Rejection stings and when you're not in the top 10% of men, it's just the way of life.

Why does rejection happen anyway? Most women measure the world and its elements based on how it revolves around her. When she meets a man, she considers twofold: whether the man makes her feel safe from an invisible threat and whether she feels attracted to him enough.

Sure enough, the halo effect plays a role, hence you don't have to be nice when you're attractive. This also explains why many bullies are successful with women, because by virtue of him treating others with contempt she sees herself as the receiver of special treatment and feels protected (underline on invisible threat).

The opposite is, though, not true. Making her feel safe only will never compensate for lack of attractiveness.

In this sense, what happens when she feels really safe around you and likes being next to you, but your appearance is to her so disgusting that even the thought of something sexual could make her vomit? This is not just a normal acquaintance, this is a special friend, someone she genuinely values for doing stuff for her and giving her that ego boost she craves.

Not all rejections are created equal.

Let me introduce you to the term: "emotional support pet".

To put it in simple terms, an emotional support pet is the result of the disparity between high sense of safety vs low attractiveness. It is a friend that exists to be an ego boost for the woman in question, to care for her and nurture her as she feels the world should do on the merit of her assigned gender at birth. He is there to listen to her, to help her out and to be forgotten when she is busy with something else. It is different from being a simple simp due to the fact that there is a friendship established, whilst normal simping does not imply such relationship.

The pet, to put it simply, gets all the disadvantages of being her boyfriend without any of the benefits. She will not be a support for him, she will not give him any sort of care or love beyond the bare minimum a friend may require. And why would she? He's not her boyfriend. But the clever ones may ask, "well, why would the man do it for her too?" and they will find themselves arriving to the point even before I can allow them to read it. For the woman it is a simple fact that he shall act as her pet, after all she's cute, and a woman, and he's a nice man so he will do it. But on logical terms, this shan't be the case.

This "friendship" is built on an asymmetrical compromise which entirely revolves around the female ego taking advantage of the male emotional fragility. It is not based on a mutual liking and the genuine connection of a friendship, but on the female desire to be around a useful minion.

But here is the thing, as the definition implies, this arrangement is a compromise, a bipartisan contract whereby the woman sets the terms of being an emotional support pet and the man agrees.

We cannot change nature and it is not my point, nor should be the point of any reasonable man, to understand the complexities and paradoxes of the female mind and try to explain their so-called reasonings. Emotional support pets have no other reason for existing beyond women wanting them to exist.

But for a man, becoming an emotional support pet to a woman is not predestined, it is a choice. It is a self-inflicted act of shame which only brings disgrace for oneself and distracts you from becoming the best version you can be.

Hence I argue that a man should not become the emotional support pet of any woman. This of course does not mean that you should not befriend women. But the friendship with a woman who rejected you should thoroughly be evaluated. If such friendship does not meet higher standards than the ones you set for your male friendships, then you shall respectfully say goodbye to the female and go on your way. She will not miss you, for there are thousands of pets in the world, and you will not miss her, for if you feel lonely it is better to at least enjoy such solitude in peace.

You may disagree and claim, perhaps, that being an emotional support pet is a good thing. That women deserve emotional support pets and that men have a duty to be emotional support pets. To that I say, do as you wish, for if you're so far gone as to defend being a pet, no amount of logic will help you.

If you, however, see at least some sense in my words, I urge you to evaluate if you find yourself being an emotional support pet and encourage you to an act of self-love and cut that relationship.

Since simply being the friend of a woman does not automatically make you a pet, here are some general criteria to recognize if you're an emotional support pet:

  1. The man has unreciprocated romantic feelings for the woman, or had them in the near past. This must be understood by the woman, even if implicitly.

  2. The woman and the man do not have any more in common than simple acquaintances may have in terms of hobbies or otherwise. There is no reasonable expectation for them to be as close as they are. In other words, if she weren't a woman, he would not be her friend.

    1. Contradictory to point 2, the woman and the man spend more time together than someone would spend with a non-close acquaintance.

  3. The relationship is one-sided. The woman gets the man for support, emotionally and physically. The woman strings the man along in her decisions and the man agrees passively. The man may find himself as mostly the listener, for to the woman his voice is of little importance.

  4. Should the man be in need of assistance, emotional or otherwise, the woman will be less likely to provide it to him. Any attempt will always derail the topic back to her. The man may have an intuitive understanding of this and may even abstain from seeking help.

  5. The woman may offer some supportive words occasionally, maybe some with romantic undertones, though, always in relation to her and never with full earnest: "you're such a good friend", "I love being around you", "You’re such a great listener", "You always know how to make me feel better," etc.

  6. If the woman gets a boyfriend, the man will be constantly brushed aside now, until said relationship ends.

Being rejected is not in your control, but becoming an emotional support pet is. Don't be a pet.