this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2026
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I have a sister in law like this. She's really cool and we generally get along but God damn is she hard to deal with sometimes.
There was one instance where it was our niece's birthday and we had made this shitty balloon arch for pictures. When it came to the end of the party and we needed to break it all down, I knew that a bunch of the balloons had like confetti in them. She was helping with the breakdown, and I had dealt with these before so I was like "watch out for the confetti balloons, try to cut them open near the know and let the air out slow, and do it over a garbage can incase it pops. They will shoot confetti everywhere if they pop and it's a pain in the ass to clean up" and she just turned at me with tho most vitriol "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MANSPLAIN TO ME HOW TO POP BALLOONS?!" and I was like "Okay jeez, was just trying to help"
Not two minute later I see her with a pin just popping the balloons off of the arch. Fucking confetti everywhere. I turned to my wife, who saw the exchange and I was like "yeah I'm not helping clean that up"
This is the same woman who screams about body shaming etc, and when she expressed interest in one of my friends who is Japanese said "He's hot but it's too bad he probably has a small dick". Like... That's racist AND body shaming.
We agree on a lot of things socially and politically, and like I said generally we get along, but she also complains very loudly about how she can't keep relationships sustained and it's like... Yo, all you do is vocally complain about how men are the source of all problems. But you also want to be with one?
Like, look... I'm all in support of feminism, but it should be about rising women up, not chopping men down. I didn't choose to be born with a penis. Why am I automatically an enemy? I'm an ally.
Fuck.
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Stop getting relationship advice/expectations from 4chan, for starters.
But my relationship is going a little too well
Stop talking.
Either you're being an arse or they are.
Stop talking.
Oh, so you're stonewalling me?
"I need to step back from this conversation as i'm getting disregulated. Please allow me some time"
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I feel like everyone here needs a reminder that love bombing is something that happens AFTER mistreatment to make the victim calm down and become compliant.
This isn't just being overly affectionate, it's a technique used to manipulate behavior and keep a victim loyal.
Though it can be used during the initial parts of a relationship to make it progress at a very fast rate. Imo it's best to hit the brakes even if the other person isn't abusive. And hit the brakes as in don't rush to move in with them, get married, or have a kid, as I think ending a relationship because it's moving too fast is just as likely to end a good thing as avoid abuse.
IMO detecting abusive people is best done by seeing how they react when challenged, especially by someone they might consider a lesser.
With someone coming on too strong too fast you need to keep your eyes open and be aware of your boundaries. It may be someone who's awesome and sincere who's just on a different pace than you, it may be an intentional abuser being machiavellian, but it's also got a pretty good chance of being someone unstable and sincere and oh fucking boy will that cause problems if you don't have and maintain boundaries.
lovebombing used to describe cult behavior where a large group would shower praise and validation on a prospective member as a recruitment tactic. it's no surprise that there's confusion about what it means when it's used to describe a wide variety of behaviors that are superficially connected.
I thought it was a thing used at the beginning to get people to join cults.
Also, despite the name, the relationship does NOT need to be romantic for this to apply. Literally anyone in your life can be a abuser with tactics like this. Usually, sadly, it's someone with some authority or ability to screw up your life. For example, like a workplace manager or a family member.
It’s best to explain why what’s your doing is not mansplaining. That always works.
The real answer is to leave. I don’t think I’ve ever had a meaningful or productive conversation where any of these were used.
Though I can see stonewalling being used in earnest.
Stonewalling is probably the best only one on that list where a response would actually make anything better.
It’s best to explain why what’s your doing is not mansplaining. That always works.
If somebody accuses you of mansplaining, there is nothing you can do. that makes this so toxic as an argument. It's basically saying "Whatever you are saying or want to say is worthless because of your gender". I know that mansplaining is in theory a specific kind of disrespectful explaining, but in too many cases it's used to deflect valid arguments. If someone is acting like that, the only way is to not interact further.
