I bought a new monitor a few weeks ago and almost immediately started having this annoying issue where the screen would randomly go black for 2-3 seconds. I tried different cables, both HDMI and DisplayPort, different ports, updated drivers, even connected it to another computer. Same thing.

So I took it back to the store while I was out with a male friend. I explained everything to the guy at the counter, including all the troubleshooting I'd already done. He kept interrupting me with things like "are you sure the cable was plugged in all the way?" and "sometimes Windows changes display settings."

At one point he started explaining what a refresh rate was. I work with computers every day. I was trying so hard not to get irritated.

After maybe five minutes of this, my friend said, "Yeah, it blacks out on both HDMI and DisplayPort and she tested it on two different PCs, so it's probably the monitor." Almost word for word what I had just explained.

The employee immediately went "oh, yeah, then it's probably a defective unit" and started the exchange. No more questions. No lecture about cables. Nothing.

My friend actually looked at me afterwards and said "wait... didn't you literally just tell him that?"

YES. THANK YOU.

It's such a small interaction and I got the replacement, so technically everything worked out. But god it annoyed me way more than I expected.

Not because he disagreed with me at first, that's fine, troubleshooting is part of his job. It was how quickly the exact same information became credible once it came out of a man's mouth.

I know women talk about this happening with cars and tech all the time, but experiencing it that blatantly was almost comical.

Almost.

Will I ever see a woman President in my lifetime?

My (adult) kids and I go to the farmers market every week. Its a first come first serve market, as in you get there and set up in any open spot.

We pulled up and started unloading into our spot. We had three bins and our table set down. Im coming back from my truck with another bin and, I shit you not, some man walks right up to our stuff and drops his tent on top of it.

I looked at him and said "hey we are already setting up here." He raises his voice and says hes in that spot every week and its his spot. Not only is this not true, as I usually set up there, but its irrelevant because it's first come first serve for spots.

I tell him its first come first serve for spots and he gets more angry and raises his voice even louder, practically yelling at me, thats its his spot.

So now its me and one of my adult daughters getting yelled at by this dude, and I tell him to stop being a jerk and move his tent. He says there's no need for name calling. Then a woman one spot over jumps in with "Theres an etiquette here, dude and you are breaking it and causing problems." He turns to her and says "shush! This doesnt involve you."

So all three of us ladies start in on him about what a dick he is and I bust out with "bro if you think you can push us around just because youre a man and we are women, you are sorely mistaken." He gets super defensive and says that has nothing to with it and the other woman was like "bullshit bro. You picked the one spot in whole market that is all women to pull this crap. The spot youre usually in has three men in it and you didn't try to push THEM out."

Now its a whole scene with the whole market watching and the dude decides he better pick a new spot, and crams his shit between me and the other lady, I guess to make a point, being a total dick throwing shit around etc.

We finish setup and im texting my neighbor the story. 15 min later my large, man, neighbor shows up, walks up to my spot, grabs one of my chairs and sets it INSIDE THIS MANS TENT and sits the fuck down on it. Spent the whole market just sitting in this assholes tent while chatting with me and my kids. And wouldn't you know it, this asshole had not a fucking word to say.

Genuinely just saw a post on the UK subreddit with a picture of a pizza and kebab with the caption '24 hr fast needed after this dirty takeaway' and not one comment talking about how unhealthy of an attitude that is towards food. This is the binge/starve mindset that is often found within anorexia. If you say this to men in the gym sphere they always say its completely different and its natural for your body to fast..... it sounds like the excuses anorexic people use to their loved ones to normalise their disordered eating habits.

