Men—grown in our wombs, birthed and raised by us, some of us even devote our lives through marriage to them. Is misogyny the thanks that women get? A viral thread has sparked discourse online by revealing a concerning truth that masses of men actually hate their girlfriends.
First things first, claiming that all men hate women is an obvious overgeneralization that is not only false but also perpetuates an unfair stereotype within a diverse group of people. It is evident that lots of men love and support women, but an important reflection should be made on how men are using tactics to imply they love their girlfriends when the reality is in direct opposition.
“That phase where you slowly start hating your girlfriend is crazy” is a tweet that single-handedly created an influx on X (formerly known as Twitter) of men describing the ways in which they view women inferiorly. Tweets were posted discussing criticism of women doing normal everyday things like eating or asking their boyfriend how their day was. Simultaneously, men were seen begging to be caught cheating or for other men to take their girlfriend off their hands. Replies ranged from heavily disguising sexism with humor to blatantly being misogynistic.
In response, this rightfully left women feeling overall hurt and/or insecure in their current relationships—asking themselves if their boyfriends truly love them or not. An abundance of women turned to TikTok to voice their opinions.
All of this is immensely troubling for various reasons: sexism is being normalized, men are not prioritizing up-front communication, and the basis of these tweets is forcibly dragging women for the most mundane actions, indicating pure contempt for women solely because of their gender.
One basic solution would seemingly end the issue these men are voicing so strongly online; break up with your girlfriend and never date women again if you do not like them this much! Instead, they continuously choose to treat women poorly as shown through this thread in addition to countless methods in the real world.
When women show men affection or do things for them as monumental as giving them life, why do men then live a life committed to hating women? Perhaps this is a fear of the power women hold being the ones who cultivate human existence, perhaps this is an overcompensation for a fear of not being masculine enough, or perhaps lessening women serves them well in a patriarchal society.
No matter the reason, there is an increasingly loud need for feminist pursuit in our world so be eminent about confronting problems similar to this viral thread, raising awareness on unjust topics of all scales, challenging stereotypes that foster hatred, and engaging in opportunities that press for a better cause. Before we know it, these contributions will lead to a humankind that is more equitable and fair than present circumstances reveal.