I'm a man, compliment me!

when this girl in my sophomore year told me she liked my t-shirt, i kept it until it literally fell apart.

and yeah, i don’t know, i feel abnormally weird when someone compliments me since i'm not used to it. Don’t get me wrong, i'm overjoyed in my entire body… and soul, but i have a really idiotic reaction for an adult who's supposed to have been through an x number of social situations, i guess.

But i tell my best friend she’s beautiful, or that something looks good on her, and she’s kind of unphased by it. she told me once that it felt fake.

fake????

Even though i run on swear words…

I suppose yes, more often than not, people aren't used to being told nice things, maybe because they don't hear it enough or they're not expecting it.

but i think, ok, girls generally get way more compliments in a week than us guys in a month. not necessarily all genuine, but i've noticed most are more extroverted about it and will say when they like someone’s pair of pants, their hairstyle... and they've got the instagram comments too, all ‘omg my love 💖' or 'beautiful!!!!’, my soul, this and that.

us men? Zip.

i'll be damned if i see the hottest man in the world; i'd rather jump from the 3rd floor than tell him to his face that he's hot.

why? because i'm dumb, i don’t know.

we should be more open with each other and tell each other these things. make each other’s days brighter, and be kind to each other. if not us, then who?

but anyway, that's not what this is all about. not getting compliments is one thing, but asking for them like a jackass is another.

haven't you noticed how, nowadays, some men seem to seek appreciation for doing the bare minimum of decency? whether it's washing dishes, being 'respectful', or preparing a decent dinner, they seem to expect a standing ovation for actions that should be normal for any semi-responsible adult?

but where is this coming from? maybe it’s how we were raised, maybe we're afraid to seem vulnerable or maybe we're just too insecure. because get this, i hang out on makeup subreddits and keep seeing posts like:

or

what the hell? 'as a straight man, it’s hard 🙁'

come on, give me a break... screw social rules!!!

if that makes you happy, bro, good for you and i support you. but don't expect to be called a pioneer or revolutionary just because you've put on some foundation. there are plenty of extremely talented men in makeup, and when they post something, it's actually ...breathtaking! .... talent has no gender. congratulations to all!

and so i'm not a hypocrite, the reason i hang out on these subreddits is because that’s what i have a diploma in: makeup. but what fucks me off is virtue signalling. do you really need to mention you're a man to ask for help? can't you just... ask for help and that's it? i've got this skin type, i've got this type of eyelid, i do this, bro, give me some suggestions!

screw social rules?? 🙁

hold up, it doesn’t end here. There’s also these guys…:

‘see? i take care of what came out of my sperm! see? seeee?', he says, expecting the sun to shine a bit brighter just for him.

‘i listened to the bitch!‘, announces the alpha man proudly, as if he's discovered the cure for cancer (hand it over...).

do these guys expect to be put on a pedestal, have a parade thrown for them, because they managed to find the washing machine? the kids' school? the clitoris?

it’s incredible how a dad posting a tiktok of him combing his kid's hair (can't find the link i was referring to, but there's plenty) is praised as if he saved puppies from a burning building. why are we so amazed when we see a man fulfilling his role as a parent? do we generally look so stupid that it's fascinating? Or…?

apparently, about 92% of social media posts on parenting are about mothers, and 8% about fathers, according to a study by the pew research center. so it seems that, in general, more is expected from mothers than from fathers in parenting, which might be why fathers are overly praised for basic stuff, while mothers... nothing.

tldr: of course everyone keeps throwing basic decency crap at us expecting a kiss on the forehead, when if a normal person posts as little as breathing correctly, we just hand it over.

what’s weirder is when a wife posts on social media that she's preparing her husband's lunch for work and gets hate. what the shit? it's a strange phenomenon when a man does the bare minimum and wants his dick sucked, but when a woman does the same thing, either nothing is said or she's judged.

i'm not saying this as some big feminist.

let's all just shut the hell up, regardless of gender.

i’m so tired of all the incels that pollute the ecosystem. But so i’m not too mean, let’s see... what is it? lack of social education? lack of attention? lack of affection? boredom?

i ask because there's a huge discrepancy between nudging a friend or an acquaintance for a compliment and posting virtue signalling stuff that's almost embarrassing, on the internet, for 3 seconds of gratification from strangers.

does it really make us feel better if iubescmenta29 tells us we don't need makeup, omgggg, or if another equally intelligent incel lightly pats us on the shoulder ‘congratulations!’ for holding the door for a girl at mega image?

do we even know how to talk to people anymore?

if you want to be praised, do something praiseworthy, not just the bare minimum. and if you do things because you feel like it, or because they make you happy, then just do them.

but leave me the fuck out of it, man.

that’s all.