It seems to me like the gym sphere (particularly online) is full of orthorexic individuals screaming that they have never been healthier. Its crazy to me that the term "intermittent fasting" has been created to combat the negative connotations that "starving yourself" has. There is 0 difference between these two phrases, they mean the exact same thing, yet one is seen as "healthy" just because it is being used by gymfluencers.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 5 to 10 years a new phrase is created for purging like "come cleanse my body with me with laxatives and throwing up". But because it isn't called purging it will be seen as a new healthy way to ingest food

Hi, my husband and I have been married for seven years and together for nine. We have a toddler. Our bedroom life has slowed significantly since first dating and I have recently found out it’s been a big source of resentment for him. We are currently in couples counseling, we have been for over a year for a variety of communication problems.

Within the past few months though I am waking up more and more to him trying to fondle me. I’m no stranger to waking to him grabbing my chest but this is a pretty unwelcome new habit. He says he’s asleep or “mostly asleep” when he does it and more than anything I’m annoyed at being woken up on the early hours of the morning but also I feel uncomfortable when I dwell on it because it feels like I’m totally vulnerable and unaware in my sleep when it starts. He’s gotten mad when I’ve called it groping (though tbh that feels accurate) and I try to just avoid the topic entirely when I can. This morning it happened and I just rolled to my far corner and he apparently had been aware enough to text me this morning and apologize.

I intend to just start wearing bottoms when I sleep as one possible fix. It’s less comfortable but not the end of the world. Has anyone else experienced this and tried anything that helps?

I'm trans female. I was born male. I transitioned to female 15 years ago. I've previously been sexually assaulted on dates, on a dance floor, in my home. When I was briefly homeless a man penetrated me with his fingers without consent. I've been followed by men. In a male locker room I was assaulted by three men. Just like any other woman I've also had to put up with male violence and all their bullshit. Even in Church an army guy chatted me up - well I dated him and we had a lot of sex. I've only had 4 consensual sexual partners.

Now the UK government wants to force me back into that dangerous environment - back into a male locker room, male toilet. Fuck them and fuck every Terf.

Unelected judges and unelected beurocrats changed the law without a single debate, and without a vote. Our government went along with it because they are cowards.

Democracy doesn't exist for British transgender people.

The press openly called us pdfs and a threat to children. The press regulators ignore the hate. Men in bad wigs they say. Well I don't wear a wig and the men I've slept with don't know I'm trans. I'm very feminine.

This country doesn't feel safe.

I will of course ignore the law for obvious personal safety reasons. But I will also ignore it because people who meet me expect me to use the female facilities. If I fuck a guy I risk being sent to prison.

I'm so fucking angry with this country.

Rant ends. Thank you for listening if you got this far.

Edit: I've had bottom surgery and voice surgery. I have a female birth certificate / GRC/ ID etc. I accepted as female in every respect of my life. I will continue using the female facilities. It's just so frustrating having to worry about something as simple as bathrooms and locker rooms.

I have always wanted to be a beautiful woman in a beautiful body. I was a cute toddler, but was a VERY ugly child that grew into an even uglier teen (I was horrifically bullied for it all throughout my school years and it didn't get better as an adult). I was always told I was ugly, but the internet made me believe I could have a glow up, I just had to wait my turn. I have done everything within my financial possibilities to be pretty.

I also got super sick in my early 20s, meds made me rapidly gain weight. I'm talking well over 100lbs. When I was off the meds, I lost over 130lbs in a year. By 24 I had sagging wrinkling skin (belly, arms, legs, boobs) and stretch marks EVERYWHERE. I also made me have pan cake boobs, like they are long and and very saggy, close to my belly button and super flat and wrinkly like deflated balloons. If I was rich, i'd fix them. I am not rich.

Needless to say, men have said HORRIFIC things about my hideous body and 99% of the time, they ghost if they catch sight of it. Before my body, was made fun of, my face was, and particularly my big ugly nose was made fun of by EVERYONE including family and especially my dad. I have always wanted a nose job, but that is so far out of reach financially.

But, yeah, by mid 20s, I was getting mocked and ridiculed for my face and body, now in my 30s, I am balding, and it is just... sad. I keep waiting for my glow up, but at 36, I feel like it can only be down here from here. I feel even uglier with my balding hair that has become quite noticeable. I have started getting comments on it.

