The feeling of your identity being threatened is a vicious one. Whether someone makes a flawed assumption about your religion, questions your sexual orientation, or just insults your favorite sports team, being attacked on a personal level really gets our blood pumping. And that’s natural. But there are better and worse reactions to it.

People online come together and share pictures of men trying to protect their masculinity in the most toxic and unnecessary ways. The screenshots and pics provide an interesting glimpse into what triggers these insecurities and add a bit of satire to point out some of the most irrational examples.

#1 Thought Of This Sub When I Saw This

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#2 (Facebook. Not My Screenshot)

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Many of these, let’s call them, statements seem to stem from men’s frustration with communicating with women, especially romantically. A majority of the fellas we see in the pictures view it as some sort of power struggle where they must have the upper hand. While this dynamic might be suitable to some couples, by thinking that everyone must acknowledge it they’re setting themselves up for conflict as often people are looking for the complete opposite.

“Vulnerability is the key to intimacy,” Robert Taibbi, who is a licensed clinical social worker with nearly five decades of experience, told Bored Panda.

“It is about stepping outside your comfort zone and saying what is difficult to say. It is not about the content—what you actually say, but stepping up and saying what is difficult. Often the other person doesn’t realize the risk you are taking, so you need to talk about this as well.”

#3 Wendy’s With The Truth

Image credits: EmotionalPianist

#4 Welcome To Reddit, Where Not Hating Women Is A Crime

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#5 Welp

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According to Taibbi, “too many men feel hurt but hold it in—it eventually builds up causing some explosion that they feel bad about and then try to sweep under the rug.”

“The key is to talk about problems as they arise, to talk about you and your emotions, avoid the blame and getting into the weeds of whose reality is right,” the author of Doing Family Therapy, said. “Help the other person know what you are most sensitive to and what you need most from the beginning, and not sweep problems under the rug — solve them.”

#6 My Post On Unpopular Opinions Got A Lot Of People Pretty Angry

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#7 The Rock Is Apparently Not A Real Man Anymore

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#8 He Sure Showed Her

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#9 The “Egalitarians” Are Mad That A Woman Doesn’t Feel Comfortable Filming Sex Scenes For Male Directors

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Taibbi thinks that some of the most common insecurities men experience in romantic relationships revolve around not feeling accepted, feeling rejected, or doing something wrong that will cause the other person to pull away or end the relationship: “If I am honest and vulnerable will you listen and hear what I am saying?” “Can you appreciate what I’m doing for you?”

Nowadays, however, 63% of young men (ages 18-29) report being single, compared with 34% of women in the same age group.

#10 Man Gets Offended Over A Image Of A Tampon

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#11 Not From Reddit But I Thought It Fit Here

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#12 Haha Woman Bad Man Funny Gamer

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#13 I Decided To Look Through The Sub Cause I Heard How Toxic It Is. Holy Shit

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Psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer, and social critic Susie Orbach, agress that vulnerabilities unaddressed, often unknown or unnamed by the individual, can end up being expressed in brittleness and toughness.

“Being able to acknowledge uncertainties to oneself and to others is … an aspect of strength,” she wrote in The Guardian. “Cleaving to something unnamed that was missed can produce anger or despair. Boys didn’t anticipate that there would be a rupture in nurture as they became adults; in other words, … they wouldn’t be able to simply rely on women’s solicitations and [comfort] without showing more of themselves. Girls knew that they were ‘supposed’ to give support but were growing up to think of economic and emotional equality, not protection.”

#14 Muh Fragile Masculinity!!!!!

Image credits: SecularMarxist

#15 Adultery And Psychopathy Were Minor Details, I’m Sure

Anyone else think Amazon’s stock price influenced the divorce?

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#16 Wow… Just Wow

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#17 A Feminine Man? The Horror

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Furthermore, Orbach believes that machismo doesn’t achieve the desired effect of putting women in their place.

“That ship has sailed,” she said. “It has offered a fundamentalist pull which endangers all of us; men, women, children, non-binary and trans people. It’s time for a new conversation that opens the door to speaking of vulnerability and nurture as essential for all of us, and as an aspect of strength – as an antidote to toxicity.”

#18 Talking About Marie Curie

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#19 Fellas, Is It Gay To Lean In For A Photo?

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#20 F**k Women Who Don’t Change Their Name!!!

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#21 But Y’all Ain’t Ready To Hear That…

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When it comes to how men view themselves, 31% say they are very manly or masculine, 54% describe themselves as somewhat masculine and 15% say they are not too or not at all masculine.

At the same time, relatively few men (9%) say it’s very important to them, personally, to be seen by others as manly or masculine, while 37% say this is somewhat important to them. 

#22 Until She’s On Her Best Behaviour, She Deserves Nothing

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#23 Rule Number 4 Says No Sexism, What Did He Expect??

