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These days, we hear and read a lot about the crisis of masculinity. People discuss all types of masculinities: traditional, toxic, performative males, and even fragile masculinity. The latter probably surprises women most often. What do you mean you won't cuddle with my male cat because it's gay?

That's just one example of a man being so insecure in his masculinity that it made his partner do a double take. Unfortunately, there are more who think that doing something or acting a certain kind of way will be a threat to their male ego. Bored Panda has collected answers from two threads on r/AskWomen where someone asked: "What examples of fragile masculinity have you encountered?" and even we had a hard time believing the things men think threaten their masculinity.

#1

51 Of The Most Ridiculous Ways Fragile Masculinity Manifested In Men I worked in a male dominated profession. I was at a field meeting where I was the only woman. The man who had requested the meeting refused to work with me and demanded that I bring my supervisor the next time. So I did but he didn’t like her either.

jjetsam , Getty Images Report

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    #2

    Woman with a tattoo on her arm, wearing a black top and mask, doing lat pulldowns at the gym. Examples of fragile masculinity. I was doing my weight lifting set at the gym and another guy wanted to use the same machine that I was. Since the rest of our routines didn't overlap at all, we had no issues working around eachother. After I was done and was refilling my water bottle so I could do some cardio, he thanked me for moving the weights back to his settings after I was done each time. I told him that I didn't, he and I just happened to be using the same weight.

    His friends immediately started giving him hell for lifting the same weight as a girl.

    I ducked into the bathroom and when I came out the guy was standing in a crowd of people as they piled every weight they could find onto a bar for him to deadlift.

    The male ego is a fragile thing.

    LadySmuag , Matthew Sichkaruk Report

    Woof Yo
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh yeah - giving yourself a hernia or throwing out your back is totally alpha

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    #3

    A father gently kisses his newborn baby's forehead while holding a blue mug, defying fragile masculinity. Guy here, but the saddest I ever heard was a guy who refused to kiss any of his male kids, even as babies. Because, they may turn gay. Same age guy as me, a young father. It hurts my heart even thinking about that.

    anon , Getty Images Report

    Claudia Cielensky
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He doesn't deserve the privilege of being a father.

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    #4

    A bearded man with closed eyes kisses a gray cat he holds, defying notions of fragile masculinity. A guy who suggested that cuddling with a male cat was “gay”.

    anon , Dmitrii Shirnin Report

    CommunityMember
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The dumbest thing I ever read was that men won't wash their own b**t holes because it's gay. In my many years on this planet I have never heard anything so absurd.

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    #5

    A young man in glasses and a graphic tee looks up in a supermarket aisle, demonstrating an example of fragile masculinity. One of my guy friends refused to go and buy tampons or pads for his girlfriend because and I quote, “People will think they’re mine.”

    YES, BECAUSE MEN HAVE PERIODS NOW APPARENTLY.

    DoodleQueen626 , jose daniel rubio hernandez Report

    Helena
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had a friend who would buy them for his girlfriend then wife loud and proud. He'd like show it off. Far as he was concerned it was the same as having deer antlers on your wall. It shows you landed one. And that you're good enough she stuck around.

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    #6

    A performer in full clown makeup, white ruff, and dark outfit poses onstage, challenging fragile masculinity norms. My brother is totally disgusted that my husband used to do burlesque (he's the one who got me into it when we started dating) because he thinks it's "kinda gay, dude". He refuses to listen to me when I tell him that he had an adoring fan base of dozens of women because of it.

    I used to love standing in the back of the audience, listening to women scream and whoop and holler when he was on stage because I was like, "Yep, he's coming home with me, ladies..." My husband looks fine in a pair of gold booty shorts, y'all.

    anon , Vivu Vietnam Report

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    ...does he know the difference between burlesque and drag (not that you have to be gay to do drag!) or is he stupid

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    #7

    A caramel frappuccino with whipped cream and caramel drizzle on a counter. This drink defies fragile masculinity. Guys who get their girlfriends to order their drinks at Starbucks because they don't wanna say "fruity made up words". If you're embarrassed to drink 26 ounces of caramel frappucinos, then stop drinking it.

    zimulacrum , zimulacrum Report

    Spidercat
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    All words are made up. That's how language works...