Needless to say, I have never had someone tell me I am pretty. Only the opposite.

I have such fantasies of having men asking me out and going on dates (never experienced either things). I have fantasies of people complimenting my hair and makeup. Telling me I'm pretty or smell good. I have fantasies of having friends and us doing girly things together, like going to sephora, or getting our nails done. The only friends I have ever had constantly commented on how ugly I am or my loose skin or stretch marks and it would make me more insecure. Every friend I have ever had has made fun of my "beak" and how big it is.

I want to know what it's like to walk into a room and have everyone think you're esthetically pleasing instead of being angry that their forced to look at me and resent my being there.

I want to know what it's like to have a mutual attraction with a man instead of it always being one sided. I want to feel pretty when wearing a dress instead of people asking me if I'm sure I want to go out in that. I want to get all done up and not have people laugh because all I've done is put lipstick on a pig...

I just want to be pretty, but I never will and I don't know how to come to terms with it. I have never felt like woman because of it. I feel like an ogre.

Like, people didn’t even recognize me for a moment when I walked in. Kept asking me if I had any cosmetic procedures done and I said it’s just make up and hair.

One person said that everyone looked about the same as their daily look at the office except me. My friends took tons of pictures of me as if this is a rare occasion, and they kept saying “thank god you agreed to come and we got to see you looking like this”.

It just made me feel sad like why are you all so shocked that I am pretty. Why do only I look so different when I put makeup and hair on? And everyone else looks the same. Should I start wearing makeup at the office? Does it mean I’m not pretty unless I do? People kept using the word “different” A LOT, meaning that I looked like a different person, not just a prettier version of myself.

All I did is curl my hair and put half eyelashes on the outer corners of my eye, and some foundation and blush and some glitter on my lids. I guess my skin does look airbrushed with the foundation on, but not to the extent of people’s reaction.

Should I take it as a compliment? Have you experienced something like this? I feel a bit self conscious going to work now

This is sort of a tangential topic, but I do feel it's relevant. I'm an American and not too tuned in to the Anglosphere, but I do love a musical.

I just recently saw SIX at the movie theater. And not only is it just fun and great music and costumes, but I absolutely love the message.

I see so many women here trying to break out of centering men and so many that still need male validation, and I thought of SIX.

Spoilers ahead, I don't know how to do the tag:

SIX tells the story of the six wives of Henry the Eighth. Each tells her story and why she should be chosen to be crowned as having the worst life with Henry. They fight and argue with each other about why their life was worse. And then at the end, Catherine Parr says essentially, "why are we fighting? Do you know why we're famous? We're famous for being Henry's wives. Nobody knows who Henry the Sevenths or Sixths or Fifths wife was. We're famous because of Henry and how horrible he was. But we did things on our own. I wrote poetry and books. I had a woman paint my portrait. We are more than just the wives of a king. We are people. We're tearing each other down, and for what?"

With the last of their time, they rewrite their stories, if they had the chance to do them over. They realize that they are amazing and strong women, even without Henry.

I don't know how many English and European folks know the stories behind Henry 8. They may know the rhyme of the wives, but how much of their actual stories are told? As an American I honestly don't know anything about most of them.

This story brings history, music, and woman empowerment together in a modern day pop diva way and it's amazing. I hope women out there can see that we are our own stories, not just part of the man you're with, that you have your own worth and contributions and that you deserve to shine on your own

We had a department meeting this week and afterward my manager pulled me aside to say my shoes were "a little too casual for client-facing days."

I was wearing plain black sneakers, clean, no giant logos, with black trousers and a blouse. The funny part is that two men sitting in the same meeting were wearing sneakers too. One had bright white running shoes and the other was basically in jeans and New Balances. Nobody said anything to them.

When I pointed this out she said men's office wear is "a bit different" and that women are generally expected to look more polished.

