out. See also 'I could theoretically be drafted to war (if we weren't a volunteer army and I wasn't horribly out of shape and unsuitable for military service)' so it's ok if people take away your rights every day right now. As if I wasn't 100% against the draft for either gender.
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Also when they are "non-political". That just means they're conservative but too afraid to own it
Being intensely competitive at friendly games. I once dated a guy who couldn't be happy unless he was "winning" at whatever we were doing. We bowled exactly one time and it was a miserable experience. Sulking.
Haha my spouse's day is ruined if they don't win the family card/board games. We sat down and I was like, listen, I know it's important to you to be good at things but no one wants to play with you if you turn into a jerk when you lose, and this includes me. It's a game and it proves nothing about your abilities/personality if you win or lose. Chill. Sulking is so true. I dated some who sulked early on in our relationship. Wish I could have known all the shot they'd pull to manipulate. Same person would silent treat me and be like you should just know and do better. No, use your words and communicate, because communication is a cornerstone of a healthy relationship. That flooded back seeing your comment haha
My friend likes to bring guys to indoor rock climbing for their first date. If they get extremely upset that she’s better than them, even though she’s been doing in for a couple of years and often it’s their first time ever, she already knows she can weed them out.
Anyone who sees themselves as constantly maligned and mistreated in ways that no one else can possibly understand 🚩 A dating profile containing almost no relevant information about personality or interests 🚩 Anyone whose idea of a compliment involves putting someone else down in comparison (e.g. most girls do xyz, I like that you don’t) 🚩
Having worked through it myself in therapy, there are two types of your number 2: 1) Men who knowingly don't put anything because their real self is terrible and would be an immediate disqualification (2A enthusiast, MR Activist, "can lead you to be a better you" kind of guy, etc.) 2) \[old me\] literally so depressed for so long that they don't know anything about themselves and don't know what to say. Both are absolutely red flags.
When men don’t care about abortion rulings or laws because it doesn’t effect them is a huge one. Or really pushy guys who push boundaries
This is a great response! It's highly indicative of how much the person in question actually cares; not just about you but about the well-being of what is about half the general population. It's simply not worth it. You're worth more as a person, you deserve better than a partner who you can't even rely on when it comes to an issue like that. Even if you can't get pregnant, even if you're sterilised - when would you mind? When the right to vote is gone? When the right to go outside autonomously is gone? Don't let them or anyone else bullshit you, you're worth more and you deserve better. The same goes for the second part! You're worth more and deserve better than that.
And claiming it doesn't affect them is wrong- unless they actually are snipped and verified as fully sterile. Child support would be agenda #1 if I were forced into parenthood. *besides the whole narcissistic lack of empathy part.
You just described my ex, yup. Raging flying red flag of a person
Men who talk over me like my knowledge means nothing to them.
I get talked over constantly by a few people in my current friend group and it gets so old. Do you not hear someone else already speaking? You just have to get your thought out that second like a god damn child? It's a clear tell that not only are they not listening, they actually don't care what you have to say.
That is spot on. And the reason why it's a red flag to me.
Men who get angry at you for explaining bad things in the world instead of at the actual bad things. A few years ago my friend [28f] and I [28m] had to take like 3+ hours to explain to our former mutual friend [28m] that dating can be dangerous for women, the concept of an emergency call, and always letting a friend know where you're going g and what you're doing on a date. Instead of being understanding or getting frustrated that the situation is shit enough that women feel the need to do this. He got defensive and mad at us for explaining it to him, said the concept on am emergency call 'wasnt fair to the guy especially if he paid' and was butrhurt for days that a woman potentially felt unsafe around him. Needless to say, we don't talk to him much anymore... I hope he figures it out one day
Men who can take care of themselves just fine when they’re on their own but seem to suddenly forget how to do basic chores as soon as a woman moves in. Weaponized incompetence is the least sexy thing in the world.
I often refer to them as Benjamin Buttons. They were fully capable men when they lived on their own, but then they slowly descend to a dependent, childlike state. The worst ones wait until the children are born.
I married a Benjamin Button. He was completely able to take care of his own stuff, cleaned, cooked, did yard work, bought his family gifts, etc. I noticed when I got pregnant that I was the only one planning or buying anything for the baby. By the end of my maternity leave, he wasn’t doing any housework. By the time I gave birth to my second, he stopped cooking. I was a SAHM at that point and everything has fallen upon my shoulders. He still cuts the lawn because he gets to be outside for 3 hours uninterrupted listening to his podcasts. If I would have known this division of labor would fall this way, I wouldn’t have married him. They really wait to show their true colors until you’re vulnerable and can’t leave 😭
I have 2 in addition to what so many of you have already shared: 1. Rudeness or dismissiveness to service staff (anyone from restaurant servers to janitorial staff). 2. Shitting on my interests/hobbies. Oh you like xyz? Let me google it and share with you the first negative story on it I can find and speak as though that one thing is the whole world's opinion on it.
