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A Series: Introduction
Recently, I’ve been having some conversation threads with a fellow Medium writer and reader Gareth Broom. Gareth has been unlucky in love and is frustrated. I can relate, though I’ve moved past the frustration part. Gareth has some, what I believe to be, wrongheaded thinking going on—but he brings up a particular frustration that is not getting addressed in the conversations between men and women. Why are men getting rejected? This article is my attempt to answer that question.
Before I dig in, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge some things. First, discussing rejection as a woman with men is a Catch-22. If you do, you very well may be risking your life at the worst. At the best, you’re going to get stuck cleaning up the emotional mess or dodging an attempt at negotiation. If you don’t, then men will fester in anger and hurt and that’s not good for anyone. Literally, at this juncture we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. This dynamic is why I chose to attempt to address rejection. I figure if it can be less personal and broader, maybe that will help someone without putting the onus on a woman who just wants to move on at that point.
Secondly, it’s not my intention to bash men here. To be clear, I do believe some men deserve a good bashing. They’re acting horribly and giving you all both a bad name and a…