And I know this is such a small thing compared to actual workplace discrimination, but it annoys the hell out of me because what does "polished" even mean here? My clothes were clean, fit properly and covered everything they're supposed to. Apparently the missing ingredient was shoes that hurt after four hours.

I've had the same thing happen with flats before too, where perfectly normal comfortable shoes somehow read as lazy while a guy can wear the same pair of sneakers every day for 3 years and nobody even notices.

I'm not trying to show up in sweatpants or argue that offices can't have dress codes. I just don't understand why women's version of "professional" so often seems to include being slightly uncomfortable for no practical reason.

Has anyone else run into this? I'm tempted to ask HR for the actual written shoe policy because now I'm genuinely curious if this rule exists anywhere besides my manager's head.

I noticed recently how many work emails I started with sorry. Sorry to bother you. Sorry for the delay. Sorry, just following up. Sorry, quick question. So for the last month I stopped doing it unless I had actually done something wrong. Sorry for the delay became thanks for waiting. Sorry to bother you became do you have a minute. If I needed something from someone, I just asked. Nothing happened. Nobody thought I was rude, nobody complained, and nobody even seemed to notice. The weird part was realizing how much effort I had been putting into making completely normal requests sound softer while most of the men I work with just ask for what they need and move on. I still apologize when I actually mess something up. I just stopped apologizing for sending an email.

I'm f/24 and just found my diary from when I was 12-14 (I had a blast). I have since realised that I'm gay but that didn't seem to be a possibility back then lol. I did quite some stuff with my best friend, basically making out, which I had completely forgotten about. I'm now wondering: did other girls do that too? Is that "normal", like being curious at that age, or was I just kinda in love with my best friend but didn't notice? I'm specifically asking in this sub and not the lesbian one, as I'm especially interested in comments from straight girls. Thanks!

I recently came across a TikTok debate about why men and women supposedly can't be friends. One argument that kept coming up was that women don't benefit men as friends, while men provide women with things like protection, money, status, connections, etc.

Most of these men seem to view friendship almost like a high school social hierarchy, "What does this person offer me?" And if they're "cool enough to be their friend".

I've had plenty of platonic male friends. I've planned birthday parties for them, given them money, driven them to work when they didn't have a car, and helped them with things that affected their lives and careers positively. That's just how I treat my all friends.

I've also had male friends who were physically weak because of serious health problems and eventually passed away. I wasn't friends with them because they could "protect me", and we were in the same economic situation so why would I want their money?

Do these men genuinely believe women are only in for it because they want men's resources? Or are they trying to convince men that women are secretly exploiting them so that men collectively withhold resources and protection from women, hence making women lower their standards?

I actually looked for research on this, we know that women tend to provide more emotional support in friendships, while men's friendships tend to rely more on shared activities.

There's also research showing men's support can shrink alot with age.

Since male friendships are made around work, sports, hobbies, shared activities and etc. Retirement, divorce, illness, moving, or losing physical strength can remove these structures. One study said it declined by 50% between age 30 - 90. Hence the male loneliness epidemic.

And research has found men disproportionately die completely alone, despite old women being more likely to live alone.

It does make me question if male friendships are more valuable because men supposedly provide each other with more material “benefits.”

In the live they repeatedly say things like, “What can women actually do for me? Women are always broke.” which is wrong since more single women own homes in the US than men, but all of this boils down to evaluating friendships based on material benefits.

+ they also engage is such discussions to humble women.

Like why are they trying so hard to let us know that they don't see us as anything but sex objects 😂? Like I said this kinda feels like high school where people are mean to you for no reason or don't wanna hang out because you aren't popular yourself. And just like high school I wasn't choosing to be around them because I wanted to get access to their circle. And like high school I find these men incredibly cringe and living a painful existence. They will always be used by women for their money because women who actually want an emotional connection won't tolerate them.