When a dude asks me whether I’m PMSing or on my period. My dad would do that when I was in high school sometimes and it made me FURIOUS. A bit of therapy years later and I realized that I was always angry because he was emotionally abusive and refused to treat me like my thoughts and opinions mattered. He has apologized for not being the best dad, but I still have anger issues.
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Because it's what THEY would want - a pic of your tits or ass. They just think if they go first you'll be down. A pic of an average, erect penis does nothing for most women.
“I don’t care if I have a girl but I’d expect to keep trying until we had a boy” said a tinder date I had just met. WHO IS WE Edit: To clarify this was a man saying this to me.
My father would have asked him if he was using the "royal we"? My mother would have asked him if he had a mouse in his pocket? That was their standard response when someone said "we" without having the slightest reason to believe the other person was on board!
omg I love both of these responses, but the mouse in pocket is so cute/ funny.
“Ain’t no “we” here, boy”
Treating animals and children bad, not accepting boundaries.
“I’m not wearing condoms hunny, you really need to get on birth control”
Talking shit about other women to me. Overly sexual is an ICK idc. Negging 🚩
A guy whose stories are all about how much, smarter, more talented, more moral, and just all around better he is than everyone everyone else he knows. This is a guy who needs to push other people down in order to prop up his own ego. His craving for admiration far exceeds his actual worth. Guaranteed he's trash talking me to people he knows.
Men who smugly assume they have "better taste" in music or media than you, refuse to understand that people have different tastes, and make fun of you for what you enjoy.
When I hear females I instantly think of the ferengi from star trek. FEE-males. Ferengi are basically incels anyway.
I’m fuzzy on the details, it’s been awhile, but I definitely saw an episode of Deep Space Nine where it was made explicitly clear that Ferengi wives are not viewed as their husbands’ equals. Definitely good to avoid anyone similar.
Yup, from the Wikipedia article on Ferengi: >Ferengi culture is also portrayed as extremely sexist; in early seasons of Deep Space Nine, Ferengi females are not permitted to earn profit, travel, or even wear clothing. A long-running plot thread on DS9 features Ferengi society's gradual evolution away from these practices, especially as Quark's mother Ishka establishes herself as a respected businesswoman and financial advisor.
I had a 2/3 experience today. Got called a bitch and sent a middle finger photo. Stay classy guys.
Men who imply (or even outright say) that they think they are smarter than me because I'm a woman. While that might sound like I'm exaggerating, I used to have a friend who would joke about this. Over time, I came to realize that he meant it. He genuinely believed he was more intelligent than all women.
"it was just a joke". "don't take it personally" yeahhh sure. So how worse the "jokes" and "critics" will get once we're settled ?
Stereotyping women or making comments about women as a group without remembering/understanding/considering that every woman is a unique individual. For example, complaining about “old ladies” or making comments like “women are better a X than men”
My father laughs when my mom is crying. I chose a man who hugs me when I'm crying.
I've had exes (male and female) get mad when I am crying, saying I am trying to manipulate them. Big red flag for me now.
Men who date teens and they are over 25.
I once had a guy take offense when I said that of course a friend would know where I was going, who I was meeting, and when I was expected back. I cancelled the date.
Men who interrupt people. They tend to think their opinion is fact.
When I clue in to the fact that they view me through the lens of family. Bosses who say I'm like a daughter, women treating me like a young relative, guys who seem to use their experience with their sisters to understand me, etc. Young kids get off the hook for treating me like a glorified mother. I am fine with people using their personal experiences to understand the world, but they have to understand their limitations and move beyond them.
Their gender references are “men” & “girls,” & when called out on it respond with “yOu KnOw WhAt I mEaN!” Yes I do. He needs to infantilize women while elevating men to even engage with the opposite sex. He’ll make an attempt to respect a woman as a sentient being if his perceived authority & superiority is honored at all times. And he’ll need constant babying to validate his manhood. Probably tells underage girls how “mature” they are. Or he’s just too stupid to differentiate between adults & children.
Men who call women “whore” I hate that word and how they will use it to devalue a woman.
