Now I know that many of you are already aware/familiar with the fragile male ego, but for those of you who are not...please do not make yourselves smaller because a man cannot handle any negative feedback.

Please do not allow a man to gaslight you into believing that being open and honest with your feelings in a relationship is a bad thing. If you are getting to know a man and you begin to feel overidealized, proceed with caution. He may be a narcissist.

All human beings have an ego. It is essentially our sense of self-esteem/self-worth. So a fragile ego really just boils down to having an unhealthy sense of self-esteem/self-worth. Narcissists compensate for their feelings of inferiority in some very toxic ways.

Anyway, a man with a fragile ego is emotionally unsafe and suffering within. There is nothing you can do to truly fix it. Only he can fix it. Chances are, he needs therapy...and even therapy may not be enough for him.

If you really want to test a man's ego, deliver negative feedback. Be respectful about it though, but not for his comfort...if he cannot even take respectfully delivered feedback, he is exceptionally fragile and you need to run while you can. If he overreacts and scares you, that's a huge red flag. It's not you, it's him.

Your feelings will continue to be aggressively invalidated, and he will then have the nerve to hold you under a magnifying glass when he sees fit. He will not be able to demonstrate any type of humility in the face of negative feedback. Don't walk away from this type of treatment, RUN.

TL;DR: A man with a fragile ego is toxic and not fit for a relationship. He may not be a full-blown narcissist, but he most likely possesses strong narcissistic traits. It is not your job to tiptoe around his fragile ass self. Just get the fuck out while you can.