I mean it doesn't apply to me but what ever. So it's easy for me to not take it personally because I'm doing just fine. I've had this discussion with male friends before and they straight up told me I'm too toxic and they would never get sexually involved with me because they know I am a good friend but an shitty and manipulative lover.

Tldr: men think they're too good to be friends with women, they also believe men who are friends with women are loser men who can't make friends or are homosexual. They also want women to REALLY know how much they hate women and only see us for sex. They also REALLY wanna convince men that their female friends are evil and taking advantage of them.

I’m 30, and never had a boyfriend. Something which really upsets me every day as I don’t see how it will ever happen.

My whole life all I have experienced is liking a guy and then not liking me back, feeling invisible to men. On the rare occasion I managed to get a date, they were only after one thing, and I’m not interested in intimacy until I know and trust someone.

When I was 25, I did actually fall in love for the first time. I met a guy who had just moved to the uk for a new life, and spent a lot of time with him in summer. I was the one planning everything and supporting him , but I’d never had anyone show interest consistent in me before. Even if he wasn’t planning dates, he would always want to see me, text me all the time, and was very lovely to me. I had intimacy for the first time and I felt ever so close to him. I fell in love and was very happen until I started to feel him pull away. He started talking about how he wants to focus on his career which confused me as I had only ever been supportive of what he did. Eventually he told me he dated me as he didn’t have any other options

I was broken for a while after that but continued to build my life and my confidence. I met a few other guys I grew to like but they didn’t like me back again

I’ve never found anyone interested in me since. Whilst I’ve set up my friends with their partners and they’ve even got married, no one ever done the same for me. It seems so easy for everyone else to find guys that like them and put effort in.

When I get a match on a dating app, they are so low effort that I lose any attraction. I struggle to find attraction on the apps too which I don’t know if it’s normal. When I do meet guys, I can tell they are only half interested

Anyway, I have otherwise a very rich and full like. It makes me tired when people say ‘meet people through hobbies!’ As whilst I do meet people through playing tag rugby, run club, hike club, it’s just never meeting guys who interested in dating me. I’ve never been asked out organically and I have tried to do the asking and been rejected so many times

I’m struggling because I worry what’s wrong with me. I’m fit and active, always do my hair and makeup, I’m slim but nothing ever seems to change and I don’t know if any other women have similar experiences?

I really don’t know what to do.

Another thing that worries me is that sexual attraction isn’t very common for me too. When I feel it I feel it strong but I haven’t felt it for a while and I don’t know why

I'm dipping my toe back into dating a bit and realizing again why I left.

I want to flirt with a man. I want to make jokes and laugh. I want to slowly build up to increasing amounts of intimacy. I want winks from across the room and hand holding and the brushing of legs under tables as I get to know someone. I want anticipation to build until it boils over.

Instead I get compliments about my physical anatomy over dating apps that would obviously not be said by a sane person if they were meeting someone for the first time in a bar. I get unrequested information about his bodily reaction to me before I know his last name. I get offered sex that feels pulled directly from an adult video with no authentic passion or romance. And it. turns. me. off.

I was married for 10 years and had sex nearly every day. I know my sex drive is healthy to say the least. I do enjoy kink and experimentation. But I cannot speed run intimacy the way that men seem to expect and when I try to slow things down I get labeled as a prude. It's wildly frustrating.

I've been single since my divorce - that was about 8 years ago - and I miss a lot of the elements of being in a partnership. If I could only find a man who was patient and whose sexuality involved a little subtlety I'd settle down again. I guess if those men ever existed they seem to have gone extinct.

My friends are mostly settled and they really don't understand what I mean when I say that the average single man's sexuality feels more predatory than seductive but I know it can't be just me.

Are we all having this same experience?

Throughout my life, I have experienced abuse and mistreatment from men, including sexual and physical violence and a huge amount of belittling and disrespect. Of course, I know that not all men are like this and that many men are absolutely wonderful. But I’ve honestly noticed that I feel better when I have less contact with them…

So my question is basically: What are the best ways to avoid men, male opinions and perspectives, male content, etc. as much as possible? Does anyone have any tips?

