Women reveal seeing men go to ridiculous lengths to fit traditional male stereotypes. Photo / Getty
Women reveal seeing men go to ridiculous lengths to fit traditional male stereotypes. Photo / Getty
From a man who won't hold his son's hand to another who couldn't cope with his girlfriend getting better grades, women have taken to Reddit to share their outrageous experiences with men's displays of fragile masculinity.
The thread on Reddit went viral on Saturday after one user asked others to share the worst case they'd encountered.
The Daily Mail reports that shortly after responses came flooding in, detailing some unbelievable situations.
Reddit user PrettyInteraction62 said she knows a man who refuses to hold his son's hand because he finds it an odd thing to do.
They wrote: "I know someone whose boyfriend won't hold their 3-year-old son's hand because that's 'gay and weird'."
A user replied to the comment saying they were sad for the "poor" child.
Similarly, user fantastic_watermelon said: "My brother-in-law has a friend that doesn't let his infant son suck his thumb because it leads to being gay."
Responding to this, user Lethal-Muscle commented: "Wow, imagine being so insecure in your masculinity that you sexualise your toddler."
User u/938626202 asked the question. Photo / Reddit
PrettyInteraction62 knows a man who won't hold his son's hand. Photo / Reddit
More stories of fragile masculinity came rolling in, such as "PasionatelyRational"'s recount of what happened between two friends during university.
They shared: "Friends from uni were a couple and in the same class. She got a better grade than him by 0.5 and he threw a tantrum in front of everyone about how she constantly wanted to humiliate him.
"Then looked over to me and other classmates that couldn't help to stare (because he was making a scene) and screamed at us 'yeah I'm dumber than my girlfriend, hope you're enjoying it!' And left.
"She broke up with him after that and he dropped the class. But it was such a wtf moment that I still remember it."
User fantastic_watermelon shared a story about someone they know. Photo / Reddit
Close to 1000 Reddit users shared stories of times they'd encountered fragile masculinity. Photo / Reddit
Another university based story revealed two boys getting frustrated that Luna bars (a nutritional muesli bar in the US) "were originally made for women".
User VirginWhales, said: "Went to college with two brothers. They were complete opposites. The older (OB) was the epitome of toxic/fragile masculinity. He was the typical 6ft2in, buff jock, who was a total tool.
"The younger (YB), was a total goofball, always making people laugh, just an all around genuinely good guy.
"Their mother used to buy them Luna Bars, which were originally made for women. When OB found this out he was furious, which is stupid itself, but it gets better.
"YB decided to f**k with him and tell them there was oestrogen in the bars. OB had a full on meltdown and even went to the mirror to check if he had started developing boobs."
Another user shared how her ex-boyfriend had a problem with her spending too much time with her best friend because he was "too seductive".
The "seductive behaviour" he referred to was her dancing with her best friend.
MadameStrumpet, explained: "My ex had an issue with any time I spent with my best friend. His words 'she is too seductive' and 'you're too close' meanwhile she's happily married and pregnant."
A user's ex-boyfriend would get jealous when she'd dance with her best friend. Photo / Reddit
Another user revealed that a man she once went out with refused to eat churros or a chocolate-covered banana, due to them looking too "phallic".
"A guy I went out with wouldn't eat a popsicle or a chocolate covered banana or churros or whatever with me at Knott's because it's phallic and he doesn't want a gay guy to see and make him feel gross," user Jbsbm shared.
User trixkzy said they'd seen another post on Reddit where a man asked his spouse to eat less so he seemed more manly.
"A post in another sub reddit right now. This guy is wondering if he's an a**hole for asking his wife to eat less food because he feels emasculated when she eats more then him.
"Imagine asking your partner in life to go hungry because of your ego."