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    #8

    A female construction worker wearing a white hard hat and striped shirt, measuring a wall. This challenges fragile masculinity. A guy I dated for a few weeks during sophomore year of college very seriously tried to convince me that I should drop out of engineering school and become a waitress, because "no man wants to date a girl who is smarter than him." (Because, you know, occupation dictates intelligence.).

    floppyturtle , Pablo Merchán Montes Report

    azubi
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How do you find a girl that's not smarter than him?

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    #9

    A woman in a hoodie inspecting an airplane's landing gear. This image defies notions of fragile masculinity. So I work in aviation. I few years ago we were having a problem with a plane. It was basically one of those cases that it started as one problem that couldn't be fixed then it turn into all these other problems contributing to it.

    We had mostly an all female team with just 2 inexperienced male coworkers.

    Well one of the male higher ups overlooking the operation didn't believe the problems we had found. So he brought in someone else experienced with the plane. He was a really awesome dude, I worked with him before and he is a really great mentor. Well we explained the problem we found, he did troubleshooting of his own just to say the same exact thing we said.

    These words will ring in my head after he was told this news "See! He knows what he is doing!" He yelled this across the hangar. My female supervisor was so fed up she just drops her tools and walked out.

    I wish there was a better ending but no, she just told me that as a woman in a very physical and mostly male dominate job that you will have to work extra hard to just even be heard.

    AiCeeYouP , Will Haddock Report

    Rebecca Jack
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    From one strong woman to another: I too, am fed up with all the aggressive genitalia swinging. 😤😤😤

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    #10

    Two bottles of gummy vitamins, Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails, and VitaFusion Women's Multi. An example of fragile masculinity. My now ex took one of my multivitamins and then threw a tantrum because the packaging was marketed towards women. Vitamin B6 isn't going to turn you into a woman overnight, relax.

    anon Report

    Tai Dallen
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Unless you take it on the night of a full moon during a leap year while changing pink, pink, pink into a mirror and clucking like a chicken.

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    #11

    A small, scruffy dog stands on a shiny wooden floor, looking directly at the camera. This isn't fragile masculinity. My boyfriend won't change clothes with our (male) dog in the room bc it's "gay".

    anon , Andy Orin Report

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    why the hell does he think of the DOG like that-

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    #12

    My friend's husband won't hold their 3 year old son's hand in public, even if they're crossing the street, because he's too manly. He would rather have his kid run out in front of a car and get hit than risk strangers thinking he was womanly.

    anon Report

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    #13

    A delicate cocktail garnished with vibrant pink flowers, subtly challenging notions of fragile masculinity. I’m a waitress. The amount of dudes that will refuse/send drinks back because they come in a “girly” glass is unbelievable. The drinks usually consist of like 10 different kinds of fruit juices, liqueurs and schnapps but the hurricane glass and maraschino cherry is the line for them.

    bigpetewrigley , Createasea Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My boyfriend loves these kinds of drinks, while I don't like anything too sweet. Waiters try to give his drinks to me all the time and mine to him, but we have a good laugh about it.

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    #14

    A woman with a high ponytail, black sports bra, and red shorts doing a high kick at a gym, challenging fragile masculinity. I had a guy who was very interested in me and I was interested in him break it off with me because I "could beat him up". Yes, I do martial arts and work out. Why is that bad?

    Sand_Dargon , Jonathan Tomas Report

    Black Cat
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Red light. He might not physically a*****t you but might want you both to know he could if he wanted to. Knowing you could beat him up he loses that leverage.

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    #15

    A gray pitbull wears a pink hoodie and sits on a chair, showcasing an example of fragile masculinity. My ex. So many issues...

