I’m a loud and proud feminist and while I’m definitely not the bitter man-hater many would try to paint me as, I’m also not going to bow down or cater to men. I stopped doing these 10 things for guys and let me tell you, they hate it.
- Buying condoms I was dating this one guy on and off for about a year and I was always expected to buy the condoms. Anytime I was to come over, I had to bring a box, and he always kept the rest to use on other girls. It was the most frustrating thing ever. These days, I expect the guys to provide them. If they don’t have any then we aren’t having sex. I’m very firm on that and most dudes hate it. Personally, I love it because it means that I’m not having as many disappointing hookups.
- Shaving my body hair I love my body hair. I’ve always loved the way it grows and honestly, it’s there for a reason. The only time I shave it off is if it’s annoying me and I can’t deal with it anymore. However, I don’t shave in preparation for hookups and I always get some guy’s opinion when I take my pants off and they can see I didn’t bald myself for them. They’re either annoyed or pissed off about it. If I can deal with his body hair, then you can deal with mine—or if it’s that big of a deal, he can shave it off for me.
- Moving out of their way This is actually quite funny. I just don’t move out of a guy’s way if I don’t need to so that means I get bumped into a lot. They often expect me to move because they’re bigger and think the world revolves around them, but if there’s no need, I’m not moving. Their reaction is honestly the funniest thing. They’re almost always surprised and annoyed that I didn’t move.
- Caring about their boners This is also really fun for me. We’ve all experienced a guy hitting us up in the middle of the night asking us to come over. Recently what I’ve been doing is just showing absolute indifference to their attempt to make me a booty call. Oh, he’s alone and wants someone to bone? Well, I’m currently four seasons into this Netflix series and I really don’t care. I’d rather stay at home and be comfortable than going to his house for five minutes of sex. What a waste of my life. No thanks.
- Dealing with their fragile masculinity I hate when men just won’t do something because they think it’s not manly. I don’t put up with it anymore. I was with a guy who wouldn’t eat anything if it could be eaten in a way that could look sexual. How sad that you have to be so manly you can’t eat bananas?? When I see a guy who’s crusty and I’m like, “Hey, you should try this!” and they won’t because it’s advertised as a ladies product, it’s so obnoxious. I’m just trying to help you clear up his skin and make him look good.
- Toning my personality down I’m known to be very loud and out there. I like to make my presence known because I’m small and I don’t like to be overlooked. I hate when I’m with a guy who’s more reserved and he gets mad at me for overshadowing him. I am not going to tone down my personality to just match his. If he doesn’t want to be overshadowed, he should speak up and be out there. It’s not my fault he’s quiet.
- Dressing for them I’ve seen it all over the internet: a picture of a girl in a sexy outfit with the caption asking what guys would do if their girl was wearing that. The comments are always angry men saying their partners wouldn’t be “allowed” to wear it. First of all, I bought these clothes, I’m going to wear them when I damn well please. Second of all, I’m a grown woman and he’s not my parent and he can’t make me wear anything. If I look good in something, I’m going to wear it out. It’s not for him or any other man, it’s for me.
- Tending to their egos It is 2018. Can we please stop trying to enforce these gender norms? I’m not going to sit back and let him be the breadwinner when I might have the chance at a great career. I’m not going to downplay or ignore my achievements just because he doesn’t have any. I refuse to humble myself just because some bro feels sorry for himself. Real men don’t ask their partners to do that.
- Ignoring their B.S. A lot of guys love lying. I used to pretend I didn’t always know what was going on; I acted like I actually thought they would call me again or we would hang out again. Not anymore—now I call them out. If I know they’re lying, I tell them I know. I confront them. I don’t let them get away with, “Babe, shes just a girl from work!” anymore. I expect more now.
- Graciously accepting their compliments I’m done acting like their compliments give me actual life and confidence. A lot of guys love a woman who’s unaware of her good looks (or at least pretends to be). They love to be the ones to point out, but I’m not that kind of girl. When a dude compliments me, I say thanks and that I know. I own a mirror, but thanks for noticing.
