Think aloud
If I were to ask you why men play games with women, neither you nor I would come up with a better answer than the fact that they’re insecure.
Are they actually bad people or are they just projecting their own insecurities? We might just never know!
Too many times, men have felt entitled to women, so they don’t know how else to act but to play games.
This is a helpful guide to expose them. There are actual games that men play in order to make a woman believe that she is inferior to them.
If you see a man acting like this, he is most probably extremely insecure and it’s the only way he knows how to behave.
1. Playing hot and cold
We are all too familiar with this game. A game of hot and cold is quite obvious, when a man shows interest and then fakes disinterest to see how you’ll act.
He wants you to reach out because he believes that it’s crucial for you to know that he won’t wait for you.
The truth is that most of the time, this game works on women and that’s why they continue to play it.
Insecure men do this mostly when they’re just starting to talk to you. They want to see how interested you are in them, so they stop texting you first.
When they message you first, they are extremely involved in the conversation; otherwise, they are just very cold to the point where you’re the only one holding the dialogue.
He might even ghost you, just to see how many times you’re ready to text him before he actually responds to you.
2. Guilt-tripping
Guilt-tripping is a type of guilt that is induced by another person. It’s when you are made to feel guilty for things that you aren’t even responsible for.
It’s not easy to point out when someone is guilt-tripping you, but there are telltale signs.
For example, an insecure man who is guilt-tripping you doesn’t want to let go of his target.
He’s making sure you know that you think you are guilty and checks with you multiple times afterward.
These checks are very often mentioned in a passive-aggressive way and that makes them very obvious to spot.
The only way you can work through this is to maintain your own self-confidence.
You know when you’re not guilty of something so don’t let someone make you believe that you are.
An insecure man will put all his guilt onto you, to make you smaller and more insecure so he can manipulate you more easily.
Don’t let him have that power over you.
3. Mansplaining things
Have you ever heard of the term ‘mansplaining’? Mansplaining is the way men explain things to women who they deem to be inferior to them.
It occurs mostly in a situation where no one asked for his opinion. This is done by insecure men to belittle women about their knowledge.
An insecure man can’t let a woman be smarter than he is, right? So he likes to play the mansplaining card to come off as brighter.
There is nothing you can do about this but call him out on it. If you’re in a serious relationship, he should be willing to work on this.
4. “I was never into girls like you, but…”
This is a passive-aggressive statement that can be very manipulative if you don’t pay close attention to his intentions.
Of course, this can just mean that you’re the first woman who he’s dated to do things in a specific way.
If he’s doing this as a game to see how far he can go with changing your character to appeal more to him, it’ll be obvious.
He won’t stop mentioning things about you so he’ll bring up your hair, your voice, your height, your occupation, and so on.
He’ll say anything to make you feel insecure about it too.
He’ll constantly mention how he has never dated a girl with brown hair before, for example.
He’s putting an idea in your head and he’ll end up asking you to change your hair color.
This game is exclusively played by an insecure man to execute power over you.
5. Using your weaknesses against you
In order to make himself feel better and superior in your relationship, an insecure man will use your weaknesses against you.
What does this mean? Well, for example, are you insecure about your body, especially your belly? Does he bring that up when it’s convenient?
When he wants to have more power over you, he’ll do this.
He has most probably spent countless hours analyzing your insecurities and has become a master of knowing what buttons to push.
In his mind, it’s funny. To an insecure man, it’s just a game of knowing that you are sensitive and that he can abuse that.
He thinks it’s amusing, while you’re overthinking every single thing he says.
Insecure men don’t know any other way of living except belittling someone they can’t control.
So the next time you see a man doing this, be proud of something that has been an insecurity before and embrace it!
Don’t give him the satisfaction.
6. Thinking he’s entitled to your body
Being in a relationship isn’t just a constant green light for physical intimacy.
Many women feel very uncomfortable when men touch them without permission.
An insecure man won’t ask for consent. He won’t give you an opportunity to say no, because if he did and you said no, what would he do then?
You are entitled to your boundaries and he should respect them. No one is entitled to someone else’s body!
Any type of physical intimacy is a consensual act between two adults, so if he’s not acting like an adult then he doesn’t get that privilege.
Make sure he knows where your boundaries are. He is not entitled to your body.
7. Telling you, not asking you
This is again very common in men who are too insecure about the fact that you could tell them no.
A man who doesn’t believe that you or your opinion have worth is going to demand things from you.
He won’t ask you questions about your opinions on certain topics. He won’t ask about your feelings or what you’re doing.
No. He will tell you what you should be thinking, feeling, and doing.
8. Shaming you on your confidence
“I wouldn’t be proud of that if I were you.” “Good for you, but what of it?”
An insecure man will never acknowledge your accomplishments. He might even shame you about the things you’re proud of in your life.
An insecure man can’t feel powerful next to a confident woman, so he’ll do anything in his power to make you feel bad about yourself.
If you’re confident about the way you look, he will do his best to tell you how he doesn’t see where your confidence is coming from.
9. Not committing to one woman
Let’s talk about the most insecure men of them all – cheaters.
Insecure men simply need more validation than you’re able to give them. It’s not your fault if he cheats on you.
A cheater is so insecure that he has to feel needed and validated and one person simply isn’t enough to satiate that thirst.
This also makes him feel like he has conquered more than one woman and what can make him feel more powerful than that?
This is just another game to him.