    We bought a coffee table and side tables at IKEA and I put together one of the side tables while he was out because I like doing that stuff. He got home and I proudly showed off my work, suggesting we could do the coffee table together while watching a movie. He got super angry, saying he wanted to do it all and it’s his job. He went to the bedroom and pouted the rest of the night. I had to wait a few days before he had time to put the other two together, as I wasn’t allowed to touch them.

    Our female dog could not wear girly colors when he walked her. She had a blue and black harness and black leash and everyone said “what’s his name?” Then he’d get annoyed and say “HER name is...”
    When I moved out I bought her a purple collar, leash, and harness.

    Got pissed at me for commenting to some friends that I did our taxes. Cuz you know, it makes it look like he couldn’t do them. (So, the truth)

    If there was any topic I was more knowledgeable about, we couldn’t discuss it anymore because it would make him feel bad because he’s the man and supposed to be smarter.

    He drove a friend’s car a few hours away as a favor and covered up the equality sticker on the bumper so that the strangers on the freeway wouldn’t think he was gay.

    I’m sure there are more that I’ve blocked out.

    sydneyunderfoot , willowanncosplay Report

    Alecto76
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can never do any sort of project with my husband/bf. My dad taught me how to work on stuff very well. A constant stream of obscenities, hitting whatever I'm working on, yell at the person helping me and culminating with throwing a tool in anger. I don't work with others for the sake of the relationships.

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    #16

    A smiling woman at a restaurant, holding up a credit card. Could this be an example of fragile masculinity? I make a decent amount of money. Guys I've dated have reacted to this in pretty absurd ways in the past.

    The weirdest one though, was when I got a job offer after college, and I wanted to talk to my friends about the salary amount to see if it was reasonable for the area I was moving, fair, and so forth. My ex, who had not even found a job yet, tried to forbid me from mentioning it to anyone we both knew because he didn't want them finding out that I may make more money than he did.

    sexrockandroll , Curated Lifestyle Report

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    #17

    A barista with glasses and a casual t-shirt preparing coffee, evoking a conversation about fragile masculinity in everyday situations. I work at a coffee shop and a dude came in to order a “not girly drink”. It was so hard finding him something to drink because he wouldn’t admit that he likes his coffee drinks sweet and kept refusing the non-sweet drinks. I wish I could have shown him those big ol’ burly construction workers who LOVE their strawberries and cream frappuccinos.

    TintarellaDiLuna , Brooke Cagle Report

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    #18

    A majestic lion with a full mane resting peacefully in the sun, showing no signs of fragile masculinity. I went on a date with a guy to the zoo, and he pointed at every big animal and said he could beat it in a fight. He was not about me saying that, no, he could not in fact take a fully grown lion or crocodile with his bare hands.

    maddirosecook , Photo Person Report

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    OH MY GOD I WENT ON A ZOO TRIP RECENTLY and all of the dudes in our group kept saying they could take a bear in a fight. like no joshua just because you play football doesn't mean you can fight a d**n bear.

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    #19

    A man in black, with sunglasses, arms outstretched, walking through a modern office. An example of fragile masculinity. Refusing to let me open doors. It is nice to have someone hold doors open sometimes- especially if I am carrying a big bag or in heels. I know some people are flattered by this and it is a nice gesture, regardless of gender.

    But I met a guy who simply refused to let me get near a door handle and would race me to hold it open when I was only an arms length away from one. On top of that, he would not walk through it if I held it open for him, doing that awkward standoff with an open door in front of us. Seriously dude, I don’t think you are less of a man for letting me get doors and I am perfectly capable of opening doors myself!

    shinxofquartz , Quilia Report

    Min (she/her)
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The person who arrives at the door first holds it open for the other unless their hands are full. Genitalìa shouldn't be involved. If it is, you're doing it wrong.