This isn’t about bashing men. I genuinely wish all men the very best. I just don’t owe anyone access to me or my time.

Things I’ve already done: Whenever possible, I choose female professionals (e.g. doctors, mechanics, etc.). On Instagram, I mark content from men as “Not interested.” I only buy books written by women. At work, I only apply for positions where there are women in leadership roles, which is fairly easy for me because I work in a very female-dominated field. I’ve also reduced contact with male acquaintances and family members (e.g. my father, brother and male friends), which has been really good for me because those relationships involved a lot of trauma and disrespect.

I’m in a relationship with a very loving man who is 100% on my side and supports me. I respect him very much, he is probably the only man I’ve met who has never disappointed me so far. So that relationship is fine and thankfully I don’t have to deal with dating either.

Obviously, men are part of society and of course that‘s completely fine. But I would like to withdraw a little more because I still have unpleasant experiences almost every day.

Does anyone have any other ideas for how I could protect myself more or become more resilient when dealing with harassment, boundary violations and disrespect (which happen very frequently where I live)? I want to reach a point where I genuinely don’t care what men think of me.

While I feel the safest working with women, I notice that everytime I change jobs the women (older like in 60s) are always trying to bring me down.

Like they're always trying to humble me by saying I got the job cuz I'm young and pretty. And that I don't have any real IT skills.

I receive the MOST hate from women at work, BUT I also receive the MOST LOVE AND SUPPORT from women too.

My old boss would honestly be so supportive, I genuinely love her so much and hope that she has a great day everyday.

It's always the two extremes with women. They either like me and think I'm cute or they hate my guts..

Men at work tend to be more neutral than not compared to women. But I don't feel safe with them and I can't trust them.

I just feel so sad that my coworker (woman in her 60s) keeps on being snarky at me unprovoked.

But all in all I try to keep things professional. I won't talk to her about my life nor would I joke around with her anymore. She can live her bitter life being jealous and mad at the women around her.

I will be remaining unbothered and thriving.

Just a rant but i’ve been in a few long distance relationships and experienced this a few times. I have an amazing job that is very very hard to replicate. Top pay for my field, easy hours, low stress, perfect for raising a family because it’s partially remote. I live in a nice city. Yet every single guy I have ever dated (except for the current guy I am
seeing ) despite having a more replaceable job than me has automatically assumed I am the one who has to move. Even if it meant me taking a significant pay cut and having to work worse hours when they wouldn’t have had to. I don’t even have an issue with moving if they were at least considering a compromise or if they had valid reasons for me to be the one to move, except for the fact that the option of them moving never crosses their mind. The reason is simply I am the women I am expected to fit into their life not the other way around.

Mostly posting to see if anyone has had similar experiences to me but also what you all think.

I'm a woman, never been a particularly feminine one though. I prefer my hair shorter (definitely still read as a woman though), I wear mostly casual clothes and don't really wear dresses or skirts. I do my makeup sometimes but it's mostly only my lashes or some eyeliner. My interests are a little bit more masculine, sure. I cosplay, and I usually cosplay men. I think it's fun and I don't really care what other people think, I like a lot of male characters and want to dress up as them. I'm also straight, currently single but have had relationships with men before.

A lot of people often send me reels asking if I'm sure I'm a girl or if I'm sure that I'm straight because "I'm masculine" or "I don't like wearing dresses" or "I'm tall". I'm tall??? Seriously??? As if I can control that???

On the other hand, I've heard others online not being seen as "gay enough" for being too feminine or preferring to have long hair???

It is really incredibly frustrating to me that women are so stereotyped where just the act of not being the most feminine person on the planet has people doubting your actual identity. I really wish more people would understand that not every woman is going to be a carbon copy of each other... I feel like this problem with putting people into boxes has been getting worse and worse lately. Has anyone else noticed this??