• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Modest Man

  • .
  • Topics
    • Fashion
    • Shoes
    • Accessories
    • EDC
    • Hairstyles
    • Cologne
    • See All
  • Reviews
  • Outfit Ideas
  • About The Modest Man
    • Start Here
    • Contact
Home / Blog / Dating & Confidence
We earn a commission on some purchases you make through our site. Here's how affiliate links work.

15 Habits That Show You’re Dating a Misandrist

Updated on February 26, 2026 by TMM Staff · Dating & Confidence

A waiter pours coffee in a mug while a couple is watching silently.
©Alyssa Janet/Unsplash.com

The foundation of a healthy relationship is nothing else but mutual respect. However, sometimes, what starts as innocuous and quirky teasing or strong opinions tends to exacerbate into something egregious and increasingly hostile. If you constantly feel like you are being dismissed by your partner and that they are stereotyping you to fit a particular misandrist narrative, then emotional safety will be the first thing that drains from your relationship. If your partner denigrates you and always remains in conflict with you simply becasue you are a man, then perhaps they evince strong misandrist propensities within them. Read on and learn about the habits that can let you know if you are dating a misandrist right here. 

Always Calling Men Trash

A couple sitting on stairs looking at each other.
©Gabriel Ponton/Unsplash.com

Everyone vents once in a while, but if she has a regular habit of making holistic and generic statements that imply all men are useless, cheaters, or selfish, then perhaps it is more than mere frustration talking here. This generalization shows that she considers all men as flawed and will certainly start seeing you in the same light, if she doesn’t already, eventually. 

Dismissing Your Struggles as “Male Privilege”

A man and a woman standing next to each other.
©Lia Bekyan/Unsplash.com

It is a sign that you are dating a misandrist when she immediately dismisses your struggles, stresses, pressures, mental health issues, and so forth but is quick to remind you that you still have the superlative “male privilege” on your side. Healthy partners actually listen to what you have to say instead of minimizing your pain and invalidating your personal experience. 

Assuming Bad Intentions Automatically

A woman holding flowers looking toward the distance.
©Toa Heftiba/Unsplash.com

A woman who is quick to label you as incompetent when you forget something, says you are mansplaining when you disagree with her, and calls you controlling when you delineate boundaries, then you are surely dating a misandrist. This act of interpreting your neutral behavior in the worst possible way shows prejudice on her part. 

Publicly Belittling You

©Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash.com

She is the kind of woman who doesn’t balk at disparaging and denigrating men, even you, in public. She makes a show of it, emphatically and fervently engaging in mocking men, calling them useless in all capacities, be it as husbands, boyfriends, fathers, and so on. She openly minimizes your pain and laughs at male vulnerability. This shows that you are stuck in a relationship with a woman who actively hates men but just doesn’t want to admit it openly.

Thinking Men Should Always Pay, But Hates Patriarchy

A man admiring the beauty of his wife.
©Marius Muresan/Unsplash.com

You can’t be selective when it comes to equality. But that is what she does when she vociferously criticizes conventional gender roles but still expects you to always be the one to pay, initiate, protect, and handle financial and physical risks in the relationship. She might think it is empowerment but you should know that it is nothing more than just convenience on display here. 

Having No Empathy for Male Mental Health

A woman is busy on her phone, leaving her partner alone.
©Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash.com

It is a fact that men struggle a lot with stress, depression, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts. But if your partner is prone to belittling and minimizing the pressures you face and constantly tells you to toughen up and cease being dramatic and ultimately undermines the issue of male mental health, then it shows that she is a misandrist.

Competing Instead of Connecting 

©Michael T/Unsplash.com

She is the kind of woman who doesn’t celebrate your achievements. Instead, she competes with you and actively downplays your successes. She also compares your struggles to women’s struggles and immediately shifts the narrative onto herself when you share something deep and personal with her. Relationships are supposed to be partnerships but she turns them into debates regarding gender.

Treating Masculinity as Inherently Toxic

©Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash.com

She is the kind of person who labels your strength as aggression and calls you dominating when you try to lead. She equates assertiveness shown by you in certain cases with oppression. The point is, she is the kind of person who makes you feel like you aren’t allowed to exist comfortably in your own identity. 

Testing You Frequently

A man standing with a forlorn expression on his face.
©Victoria Romulo/unsplash.com

She is the kind of person who is always testing you in subtle ways. She is wont to giving you the silent treatment till you finally relent and apologize, creates emotional traps to test your fidelity and investment in the relationship, and regularly accuses you of things to gauge your reaction. This testing behavior stems from the deep-rooted suspicion towards men that is embedded within her mentality. 