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    #20

    Close-up of a person holding a glass with a red drink, lemon slice, and straw. Fragile masculinity can be a factor. My boyfriend won't use drinking straws because his dad taught him that straws are for women. On the bright side, he's saving a lot of plastic.

    brainstorm716 , Yoanna Yordanova Report

    #21

    An older man with a white beard, wearing a brown jacket, washes a pot in a kitchen sink, challenging notions of fragile masculinity. My father promised to wash the dishes every day for the rest of his natural life because when he bought the wrong kind of kitchen sink to replace one that had broken, he was too embarrassed to take it back and admit to the guys at the plumbing store that his wife had told him to return the sink he had just bought. And he still washes the dishes every day, more than 40 years since.

    CalibanDrive Report

    Justanotherpanda
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Just curious. Why would he even need to tell them his wife told him? I'm sure she did and was right but no need to disclose that info right?

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    #22

    Woman in a light green shirt, scrutinizing a tube of lipstick in a store. Could this challenge fragile masculinity? I had a boss that ran a women's oriented business. Mostly beauty products. A chain of local stores. He'd come in from time to time and target a young employee specifically to try to make her cry. Then he'd leave with his chest puffed out. In my culture young women are raised from birth to be meek, to please, to get married and raise babies.


    One day it was my turn. At the time I was 19, 5'10" and about 115 lbs. Willowy. Because of my physicality alone I would be targeted and by then I knew exactly how to react to it. He needled, got gruff, started to yell about me being responsible for things out of my control and I yelled back. He was not used to that. Eventually he started to sulk and he backed off. Fifty year old man thinking he had balls because young female employees feared him and then would bend over to try to mollify him.


    I was NOT going to do that....and he knew I had no problem losing that job if it came to it. I could work for minimum elsewhere. I liked the job itself. I was good at it and he knew it. It could have gone the other way. He could have doubled down on me but he didn't. Instead he avoided me because I took effort. However, when he came in and thought he could target one of my coworkers, it didn't get far because I'd get between them. Not aggressively. Just, go over and start talking to him about my department in a way where I'd force him to have to make some sort of executive decision.


    In my time working there I'd reduced his visits to our store from 3 times a week to once a month and our productivity rose. It's amazing how well people work together when they don't walk on eggshells. I'm sure he went to other stores to berate the girls....

    AMHousewife , Getty Images Report

    Charlotte
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I've had two bosses yell at me. Both stunned when I yelled right back. I guess wheelchair user = child height = child so how dare I and don't I know who they are? Well, I know your the one who yelled first, in front of witnesses so happy to take this up with HR if your that upset about me being "disrespectful"

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    #23

    A smiling woman with curly hair and a gray t-shirt stands outside a gym, embodying a confident spirit against fragile masculinity. This one seems a little more subjective because it’s just how I viewed the event and I could be wrong, but I just can’t find any other explanation for it.
    I work the front desk at a gym, once a year we shut down for a week for deep cleaning, repainting and any general maintenance work, if you’re scheduled you still go in, but instead of doing your normal job you do a very basic maintenance thing. Last year during this time I came in and was told to just find something to do since they didn’t have any real need in any of the areas. I noticed that there was a group moving exercise machines around and they all happened to be men. Now I don’t think it was done intentionally, and i don’t find it inherently offensive that it was only men, but since I had nothing else to do I thought I’d go join them, since it was just such a stereotypical thing. They did not seem to be happy about this, they constantly insisted that there was no way I’d be able to lift/move things myself, rushed to grab something I was clearly already on my way to get, and actually started calling me by a more feminine version of my name (not actually my name but for example: If u went by Pat, they started calling me Patty). It just totally threw me, these machines, while heavy, are made to be easily moved but they seemed to feel like their masculinity had been insulted by the fact that I was doing it just as easily as they were.

    blueberry0721 , HamZa NOUASRIA Report

    Pawsome
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A former coworker tried to do this when I was asked to carry some boxes from the cellar up to the shop. I think that he meant well, but it was still frustrating. I'm pretty lanky, but always had more strength than what people assume, so this has happened frequently to me. The thing is, he just wouldn't stop, even when I told him that I was fine. The manager even ended up intervening

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    #24

    A young woman with curly hair focuses on her laptop at a wooden table. A man works in the background. Fragile masculinity. Way back when I was a temp, a guy in an office I worked in briefly got seriously pissed off that I could type faster than him. Note I said I worked there briefly. It was supposed to be a few weeks gig but they said they didn't need me after two days. Too funny.

    polarbee , Getty Images Report

    Rick Murray
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Typing *speed* is far less relevant than typing *accuracy*.