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#24 The Only Thing Redditors Hate More Than Women Is Women That Want Equal Rights

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#25 Not From Reddit But I Think It Fits

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#26 “I Forgive Ellen Page’s Deception For Promoting Herself As A Heterosexual Woman”

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#27 Guy Is Upset That Sending Dick Pics To Strangers Makes Him Unfairly Labeled As “Sex Obsessed”

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#28 Got A Lot Of Angry Replies For This One Like “Do You Even Have A Dick” And People Saying I Had No Balls Lol

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#29 I Got Downvoted For Saying That This Isn’t Funny

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#30 Calling Out The Hypocrisy Of Fragile Men On The Internet

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#31 Imagine Being This Fragile About A Girl Buying A Home

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#32 R/Whiteknighting Is A Sub For Fragile Male Redditors Apparently

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#33 A Statue Representing The Myth Of A Woman Who Was R**ed Is Going To Be Installed In Honor Of Metoo

But rather that showing her beheaded by Perseus for his own gain, she will instead be shown holding her attacker’s head. Definitely a men’s rights issue!!!

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#34 Gets Downvoted For Correctly Quoting Movie

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#35 Man Refuses To Stop Comparing Women To Objects

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#36 Lmao I Feel Like Posting From This Sub Is Cheating

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#37 It’s Not The 23 Women, Deshaun Watson Is The Real Victim!!

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#38 Reddit

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#39 Both Sides Amirite

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#40 What’s The Quote? “You Think It’s Degrading For A Man To Act Like A Woman, Because You Think Being A Woman Is Degrading”?

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#41 That… Somewhat Defeats The Purpose Of Lgbtq?

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#42 Well Ok Then

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#43 This Made My Brain Hurt

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#44 Fragile Male Tweeter Has To Be Attracted To Everyone

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#45 Someone Thought This Was Good Relationship Advice

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#46 You Have Been Warned

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#47 Twitter Makes Me Lose Hope

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#48 Hehe

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#49 Unpopular Opinion Once Again Gives Us The Best Of The Best

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#50 Asking The Hard Questions Inside The Echo Chamber

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#51 Single = Depression , From R/Conservativememes

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#52 Transphobia And Misogyny All In One

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#53 This Is A Huge F**king Yikes (Open The Entire Pic If Not Visible)

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#54 Bro What

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#55 This Man Is So Oppressed By His “Hardcore Feminist” Girlfriend Being Upset By Legitimate Sexist Things

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#56 Women Not Being Just Eye Candy In A Movie Is Bad

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#57 Stop Putting Your Preferred Pronouns As**ole!

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#58 Twitter : Don’t Interrupt Women. Reddit : Cringe

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#59 Lol Women Want To Kill All Men, Look At Me My Gender Is So Much Funnier Than Yours

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#60 Fascinating

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#61 Reminder That He’s Not Gay!

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#62 Pontifications On The Likelihood Of A Woman Going To Jail

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#63 When You Need 7 Adjectives To Prove Your Masculinity

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#64 Girl Dye Hair. Girl Bad

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#65 On A Cringetopia Post About A Camgirl’s Messy Room, The Comments Are A Mess

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#66 Apparently A Movie Ruined Women

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#67 Fmr Seeking Alternatives To Widely Available Statistics

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#68 People Couldn’t Accept That Trap Is Derogatory Or A Slur

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#69 Two Kinds Of People

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#70 All My Safe Places Get Banned

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#71 Redditor Is So Fragile About His Masculinity He Puts Down Men Who Don’t Intensively Exercise Due To Chronic Pain

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#72 Apparently Cis Males Are The Glitch In The System Created By Straight Males

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#73 Found On Ew, About A Woman Running The Witcher

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#74 Same Person Was Defending Slavery In Another Tweet

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#75 Sorry, I Know, Darkhumourandmemes Again. But I Just… Ugh

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#76 This Sub Is Horrible R/Trueunpopularopinion

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#77 “Weebs Callings Each Other Weebs Is Like Black People Calling Each Other The N-Word”

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#78 1. Feminists Don’t Want To Be Hired Over Men, We Just Want An Equal Opportunity And Equal Treatment. 2. What Makes Them Think Women, Especially Feminists, Don’t Pay For Their Dates?? (I Left In The Votes And Timestamp Since The Mras Came For Me Last Time)

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#79 How Is This Even Comparable?

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#80 He’s Upset They Added Pink Colors For Your Knight In A Medieval War Game

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#81 Women Are Going To Destroy Society

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#82 I Guess One Innocent Man Going To Jail Is Worse Than Millions Of Women Getting Raped And Rapists Never Being Punished

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#83 But Women Can’t Be Smart Hurdur

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#84 On A Post About Hungary No Longer Recognizing Trans People

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#85 Fragile Male Tiktokker

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#86 Rent-Free In Your F**king Head

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#87 Game Journalist Wants To Discuss That 2/3rds Of Women Are Harassed? Screw That. What About Men!?!

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#88 If You Sell Plasma You Are Also An Object Not Worthy Of Respect Or Dignity! Checkmate Ladies

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#89 This Guy Who Doesnt Like Women In Anime Overpowering Other Main Characters And Searching For An Anime Where Women Are Beat Instead. Lol

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#90 Lesbian Parents Means No Dad

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Source: boredpanda.com