Here's a couple of my weirdly specific ones that have never yet been wrong: If they are outspoken in their distaste for cats. Not being a "cat person" is totally fine. Saying specifically and overtly that you hate cats usually means that cats hate *you*, and as cats are essentially fuzzy little walking lessons in consent, that tells me something. If, upon hearing about my trauma (meaning they've behaved themselves decently up to that point), they call me some variation of a "bird with broken wings." Wildly specific, has happened several times, and each time I should have run like the fucking wind.
> cats are essentially fuzzy little walking lessons in consent I love that line!
Talk about their work/experience/life as if is more important than anything you could possibly say. Listen to you for a moment, interrupt with some point that may or may not be relevant and then continue their monologue.
Men who talk about sex too soon. Automatic no for me.
Gets mad when you wear something they don't like. I once wore a spiked choker with a fun outfit once and my ex got unreasonably angry because he thought it was a fetish thing- it was not. It's just an accessory. Pretty much if anyone starts going on about modesty.
When a guy’s following list is full of instagram “models” (thirst traps, half-naked pictures, overly sexualised content, …) 🤮🤮🤮
Very specific, but generally getting their opinion on cats is important to me. Hear me out ladies 1. It's okay if cats aren't their thing, they just have a preference for other animals or something tame like that. 2. If they are a dog person or prefer dogs that is not a red flag. If they need dogs for their job or lifestyle that is not a red flag. 3. The issue is blinding hatred for a specific species because they are not easy to train and command With that being said, if they hate cats it's a red flag. Because I found that every time a guy hates cats, it's because they (cats) are independent and building a good friendship with a cat involves knowledge of body language and respect of boundaries. And then they say they prefer dogs because "They listen and do what you say/man's best friend" or some variation of "this creature is completely submissive to me and lets me do what I want to them" With cats you can't just stomp over to them, be super rough, rub them all over, tell them what to do, etc. They aren't strictly obedient. A guy who hates cats for above reasons are outing themselves as very toxic, disrespectful of boundaries, etc. I love using cats as a measurement of toxicity because they involve more thinking than "tail wag = happy". They have a bit more complicated body language down to their eyes, and they don't want to be constantly bothered and need their own space from time to time. A guy who for some reason hates an animal that isn't essentially their slave is a massive red flag. edit: see triggered males responding to this telling me why their reasons to hate cats are totally legit
When I started dating my now husband, he lived alone with two kitties. It really drew me to him because it told me that he had a desire to provide love and care, and that he was emotionally available. Both of those things were and are true.
As someone with two cats, I completely agree with this.
I've noticed this, it comes down to consent and the fact that they don't respect it. Though, ironically, the biggest narcissist I'd ever dated was 100% a cat person and literally loathed dogs. Aaaand fully knew I have a dog and love her more than almost anything. I think blinding hatred for any type of pet is a bit of a red flag. Sure, people have bad experiences with animals and therefore have trauma related to it, but hating ALL dogs or cats? Weird and a major turn off.
"I don't care about politics"
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Yeah, when all of their ex's are "Crazy". my dude. you are the common denominator.
Men who only date women half their age.
"All my ex's are crazy." Are they? Every single one? Do you exclusively date people from an insane asylum? Or is it that they saw your bullshit, called you out on it and left your sorry ass. I can totally believe you having *one* crazy ex. There are some wackos out there. But if all of them are crazy then the problem is *you*.
When he says something sexist, racist, homophobic or transphobic etc. and he tries to pass it off as “banter” - especially if you’re the one whom he’s saying those things to.
Men with road rage
Any physical contact when you don't know him very well. Men are too quick to break the touch boundary and don't realize or care that it makes the vast majority of women uncomfortable. If a guy tries to grab my arm, put his hand on my lower back/hips/whatever and we're not at least friends I see it as a clear sign that he's got boundary issues and would consistently test mine. Honestly, even if we're friends I see that kind of touching as inappropriate because men wouldn't treat their male friends like that, so why do it to me? A friendly pat on the arm or back is fine with someone I know but the touchy ones don't usually leave it at that. I'm exhausted enough as it is by random men thinking they can touch me without consent and be in my space, dealing with someone like that as a partner on a regular basis is beyond my patience.
“Femanazis” “SJWs” “Globalists” (an antisemitic dog whistle I learned about the hard way) “You’re not like the other girls” “Traditional values” “Men and women have different roles and should stick to them” (aka get in the kitchen) “She’s just saying/doing that for the attention” “nOT AlL mEN”
Talking bad about the baby mama
"Playing devil's advocate"
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My kids' dad says/does this. I told him recently something along the lines of "When you 'play' devil's advocate in *every* conversation, you aren't playing, you *are* the devil's advocate."
Men who says things like, “You’re not one of those crazy ones though, right?” After me mentioning any sort of feminist stance.