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    #25

    Hand holding a yellow Carmex strawberry lip balm over a sink, challenging fragile masculinity stereotypes. My husband takes the wrapper off of the strawberry chapstick I buy for him so he won’t be carrying around a pink chapstick container at work.

    His coworkers made fun of him for driving my car to work one day instead of his truck. I drive a black sports car that is far from feminine.

    I don’t know if this one counts for anything but I helped my husband fix some of the plumbing under our house one day and his coworkers said that I shouldn’t be doing that work and that they should have called them instead because women shouldn’t work on plumbing.

    He gets made fun of at work because he helps me with chores and has told his coworkers that we are on a budget and trying to save for retirement.

    cortcreates Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sounds like your husband's masculinity is just fine but his coworkers' isn't.

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    #26

    My friend's son was about one, and he was trying on (women's) shoes because a bunch of people were over, as kids do. My friend said that he hoped the kid didn't grow up to be gay.

    TatianaAlena Report

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    oh come on. my younger (male!!) cousins love playing with my heels. it's childhood curiousity and innocennce.

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    #27

    Coworker asked me out. I said no. He threw a tantrum about me leading him on. I was just trying to be friendly to him because he was new, and I noticed he was extremely shy and felt uncomfortable with new work environment. Well, apparently it was a bad idea.

    anon Report

    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A female person smiled at me, it must be love and the desire to procreate!

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    #28

    My answer happened this week. A man at my work was being very condescending about something we disagreed on. For reference, he is in his 60s and I'm in my late 20s. I ended up standing up for myself and telling him that he needed to communicate more directly with me to avoid us arguing and he replied "ok then." to my very neutrally worded email. I then had to email him again asking him a question about what we were arguing about and he replied "at this point, I don't care." and is refusing to speak to me because I stood up to him.

    Xavier2K9 Report

    Norfolk and good
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Older people are sometimes the worst people to work with, in my experience. They've stopped giving a s**t but they still have a few more years to go before they can get their pension, so they're just doing the bare minimum and counting down the days until retirement.

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    #29

    A shaving brush in a blue bowl with lather, razor, and shaving products on a counter, symbolizing aspects of fragile masculinity. My ex boyfriend refused to buy lotion for himself and instead put shaving cream on his dry skin the day it was really bothering him.

    radicalsoftness , David Trinks Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This. How on earth do so many men think skincare is girly. Like if your skin hurts cause it's dry, there's an easy solution. But no. Like I literally had a male colleague ask me once if it was normal for your skin to feel itchy and dry in the winter(he came from a milder climate) I said yes, but moisturizing helps. And his answer was, I kid you not, "no, that's fine, I just wanted to know if it was normal".

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    #30

    A man gestures while talking to a woman who looks skeptical. An example where fragile masculinity might be discussed. Had a coworker tell me yesterday that I intimidate him because i’m almost as tall as him. (i’m female, about 5’6).

    anon , Lala Azizli Report

    Woof Yo
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm a 6' tall woman and I would love to ride an elevator with that guy

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    #31

    My boss cannot go anywhere without a gun on him. He's basically textbook. Ex-military, ex-cop, smaller guy, gun nut.

    CaptCmndr Report

    Spidercat
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Gun nut" sounds like a horrific medical condition...

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    #32

    I'm a bartender.

    If I had a dollar for the number of times a guy has ordered a cocktail based on listed ingredients that sound tasty to him... only to ask me to put the drink in a "many" glass, or if the color was too girly, pass it off to his girlfriend/wife/any-female-in-sight, and then ask me if can make him something less girly... I'd probably have about a hundred bucks at least.

