Every woman out there is familiar with the male compliment. It doesn’t matter what you look like, how old you are (ew, I know) or if you never go out dancing; the male compliment follows us everywhere. It’s not very hard to imagine that women might actually be done with that constant stream of unwanted attention. If you can’t go out to the store without a man commenting on your body, you come to resent the gender doing the complimenting. And that’s where the frustration from men comes in: they literally feel like they “can’t say anything anymore”.

The #MeToo-movement brought to light the fact that many women feel unsafe because of men’s unwanted and not-so-subtle advances and that in turn has made a select group of men very “careful”, which they communicate through their standard “I’m being silenced”-shtick. But what they’re actually being, is resentful. Because men seem to be blaming women for the fact that their behavior is questioned. They themselves don’t examine whether or not their words might just not be the right ones to use or look at the motivation behind them. No. A lot of men think women are the ones who should “lighten up” and “just take the compliment”. But is it really a compliment if the person receiving it doesn’t appreciate it? And why does that disconnect exist when women can take compliments from women – even sexual ones – without a problem? Let’s find out together.