The 'He's Not Your Man' Meme Drags Iconic Awful Men – VICE
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Twitter is largely a cesspool, but every once in a while it unites the masses with a glorious meme that speaks to a deeper truth about the human experiences, like a moth and a lamp embodying the purity of true love or Patrick Star revealing the darkness underneath our closest friendships. Over the long weekend, Twitter collectively joined forces by pointing out centuries of famous fictional and historical men’s awful behavior with a meme disguised as dating advice.
The “He’s not your man” meme starts off as if it’s advising women in lopsided relationships that lack commitment. It starts with “Ladies, if he:” followed by a bulleted list of trademark fuccboi behavior like not texting back, being disrespectful, and expecting women to adhere to submissive gender roles. Then it gets weird, transitioning into hyperspecific details about the particularly shittiness of, say, Pharaoh Ramesses II, Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events, or author James Joyce.
And while the meme overwhelmingly went after shitty dudes, it can be an equal opportunity burn:
Naturally, the hip™ brands are trying to get in on the meme by making their products “not your man,” which is a weird flex, but ok.
It’s the fate of all memes to descend into ever deeper levels of absurdity, and this one surpassed even the confounding behavior of awful men as people used it on animals, mascots, and inanimate objects.
The awful behavior of men in popular culture is abundantly clear, and we don’t need a meme to tell us that. But sometimes one does say it perfectly.
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