    This doesn't include times a dudes *friend's* have made fun of him, for ordering something that sounds good, but the color of the drink or the glass ware is deemed too 'girly'.

    I even had a guy tell me to put his Manhattan in a rocks glass. When I told him, "You're a wise man. It is easier to carry this way, and won't spill..." His response was something like, "naw, I just don't want to look like a woman carrying around that pansy glass..." Um, ok then.

    Theodaro Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    James Bond, the girliest of all men, could learn a thing or two from these guys

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    #33

    A fit woman in a gym, wearing a sports bra, lifting a dumbbell. This challenges fragile masculinity stereotypes. This just happened on Monday. I was doing bent over rows next to a guy who was deadlifting. He said "Do you powerlift?" "yes" "cool! It isn't common to see a woman bent over rowing, so I kinda figured". We get to chatting and it's going great. We talk for close to 15 minutes, each breaking to do a set and then coming right back to conversation. He told me his max weights for the 3 main lifts, squats being at 275lbs for a set of 3. I praised him on those numbers and told him to keep going. At the very end of the conversation he asked me what my squat max was. I said "391lbs". He choked on his words in an audible cough and said "Did you say 3...?" I nodded. He actually gathered up his things and said "alright, well, you have a nice workout" and left the gym. :/.

    souponastick , Alora Griffiths Report

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    #34

    Broke up with his girlfriend who had hair above her shoulders because he refused to date a girl with shorter hair than him and his was long.
    Another guy, when my girlfriend's sister was correcting him on something he was completely wrong, knew nothing about and talking out of his arse about in a pub, proceeded to shout "I AM THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THIS PUB!"

    mariah_a Report

    Sara Frazer
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For years and years my boyfriend had the long hair (at one point he could almost sit on it) and I had the short hair, from a pixie to just past my jaw. Only in recent years did that change; now his hair is shoulder length and my hair is the longest it's ever been (to where now I can almost sit on it!) long hair is starting to drive me nuts, tho, I may trim it soon...

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    #35

    I know guys who get all weird and defensive because my husband took my last name when we got married. Like, they feel threatened because another dude took his wife's name. As if that somehow reflects on them as men. Idk. Some men seem to think everything is somehow about them.

    anon Report

    Ye Olde Dirty Grumpy
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There is no chance of my name dying out. One of the top 3 Hispanic names. Literally billions of us. I dont care.

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    #36

    A man smiles while performing a therapeutic leg massage on another person, avoiding fragile masculinity stereotypes. As a male massage therapist I've seen some stunning displays of fragile masculinity. Cause, ya know, getting a massage as a man and enjoying it when your therapist is also a man MUST mean you are gay.

    Most of the time this plays out in people requesting female therapists. One time this dude came in with his girlfriend, completed consent forms even went to bathroom and came back. However when he saw that they would be getting worked on by two male therapists he started backing away slowly saying "Babe, Babe, Babe". The girl goes over to him and they quietly talk for a bit then she approaches us and just says that " something came up" and they need to go attend to it immediately.

    Kartinian , Diana Light Report

    Lima Kilo TEN
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The best massages have been from men. I had one that was k*****g it and I said, man you are huge you have hands like a prison guard and he said, I am a prison guard. We laughed. That was like 5 years ago....still not gay.

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    #37

    He took the joking like a champ, but I used to have a customer (as a barista) who literally would not say the word “latte” because it wasn’t a manly drink. He would order “a large vanilla” and wouldn’t say the word latte.

    There are more odious examples but that one always cracked me up/blew my mind.

    dernhelm_mn Report

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    #38

    One of my co-workers dresses exclusively in military-styled attire, has an odd barking military-like manner of speaking and browses knifes and military gear when the work is slow. Whenever his competence is questioned (or whenever he just feels threatened) he will immediately jump to arguments like "I'm a MAN, not someone's boy", "I have DIGNITY" and will basically explain in a very dramatic way how it's beneath him to admit his mistakes.

