Justice

People Are Freaking out Over This Horrific Rant by a So-Called 'Good Guy'

March 15th 2016

A rant about female rejection is going viral on social media and has sparked a dialog about the entitlement of self-proclaimed "good guys."

A Tumblr user with the handle Fenrufenrifenny recently shared a disturbing flyer taped to a wall that condemns women for turning down "good guys" in favor of "scum [they] think they love." It is unclear who wrote the letter or where exactly it was taped, but the post got a lot of traction on Tumblr earlier this year, and then blew up on Twitter last week after user Matt Pops Collins reposted it:

Some have said the language of the post is disturbing, as it sends the message that "good guys" are entitled to attention from women. This is reminiscent of the argument that self-described "nice guys" sometimes act as if they have a "right" to a woman's heart, or body, simply because they have good character.

Tumblr user Fenrufenrifenny went on to tape a response sent by a follower named Megan right next to the original letter on the wall, according to The Huffington Post:

"You want to be a gentlemen and a good guy?" the response letter reads. "Start with changing the way you and other men see women. We aren’t fragile things you need to defend. We’re people. Keep holding doors open, keep being friendly, just don’t expect things in return; you aren’t owed anything by this world."

Many have called out the fallacy of the "nice" and "good" guy before.

Elliot Rodger, a college student who carried out a mass shooting at University of California, Santa Barbara before taking his own life in 2014, is a notable, and extreme, example of the "nice guy" contradiction. Rodger famously posted a series of videos about his anger towards women for ignoring him prior to going on a killing rampage outside a sorority house. His actions prompted a discussion on the potential dangers of "nice guy" entitlement.

"The side that suggests that being nice should be enough to get a man what he wants to begin with, regardless of what a woman wants for herself," Maya K. Francis wrote in a Philly Magazine piece in 2014. "To be sure, Rodger’s belief in this was extreme, but it exists in less aggressive ways. Call it misogyny. Call it misguided male entitlement. Either way, it’s dangerous for girls and women."

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