An Open Letter to All Men post image

An Open Letter to All Men


Dear Male Gender,

I have been writing about relationships for several years now with the goal of helping women understand why you act the way you do. First, I want to say that I really do love your gender. I have learned a lot about myself through relationships with some of you. And without you, I wouldn’t have the amazing career that I do, so thanks!

At the same time,  I think you should know that some of your actions are really confusing the ladies of the world and causing a large amount of unnecessary pain.

A lot of my readers ask: “Why aren’t you giving all this advice to guys? They’re the ones who need it!” This letter is my response to that.

So let’s get right into it.


If you are no longer interested in seeing a girl, please tell her instead of ghosting. Sure, in your mind you’ve realized that she’s not for you, that it would never work. And maybe you’ve convinced yourself she’s on the exact same page, so you see no reason to reach out and state the obvious. Well, in most cases she has not reached the same conclusion and is instead spending the majority of her day checking her phone to see if you’ve texted, and racking her brain trying to figure out what went wrong.

She’ll replay the last interaction, looking for anything she may have done wrong. She’ll come up with excuses for your behavior… he’s having a busy week…he doesn’t want to seem too eager…he likes me so much and is afraid of these feelings so he’s backing off.

Her days will alternate between hope and despair. When it gets to be too much, she’ll probably send a friendly text your way, in the hopes that it will bring some level of clarity.  When she does, you will probably respond in one of two ways, neither of which will help the situation. One, you’ll reply with something casual and friendly, giving her a false sense of hope that you’re still interested and everything is fine. More often, you’ll ignore her text. Some women, the ones who can’t see beyond a thick cloud of denial, may think you lost your phone or broke it or there’s a service disruption. The others will realize that you’ve “ghosted” and will feel extremely hurt and confused.

They won’t know what caused your sudden shift and this confusion will morph into self-doubt. When the next guy comes along, she’ll be more guarded, more cautious, she’ll be on the lookout for bad signs, she won’t be able to trust herself or her judgement. I mean, she let herself like you, and you made it seem like you really liked her back, but obviously that wasn’t the case and now she won’t be able to stop the self-doubt from creeping in. She won’t be able to enjoy the next relationship, she won’t feel hope and calm, she’ll be anxious and on edge.

Yes, I know how uncomfortable the breakup conversation can be, it sucks for both people. But man up and get over your fear of looking like the bad guy because what you’re doing makes you an even worse guy. If you aren’t interested anymore, tell her. Even if it’s only been a few dates, call her up, tell her you think she’s a great girl but you don’t think it will work out. Will she be hurt? Yes, rejection always hurts. But you will be doing her a big favor, whether she realizes it or not.

I’m sure you have had experiences with women where you weren’t quite sure how she felt. You would text her and she would respond in a pleasant, friendly manner. Maybe she’d agree to go out on dates, but deep inside you didn’t really know how she felt. You may have gotten angry or thought she was a tease. In the end it turns out you were right, she wasn’t that into you. But she strung you along for weeks and you’re pissed. I think you’d agree that it would have been much better had she just let you know the ugly truth as soon as it was clear to her.

If you like a girl, just tell her! I get it, maybe you’re afraid of rejection, maybe you think she’s too good for you, maybe you don’t want to put yourself out there. But you know what? Without risk there is no reward. Admitting you like a girl doesn’t make you weak, it makes you confident and women love confidence. And if you don’t like her, don’t waste her time. Don’t keep her around because it makes you feel good to have a woman who likes you, don’t keep her as placeholder until you find something you actually want. It’s just mean.

Call her, you know, on the phone. There’s a funny thing about smartphones, they also have this feature where you can hit someone’s contact info and then somehow you’re able to hear their voice and talk, yeah talk, like with full sentences, not abbreviations and emojis. Fine, in this day and age it’s all about the texting, but a phone call is nice and unexpected and it shows you care and showing you care isn’t a bad thing!

Please think twice before you say things, words have weight. Since you are the less verbal of the two genders, it’s understandable that words carry less weight for you. However, you should realize that words do matter to women.

Don’t tell her you like her more than you’ve liked any other girl, or you could see yourself marrying someone like her unless you actually mean it because she will believe you, and when the truth is revealed, she will be hurt and her ability to trust men will be compromised. Have you ever dated a girl you really liked but couldn’t get her to trust you and open up? You tried to break through her tough exterior, but you just couldn’t. Maybe you genuinely liked her and were being real,  but chances are the guy before you wasn’t and  now she doesn’t know what to believe.