    He's not a bad guy at all, actually, but he is very, very over-the-top in defending his masculinity. He's also never been in the army from what I've heard.

    anon Report

    Bill The Splut
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No one yells "I AIN'T GAY!!" Unless...they're from that river in Egypt.

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    #39

    Woman with curly hair browsing books in a bookstore, showcasing an example unrelated to fragile masculinity. I work in a comic store. you can only imagine the distress and terror that comes with a) being a feeeeeeeemale fan of something macho, or b) the encroachment of a comic book about a teenage girl on the new-comic-book stands. I have met a few dudes who don't even like Batman to have a romantic interest, because 'that softens his character'.

    anon , Getty Images Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Can't say I ever thought of comics as a particularly masculine hobby. Male dominated, sure, masculine, not so much.

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    #40

    One guy wanted to date me and I said "ok, let's get dinner, call me this weekend!". This was WAY to pushy and emasculating for him. Needless to say: we didn't date.

    LaFeltinelli Report

    #41

    I’m a doctor in the US and someone came in to see me about a year ago. About halfway through the appointment he told me that women can’t be trusted as doctors and my place was in the kitchen.

    moarbreadplz Report

    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Because male doctors never make a mistake? If rather have a woman as a doctor as they are more likely to listen to my concerns, rather than dismiss me with some dubious medication.

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    #42

    I was a manager at a fast food restaurant in college. One of my employees, also a college student, talked about how he was going to make so much money once he got a job in his field. He never listened to me when I would ask him to do something, and would instead talk about how he would be making more money than me someday, so nothing I said mattered, even though I was his direct supervisor.

    One day I was sick of it, and told him that right now, I make more money than him and that he has to listen to me or I would send him home. He got really offended and reported me to Corporate, who actually listened to both sides of the story and dismissed his complaint.

    clarinetgirll Report

    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bragging about money not yet earned? I am so special because one day I am going to be a billionaire....

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    #43

    A display of skincare products in a minimalist store. This image shows that even luxury goods aren't immune to fragile masculinity. I work in a skincare store. All of our products are gender natural. Men and woman have the same kind of skin, literally no difference.

    We have a very small "men" section for those men who insist on men only products with those intense men scents. I had this one guy who came in, told me his concerns and what he wanted and in our men section, we just didn't have the products he needed so I gave him some options and he refused to look at any of the products because they weren't labeled "for men" even though they would immensely help him. I kept trying to explain to him the products weren't only for women. Both genders can use them and he made a big scene about going somewhere else for men products and left.

    I can understand if I was showing him something with very fruity or floral scents (but even so those scents wear off after 30 minutes) but I was showing him things that pretty much had no smell to them. None of the packaging were even girly looking.

    rebbyy , Ela De Pure Report

    CommunityMember
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is why there is a hair dye called just for men that is exactly like hair dye for women .

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    #44

    I went to a shooting range with my SO and best friend, both are men.

    We just wanted regular silhouette targets, but the regular targets they had left were pink. The men at the counter apologized to my SO and friend, and asked if they wanted to try the other targets. I was baffled.

    BlytheBailey Report

    pineapple87
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Question is, why do they make pink versions in the first place? Do women need to think they're shooting other women?

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    #45

    I was in high school and went to lunch with a guy that I liked, however it was definitively NOT a date. I had $20 cash and was going to pay, but he felt weird about it. So he asked me to give him the $20 in the car so he could pay at he register. Sooooo stupid.

    sprklngwiggles Report

    Paul C.
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My wife and I went to our local curry house and when it came to pay she got her card out and paid. She then went to the loo and an older guy lent over and said, "you should be ashamed, letting her pay" I had great enjoyment informing him that we had a joint account and that she earned more than me anyway. Bütt out Mr Misogynist.

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    #46

    I had a guy get upset on a date when I beat him at bowling.

    damngreenpillows Report

    Paul C.
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My wife loves football/soccer and used to watch me play, back in the day. One day we were in our local pub watching football and she shouted he's offside! An acquaintance said how would you know offside, being a girl. I sat back with my pint and enjoyed the sight and sound of my wife tearing him a new one, by demonstrating the offside law with, glasses, bottles, and salt and pepper pots, until he got up, and stormed out, to howls of derision from patrons in the pub.

