It’s the mantra of the times: men suck. Whether you are laughing about it over brunch, stitching it into a decorative [thing you stitch into] or whispering it to yourself as you scroll through his Instagram in your bed at 1am, we’ve all been there! Nothing is more on-brand for a male-attracted person of the times than constantly reiterating your disgust at men in general, especially at those moments you’re pining after them the most.
Complaining about their lack of consideration, encyclopaedic knowledge of car makes and disdain for astrology is a well-known therapeutic activity, and frankly, it’s what you’re known for. At this point, you have become your friends’ go-to whenever they need to complain about men, because you’re so good at it.
While there is never a bad time to complain about a man’s poor communication skills, poor relationship with grooming or obsession with Redit, it’s especially easy to do when it’s radio silence on his end. You know when you were the last one to start a conversation on messenger, you know he has been online three times in the past hour and you know his phone has a twelve-hour battery life, and these are the perfect facts to fuel your righteous outrage. But how do you keep the same moral anger when he finally messages you first?
There are a few important points to remember:
He’s messaged you first, sure, but why has it taken him this long? You may be overjoyed with the knowledge that out of everyone in his life, in the past five minutes he has chosen to talk to you, but try and temper that joy with a bit of perspective: who has he been messaging instead of you for the past three days? Give him a taste of his own medicine, and leave that message sitting in your inbox for seventeen minutes. That will really make up for the past 72 hours.
What has he messaged you about? Is he complaining about his uni workload? His exam timetable? How stressed he is balancing his extensive social life that doesn’t seem to involve you with work commitments? Before you complete that online counselling course so that you can be the best shoulder for him to cry on out of all the other shoulders he has access to ask yourself: does he want to talk to me, or at me? Knowing isn’t going to stop you playing psychologist for the next hour, but you can still be mad about it.
Finally, how often does this happen? If this is the first time there has been a lull in his responsiveness, you were probably justifying it to yourself that he was busy spending time with his family that he said he doesn’t get along with, or catching up on an assignment you know he doesn’t have! But if this was only the latest occasion in a series of ghostings, let that anger flow!
Without proof in the form of hourly updates on his Instagram story, it’s safe to assume the worst: that he’s deliberately avoiding making plans with you because you’re annoying and unattractive.
So, whenever you’re struggling to maintain your image of righteous outrage at men because he sent you a message and now you’ve put your life on hold to plan your future wedding with him, remember to hone in on all his flaws!
Love is good, but the clout you garner from #relatable social media posts is better, and there’s no better way to relate to your audience than complaining about men.