Don’t lie to her. I know sometimes you’re afraid of how a woman will react to certain things. I get it, I give advice for a living and sometimes I have to tell women things they don’t want to hear and have to brace myself for a not-so-pleasant response. I could placate them and lie, but that doesn’t do anyone any favors. Women are a lot more logical than you give them credit for. Does the truth hurt sometimes? Yes. But you know what hurts more? When a trust is broken. The scars left behind from deceit take much longer to heal than feeling momentarily upset by the truth. Be honest with her, she’s tougher than you think.

QUIZ:  Are You Accidentally Destroying Your Love Life?

For the love of all things holy, do not call her crazy. Women are more emotional by nature, and that’s what makes them so wonderful and gives them the other qualities you love so much, like how compassionate, empathetic, and nurturing they are. We are different from you and these differences are important, they are the reason two people can encourage each other to grow and be at their best in a healthy relationship. Don’t dismiss her emotions because you deem them illogical, or think she’s just  being a “typical girl,” or it must be “that time of the month.” Let her express herself and hear what she has to say, even if you don’t fully get it, because a lot of the time she has no idea where you’re coming from either!

I don’t want you to feel blamed or attacked. I really love your gender and want the same happiness for you that I do for my female readers. If you follow my advice, I know you’ll go far and will find the happiness and love that you want, even if you won’t (or can’t) admit that you want it.

Lots of love,

Sabrina

Written by Sabrina Alexis

I’m Sabrina Alexis, the co-founder, and co-editor of A New Mode. I love writing relatable, insightful articles that help people understand relationship dynamics and how to get the love they want. I have a degree in psychology and have spent the last 10 years interviewing countless men and reading and studying as much as I can to better understand human psychology and how men operate. If you want to get in touch with me, hit me up on Facebook or Instagram.

19 comments… add one

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Rusty Fence

Interesting article.

Unfortunately, men have become so, so demonised by women that they have just given up and gone away. You know, fish/bicycle. Well, the bicycle has decided that it’s just not worth the effort to try to impress the fish. And the rewards just aren’t there if, by some chance, they succeed.

You don’t owe men sex. Well, guess what? Men don’t owe you a relationship. Period.

I think that men and women are pretty done with each other and the walls between us are only growing higher. It makes sense for men to walk away, and it makes sense for women to not have anything to do with men.

This is the world we live in now, and I, for one, am totally ok with that.
Both sides talk past each other and the rift just grows wider.

Articles like this, that express how it’s all the fault of men and that women, although not perfect, can still do no wrong in relation to men, only adds fuel to the fire and makes the gap between the sexes that much harder to traverse.

Men=Bad, Women=Good. We all know this already, even non-feminists. We’ve been hearing it since Dworkin, the tune has never changed.

This article simply echoes that.

Reply October 31, 2021, 11:00 pm

Dan

You really shouldn’t be giving advice for a living because for one, you’re a moron. And two, you are very biased and condescending toward men. This is the sentence that made me go over thew edge, “Don’t keep her around because it makes you feel good to have a woman who likes you, don’t keep her as placeholder until you find something you actually want. It’s just mean.” Guess what sweetheart, WOMEN DO THIS TO MEN ALL THE TIME. But I guess that does not matter to you or other women because men do not count in this society. This is why I think men should read this article and understand exactly how childish and selfish most women are. I want them to read it as a testament to how truly evil women are. And you are no exception.

Reply August 27, 2016, 11:22 pm

Dan

And what amazing career is that Ms. Alexis? Professional liar and victim?

Reply August 27, 2016, 3:44 pm

Sam Parker

My comment was addressed to Storm Warning, just to be clear ppl!

Reply May 27, 2016, 9:24 pm

Sam Parker

And what women are you speaking of!? Sounds as if you are clumping all women into an obviously what you’d consider insane group! Your judging all women on what I’m assuming was one or two bad relationships! Why would you do such a thing? No we do not all have unrealistic television character expectations of what a man is! Come on! You’ve got it all twisted and I think you are only describing yourself! You’re the one with unrealistic views my friend! I’m very sorry you had a bad relationship/s. But you must let that go! Noone should begin a new relationship bringing the baggage from past ones in! You’ll only re-live those old relationships over and over again! You go into a relationship thinking all women are the same, then you’ll end up with no relationship yet again. What is the definition if insanity? Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome! Maybe try having no expectations for once, at least you may be surprised!