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    #47

    I used to work in a jail as a civilian worker. When I was hired, I was told I would not ever have to work directly with inmates without a deputy present. 4 years later, I get a recently promoted sergeant who was out to prove himself. We were short staff and he tried to force me to working in a housing unit alone with male inmates with nothing to protect myself with (deputies who normally work those areas get a taser). I was the best trained booking specialist, who was also trained in other easential areas so there was no reason besides him being on a power trip to have me doing that job that day. I flat out refused due to what I was told at hiring. If I had to work directly with inmates I would have not taken the job. He tried to get me written up for insubordination to prove a point, but my Lieutenant actually took my side. I was I think 1 of 4 females on that team that has 20 people on it including the deputies and specialists. I even had to have a meeting with him about my insubordination, where I stood my ground and said that even though he was the sergeant, I was not working that specific job. He did make my life a living hell though until I quit half a year later to move in with my boyfriend now husband.

    PewPewCatBlog Report

    Bartlet for world domination
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The U.S. correctional system uses a paramilitary rank structure?

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    #48

    There was this guy - just one year older than me who hired my husband and I on different positions in his small business (I left in less than 2 months). While he seemed to worship my husband, he micromanaged and second guessed everything I did, even questioning my ability to work remotely (I was part time there and he knew I did remote work for several other clients) because "who's there to check up on you?"... He was positively shocked one day to discover that I have a PhD (aparently skipped actually reading my resume) and would almost not believe it, kept going: "YOU have a PhD?!", which I found quite offensive. And after I quit, for very good reasons, he tried to pull one of those "women, eh?" kind of rethoric on my husband, implying that women weren't cut for that 100% office job. Needless to say, it didn't go over well. And I found out he had been a jerk to other women in the workplace before on that account, his own wife included (hence she stopped working there but is sadly still married to him).

    Ioa_3k Report

    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It almost seems as if women are independent in their own right and are able pursue education if they desire. Weird. Next you'll be telling me they have the vote.

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    #49

    Worked at a daycare. Dad of one of the babies wouldn’t put her jacket on her and had a staff member do it.

    Creative20something Report

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    1 day ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    poor baby, doesn't deserve that useless excuse of a s***m donor. (OH, NOW SPE-RM IS CENSORED?!)

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    #50

    My x and I lived together.

    We needed some wood-work done, and since both of us are not at all handy, nor had the tools, I suggested we start looking for someone cheap to hire. I also suggested we get his grandfather to look for us, because he owns a residential building and knows all the good maintenance people etc.

    My boyfriend looked *stricken*, and asked “*You don’t think I could do it*”, and I had to reasonably explain why I didn’t think so, while coddling his feelings.

    Svataben Report

    London Paris
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    60 year old man here. I cant work on cars anymore, i have zero clue how to do anything with wood, i vacuum regularly cos i live there, havent done anything car maintenance wise for decades. I looove sewing and make bags, tote bags, pouches, t shirts and am looking forward to fabric shopping with my beautiful female friend and we are planning a road trip to check out some oth bigger op shops . . . . . rhere is no such rhing as "manly things", theres just things you do as a man

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    #51

    My older male boss consistently gets threatened when I come up with a good idea and pretends that it would never work when I present it to him one on one.

    Next thing I know, I see on the agenda for leadership meetings "Discuss [insert my great idea] here". Everyone praises him for how innovative and creative he is. Cool.

    Or the amount of times I have put together a presentation for him which he then puts his own name on.

    The constant taking credit of MY work is exhausting. God forbid our CEO ever think a good idea came from a millennial woman instead of my fragile white baby boomer boss who enjoys spending his lunch break on the phone shouting at customer service reps at the cable company.

    anon Report

    Charlotte
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, this is not a gender thing, bad women bosses will steal your work as well. Smile, and look for another job because you will be held back by this one

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