Unlike the strong, manly men of earlier ancient times, our generation of men has evolved into a whole new species, completely different from those whom we’ve read about in medieval times. In a time where women are now rising to power in many different areas, marriage is slowly coming off the table, and chivalry is almost completely dead, there has been a rise in the specific category of men known as the “man-child”. For those of you who don’t know, a “man-child” is a grown man who is very immature, and there seem to be a ton of them out there, these days.
Although women of our generation may have played some role in encouraging common man-child behavior, that doesn’t make it acceptable for everyone. Here are 15 common signs that’ll help you spot a man-child when you see one. Hopefully, your boyfriend doesn’t tick any of the below boxes.
- He doesn’t know how to perform basic household repairs. Just because women are strong and independent doesn’t mean men should have an out from knowing how to do things such as changing the oil in the car, fixing a pipe, or even changing a tire. Step it up, guys, the ladies are already on your level.
- He calls his parents to ask for help with pretty much any task. When he can’t do something, he calls his parents instead of learning how to do it himself.
- His wardrobe consists of a mix of clothes from high school and college and he’s made no effort to change that. He’s been wearing the same shirt for the past seven years. Enough said.
- He can’t or doesn’t ever want to engage in a serious conversation with you. You try to engage in meaningful conversation, but he’s just completely uninterested or has nothing else to respond with, other than “That’s crazy!”
- He makes you pay for everything. Come on, guys, chivalry is NOT dead. Yes, women are getting paid nearly the same salaries as men, but that doesn’t mean we always have to go dutch with the check.
- He can’t focus on one thing at a time. He literally jumps from one thing to another. One minute, he’s wondering about what to eat for lunch and the next minute, he remembers that he didn’t pay his phone bill.
- He forgets things often. You tell him about an event that’s coming up this weekend, and he says yes to going with you. Then the actual event comes around and he forgot about it, made plans with his friends, and ends up ditching you. This drives us NUTS.
- He’s incapable of making any solid plans with you. You ask him what he’s doing tomorrow night, and his response is almost always “I’ll let you know.”
- He gets in trouble a lot. Speeding tickets, getting kicked out of bars, the list never ends. The bad boy thing is cute for a while, having no regard for following rules or behaving decently in a social setting isn’t cool, it’s immature.
- He can’t hold a stable job. He jumps around from one job to another or has a bunch of different odd jobs with no steady income or stability.
- He still parties almost all of the seven days of the week. He’s not quite ready to move on from the “drinking every night and getting high every day” routine. He’s still in that “having fun while he can” phase.
- He can’t commit to anything. You can never rely on him for a 100% RSVP. He may say that he’s interested, but he’s really still scoping out other options. You want to know if he’s the commitment type or not.
- He’s basically never had a serious relationship… ever. At a certain point, you should be worried if you’re dating a man who has never – and I mean NEVER – had a serious relationship that lasted longer than three months.
- He doesn’t think about the future at all. Talk of the future absolutely terrifies him. He just “lives in the now” and doesn’t want to think about the future ever. Going with the flow is great and all, but eventually, you want to know where exactly you fit into his life.
- He has no direction or goals in life. He’s completely content with staying exactly where he is. He doesn’t seek to do better or be better. He doesn’t care to make goals in life and he’s totally fine with that.
