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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TCNJ chapter.

“All’s fair in love and war.” And love definitely feels like war these days. With predators out for your heart, we all feel like warriors with our shields up in the battlefield of love. It’s important to know what you’re up against. We can blame it on these tempestuous men, but girls can be just as manipulative. These creatures go by two different names but have very similar games: man-eaters and womanizers. Ladies, it’s time we flip the switch and look at our own gender.

We’re all familiar with womanizers. Britney Spears pegged this breed of men when she sang “Daddy-O, You got the swagger of a champion. Too bad for you, You just can’t find the right companion.” Womanizers pretend to be Prince Charming when in actuality they are emotionally unavailable boys. They’re unpredictable, dishonest, and have high egos but their charm and seductiveness encapsulates you. The spell they put you under makes you forget that you hang out when it’s convenient for him and that he has so many girl “friends” constantly messaging him. However, they’re not the only masters of this witchcraft. Their female counter-parts can be just as deadly—possibly worse.

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A man-eater by definition is an irresistible woman who chews and spits men out after using them for some sort of gain—be it sexual, financial, or psychological. She is a confident woman who uses her powers of seduction or cleverness to draw in the unsuspecting male. A man-eater’s best quality is her ability not to care. She knows she’ll win in the game of love so she is fearless in pursuit of what she wants. However, when she realizes this man is no longer worth her time, he is left emotionally distraught. An emotional mess for the next woman to clean up. Man-eaters have been documented in our musical history as Hall and Oates sings “She could really rip your world apart…the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart” and Nelly sings “Man-eater, Make you fall real hard in love…You wish you’d never ever met her at all”. Their success comes in the packaging: manly in mannerisms of sexuality but charismatic for the male gaze. Whoever said sirens were mythological creatures were terribly wrong.

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So both man-eaters and womanizers are charismatic creatures who leave people devastated in the wake of their absence—what’s the difference? Man-eaters generally take pleasure in gaining your love whereas womanizers strive to simply use you. We often think men are the dirtiest players in the game of love; however, we underestimate the power of a stealthy woman. When these two creatures come head to head? Power struggle at its finest. I believe Britney Spears said it best when she sang, “you say I’m crazy, I got you crazy”. Perhaps the man-eaters need to meet the womanizers to be on the same playing field of mutual disrespect.

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Kyra Mackesy graduated The College of New Jersey with a BA in Journalism and Professional Writing and a minor in Criminology in 2019. While at TCNJ, she was an active member of their Her Campus chapter, holding a wide array of positions: President and Campus Correspondent, Editor-in-Chief, Senior Editor, Marketing and Publicity Director, and Social Media Manager. She loved seeing her chapter grow throughout her four years in college, and will remain an active Her Campus Alumni.