Reply May 27, 2016, 9:23 pm

Edit

I love your letters Sabrina, I have a daughter just starting her “love life” and I often refer your sound and down to earth insight and advice- because it works!
From the reactions to this article: what is really important here, I think, is not trying to push what the opposite gender (men or woman) “should” do to make things work. It is a surefire recipe for disaster. Seeing what you can do and accept the other as given is the way to go. By the way I believe that we are all people: even if there are gender differences in general behaviour: a good person is a good person regardless, and those are the ones I pursue: and a good person will make a good partner as opposing to some dream man that does not exist…
Wish you the best with your work!

Reply March 24, 2015, 3:23 pm

Storm Warning

Men / Women different! Most people are c^nts, regardless of whether you got one or not. Every whinging man or woman should look inward, and consider how they could be different, before the shine the light of examination upon their partner.

The best way to tell somebody you like them is to tell somebody you like them, regardless of their sex parts. In my experience, when it comes to language, men are far more direct, though eveyone could do better to try and communicate more clearly.

If you want me to talk on the phone, understand how I use it – as a tool of communication to pass on specific, important messages at time when you would otherwise be unable to reach me. Please don’t ring me, crap on without considering the value of my time! You are training me to dread every call from you – by making every call dreadful. Let me work hard without interuption so I can enjoy the time with you when I get there. Everything else is a distraction.

Words: Yes, when they remain unsaid it is very difficult to determine their meaning. Mind reading ability does not generally exist, and is even rarer in the male of the species.

No boyfriend is gonna be something to meet your warped TV sickened imagination. No person is. Get real, live meaningfully and if things are making you unhappy, go sit in the sun and smash your tv with your phone and forget about things for a day.

Or, keep all your shit together and realise that a man dealing with a woman is no different from any other intra-human interaction. Two parties with different needs and wants hoping to express these needs and wants to the other party. It is a difficult, ongoing juggling act.

If you want something good you work for it. If you are lucky you will remember this and not start “taking your partner for granted”. If not, you will lose one and learn with the next one.

So I think your story had some great points, but I think they better demonstrate the difference between humans, rather than the difference between sexes. I mean, what “women” are you speaking on behalf of? A narrow cultural group from

Reply October 28, 2014, 12:27 am

william

All of us guys have heard this before.

Replace Guys with Gals, Men with Women, Male for Female, he for she, him for her and read the article one more time.

Women are more emotional than Men? BS.
Women are free to emote, but men are not.

Bound by social dictates, we may not be free to react the way a woman reacts,
but believe me, we bleed too.

Yes, there are men out there who are players and always will be.
But walk into any bar, and easily 50% of the women are too.

So, Sabrina, we’re all for cold hard gritty honesty, but as always,
LADIES FIRST.

Reply October 26, 2014, 10:21 am

Teresa

Great! I hope some men out there actuallly READ this. I am tempted to post it on my FB page lol!

Reply July 30, 2014, 10:27 am

Dan

I read it and can only say that this article is garbage. Just the gynocracy speaking and telling men to “man up”. Women need to grow up and stop seeing themselves as victims. So I say act like an adult and “WOMAN UP.”

Reply August 27, 2016, 11:03 pm

Bre

Great letter Sabrina! Made my morning! :-)

Reply May 7, 2014, 12:13 pm

Tammy

This article was AMAZING, wish every man would read it. Thank you Sabrina!!

Reply May 2, 2014, 11:02 am

Dan

So every man does this to a woman? So you can account for every man on earth?

Reply August 27, 2016, 11:04 pm

Denise

What a great letter! Kudos to you! I will share this asap!

Reply May 1, 2014, 5:30 am

Utopia

Agreed, great advice, a wonderful column!

Reply May 1, 2014, 12:59 am

Cathy

Very well said Sabrina ???? men should read this! Honesty is the best policy, it hurts but it’ll set you free????

Reply April 30, 2014, 10:28 pm

Dan

And what amazing career is that Ms. Alexis? Professional liar and victim?

Reply August 27, 2016, 3:43 pm

Lee

Great advice! Too bad the men that need to read this never will. If they cared enough about what they put women through, they wouldn’t behave badly to begin with.

Reply April 30, 2014, 7:18 pm

Ashley

Great letter! Not one bit vicious. Finally, someone said something! Muchas Gracias Sabrina :)

Reply April 30, 2014, 5:04 pm

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