Bragging About “Using” Men in the Past

A man and a woman pose for a picture by the water.
©Natalia Blauth/Unsplash.com

She is the kind of woman who uninhibitedly and openly laughs about having taken advantage of her past partners, dating men for their money, and admits to gaslighting and manipulating men who gave her any attention. This facetious attitude and open confessions shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

Seeing You as Replaceable

©Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦/Unsplash.com

She is the kind of person who constantly reminds you that you are probably just another chapter in her book and that she might just flip you over for a new one. She makes statements like she doesn’t need men, that you are lucky to have her as a companion, and the ultimate one, that she can replace you easily without any hassle. This power imbalance signals considerable contempt for the male gender on her part. 

Encouraging Double Standards

A rude woman showing something on her phone to her boyfriend.
©August de Richelieu/Pexels.com

She might demand loyalty from you but all the while she will be open to keeping backup options for herself. While she might demand and expect transparency from you, she will be the one most guarded and defensive about her phone. Also, she might criticize you scathingly for being jealous but will normalize her own displays of unabashed envy. Fairness matters a lot but she doesn’t care about it when it suits her. 

Shaming You for Being Emotional 

A man and a woman having an argument while sitting on a couch.
©Timur Weber/Pexels.com

She is the kind of person who treats you with sarcasm, utter disgust, or boredom when you share something deep with her. She makes you feel emotionally chastised for being open with her, as if you are doing something wrong by displaying human feelings and emotions. All this does is create emotional isolation in your relationship and drain it of all intimacy.

Framing Every Conflict as Gender War

A man holding his head in his hands and looking stressed while sitting on a bed with a woman in the background who’s telling him something.
©Curated Lifestyle/unsplash.com

She is the kind of person who escalates even the smallest disagreements into full-blown conflicts based on gender. She will be quick to label all men as worthless and predisposed to lying, conniving, cheating, and so on. She isn’t arguing with you in that moment but merely venting about her innate perception regarding men. 

Constantly Feeling Like the Enemy

A couple having an argument while sitting on a couch.
©Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash.com

This is the biggest sign for you that you are dating a woman who doesn’t like men. If she makes you feel defensive all the time and judges you before you have even spoken, then your relationship is running on hostility instead of love. She makes you feel like you are guilty of things that you haven’t even done and leaves you hesitant to express yourself. 

Final Thoughts

A woman sitting at a table looking at her cell phone.
©Brooke Cagle/Unsplash.com

Strong women are liked by men and they certainly aren’t the problem. The actual problem is women who have profoundly subscribed to the notion that men are worthless and irredeemable. They aren’t willing to give any man the benefit of the doubt and are quick to castigate any man who might come their way. This makes the probability of them ending up alone and unloved very real indeed. 

Dating & Confidence

Related Posts
A pile of clothes
20 Things You Should Never Wear on a Date
A woman looking at the man
18 Style Details Women Notice First
15 Honest Reasons Why Older Men No Longer Seek Commitment
Women Don’t Want Perfect Men, Just Men Who Stop Doing These 15 Things
About TMM Staff

The Modest Man staff writers are experts in men's lifestyle who love teaching guys how to live their best lives.

If an article is published under TMM Staff, that means multiple writers worked on it. For example, sometimes several of us have experience with a certain brand, so we collaborate to publish a more thorough review.

Or, if an article was originally written by one person, but then it was updated by someone else, we'll re-publish it under TMM Staff.

Remember: all of our articles (including those below) are written by real people with decades of combined experience in men's fashion and lifestyle topics.

More Articles by This Author

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Join the Club

Never miss a post, plus grab this free guide (instant download). No spam. Ever.

Subscribe Now

Reader Interactions

Ask Me Anything Cancel reply

Got questions? Want to share your opinion? Comment below!

Primary Sidebar

Join the Club

Never miss a post, plus grab this free guide (instant download).

No spam. Ever.

Subscribe Now

Trending Articles
Business casual outfits
The Modest Man Guide to Men’s Business Casual Style
A person's hands typing on a silver laptop displaying the Hulu streaming service interface with various show thumbnails.
12 Series Finales That Sparked Major Fan Backlash
Seiko 5 SNK805
35 Great Watches for Small Wrists
Men over 40 style
“Old Man Style”: Advanced Age Is the New Sartorial Prime
Fashion brands for short men
Stride in Confidence: Where To Buy Clothes For Short Men
Topics
  • Clothing & Style
  • Outfit Ideas
  • Fitness
  • Product Reviews
  • Dating & Confidence
  • Grooming
  • Men of Modest Height
  • Income Reports
Top 10 Brands
  1. Uniqlo
  2. Nordstrom
  3. Warby Parker
  4. J. Crew
  5. J. Crew Factory
  6. Amazon
  7. Thursday Boot Co.
  8. Mr. Porter
  9. Banana Republic

Footer

The Modest Man logo

Home • Blog • Resources • Contact • Advertise

 

Privacy Policy & Affiliate Disclosure • Terms & Conditions • Sitemap

 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Copyright © 2026 The Modest Man (Registered Trademark)