Monday, October 20, 2008

Subversive Rejection Feeds Misogyny

Another post by HyperSexualGirl got me thinking about the battle of the sexes.

Well over a year ago I had the best first date I have ever had. We hit it off, we shared the same philosophies and ideas, same favorite movies, same books, favorite bands and more. I couldn't believe it. Could my luck with women finally be turning around? All hints to the positive.

Before the date even ended, she asked me out on the second date. Unprecedented, I thought, this is new territory and it feels great! But alas, how short the euphoria would last!

The next day upon reflection, how well the date went, how the conversation just flowed, how we had so much in common, I realized that on the date something happened that has never happened to me before. She spoke in language that connected with my soul. The way she formed her sentences, the way she put her words together and the way she expressed her ideas, it turned me on! My heart and mind felt relieved that maybe I had finally found The One. Her personality was truly that attractive to me. I felt so blessed to have met this person!

Resisting the foolish temptation to become her husband in my imagination, and not wanting to seem desperate, I waited until the next day after to call and thank her for a great date. Just a regular message: hey it was great I had an awesome time, looking forward to seeing you again. Not overbearing, not over the top, not over-impassioned, not psycho, just casual.

Contrary to all prominent indicators, however, she never called me back.

Three weeks later she finally emailed me (what could be more cowardly?) saying she got back together with her "ex" and that I was a "great guy" and all that. Now, it's fine for her to get "more serious again" with her ex, but what she doesn't know is that we have mutual friends... And there is no ex!

Was she suffering from an utter lack of integrity? Did she flat-out lie? Was it all because I didn't kiss her after the date? If only she'd tell me the truth. I knew the ex story was BS, and leaving me for three weeks to contemplate why I might be getting blown off after such a great date was just absolute cruelty. Was my time and emotions not even worth a 15-second return phone call?! Apparently not, and it amounted to absolute disrespect.

Despite my determination to not blame all women for the pain and anguish caused me by the few, stuff like this plays tricks on one's mind. It fucks with your self esteem, diminishes your self worth. The guy comes away with nothing positive, nothing constructive, no advice or direction to learn from the experience. The guy is left with nothing more than one big "WHAT THE FUCK?!" and that's only one step away from saying "FUCKING LYING BITCH" and that happens enough times and the next step is "FUCKING WOMEN" because the culmination of experiences has no positive return for your emotional investment. All you get is confusion, wasted time, and the painful conclusion that you must have gotten rejected. The let down is a thousand times worse, because not only are you rejected, but you didn't even get the respect of her honesty, which could have saved you thinking about her so much, all that empty wishing, the hoping beyond hope that it's REAL this time.

In some ways I believe this reactive misogyny has happened to me. I have been deceived and hurt so many times by women: blown off, given the wrong phone number, told "yes" to a date then they drop off the face of the earth... one woman even gave me her boyfriend's phone number! Now it's hard to think of a more dishonest, disrespectful, manipulative, cruel and inhumane way to treat another human being. To use me as an instrument of jealousy, to realize rejection in the form of the threat of violence: "I'll kick your ass for asking out my girlfriend!"

Ladies, understand that by not having the GUTS to tell us men the truth when it comes to how you react to our advances, you are only doing humankind a terrible disservice, and merely making peace and love an even more distant dream. Men who face constant and continuous rejection without courtesy or explanation, become the Hitlers, Kilmer Rouge, and Ted Bundy's of the world.

Yes, women, believe it or not you do have that much power. Please use it wisely, and just be honest with men.

Thanks.

3 comments:

Amanda said...

These women treated you horribly but females alone don't have a corner on this kind of behavior. I've known guys to do very similar things. I also don't think women lie about being married anywhere as often as men do.

Benny Hamilton said...

You're probably right, men can be even worse than women. Fortunately I've never been married so could never tell that most common lie. ;)

I'm still working hard not to blame all women for a few bad apples, just wanted to express how tough it is when all ya' get is bad apples! lol

Thanks for your comment.

Anonymous said...

I had the same exact thing happen to me. Met a great person, everything was going well, and then all of a sudden...nothing. No more contact, and I was told to "leave her alone or she would use her honesty to hurt me." I didn't even know what that meant? WTF? The rejection is terrible, of course, but the state one is left in...not knowing what happened, not knowing what could have changed, is much worse - as you mentioned. I've had similar experiences with women before, of course (I'm guessing we all have), but this last time was it for me. I've since met a great, beautiful woman (more by luck than anything else), but if I hadn't I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have dated for a long, long time. People have to realize that all women aren't the same, all men aren't the same, etc. and when one is with someone new one has to treat that person in a dignified manner, not as some "example" of their sex who you are just watching to see when they'll hurt you. We've ALL had bad experiences in the past, what makes these people think they're special? That kind of selfishness is frightening...and the most beautiful thing is that they always wonder why THEY have bad relationships and nothing ever seems to "work out." Instead of looking at their own behavior they just blame the other person, reject them, and "move on" to the next sucker. How much pain can one person take? Strange and unfortunate.