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tell her to calm down, she is being hysterical
Respond with a strong assertive wave of the hand and a firm "silence women"
“Men are speaking” emphasised with a pat on the bottom.
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Ask "Why do you feel that's what I'm doing?" then reflect on the answer and how your behaviour was perceived this way. Finally, if after reflection you come to the conclusion that indeed you acted poorly, apologise and try to behave differently in the future.
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"I do tend to overexplain and I'm sorry, please shut me down if I do, but please believe me when I tell you that I overexplain everyone and it has nothing to do with your perceived gender, I just have the *tism." - this is my usually response because it's true.
I got accused of mansplaining because I was helping someone on a tech support call (they were taking the call to support a user, and I was assisting them) and I started with the basic information they'd need to understand the problem and how to fix it. After the call she turned around to the guy next to her and complained about it and he was just like, "oh, no, he's like that with everyone".
My philosophy was based on the fact that our managers hired people for people skills over technical background because they assumed the tech stuff could be trained and that if someone was asking me for help there was a gap in their knowledge somewhere and I had no way to know where it was other than to begin at the beginning and work through it. Most people appreciated it. But some were full of themselves and got pissed about it, those types typically didn't last very long on that job.
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"....this is a Wendy's."
The funny thing is when people say "you're gaslighting me", but actually you're the one being gaslit.
Really the problem with things like this is just when they're used in bad faith to gain rhetorical advantage. It's fine to say something to the effect of:
"I believe you're gaslighting me. Here's what I remember happening, and here's some supporting evidence. What you're saying is that it didn't happen that way. If your intention is not to intentionally try to mislead me about how things occurred, can you explain?"
But just saying "You're gaslighting me" when really what's happened is that the way things actually happened is inconvenient to their argument - that's the issue. It all comes down to their motivation
Real gaslighters LOVE the opportunity to further twist facts, or maybe its compulsion. Its better to either disengage entirely or focus on one or two key points their bullshit cannot change
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Put in headphones, listen to a comedy laugh and ignore. Probably better turn on the body cam on too..... And create space from this person.
And stop trying to get everyone to like you.You don't even like everyone.
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yo, did the fucking misogyny of 4chan get exported with this post or why are u all acting like chuds rn??
You new to greentext or what?
yo, did the fucking sense of humour of reddit get exported with this comment or why are u all acting like the comedy police rn??
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There's like 2 misogynistic comments in a sea of genuine advice and they're both pretty obviously sarcasm
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Reflect upon how you are acting. Empathize with the other person's POV. Then discuss rationally from a point of mutual benefit.
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Honestly if someone was using all these terms, I'd stop talking to them. I don't have time to be an avatar for your underlying mental issues to attack.
The lovebombing accusation is what gets me. Sorry for being lonely and easily getting infatuated on the rare occasion I get to date someone 😭
Edit: For clarification, I am just saying that "lovebombing" doesn't necessarily have to be an intentional manipulation tactic. I am not saying it's not a reason for concern
I man no disrespect but you gotta reign it in. I totally get where you're coming from but getting lovebombed is a red flag for good reason.
You alluded to one reason why in your comment...if the infatuation isn't mutual, it feels like the person is just excited to be in a relationship. They're in love with being in love, not with me.
And unless you're a narcissist, it just feels weird to put on a pedestal. Getting fawned over 24/7 is too much. People just want a partner that is a normal person most of the time.
It also has the connotation of codependence. And with that, it's likely this person is going to have a mental breakdown if we break up in a year.
Lovebombing usually means baggage. It's understandable that people don't want to start a relationship with someone carrying a ton of baggage.
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I use all these techniques to get out of paying for prostitutes.
(Just kidding I can't afford prostitutes)
Guys I'm not sure if this person is just kidding
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Anon you're an asshole and you know this since kindergarten. Stop gaslighting
You post all your relationship problems to 4chan, then enjoy your miserable life
Stop talking to them altogether, I guess. Assuming you're not a habitual manipulator using these tactics.
it's very important to begin your response with the word
Axxxxually......
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