Bruised ego?
1. Point out the gut. Most guys, especially American men, worry about their guts. It's the most repulsive part of a guy's body other than the testicles. Drawing any amount of attention to the gut for any reason is bound to make a guy a bit self-conscious.
2. Insult his job. Even if a guy downplays his job, he's probably at least a little proud of what he does, or at the very least he doesn't appreciate being mocked for it. Bringing up the parts of a job that a guy hates or subtly implying that he's not important can be humbling and insulting. Awesome, right?!
3. Compare him to an athlete. No guy really wins in this type of comparison. "Wow, I wonder whether you could even catch one of Zambrano's pitches!" Casually saying something like that can be enough to get a guy to turn off the game and go straight to the gym.
4. Compare him to a musician. Likewise, guys will be pretty humiliated when their faults are summed up in comparison to Bon Jovi or Mick Jagger (especially Bon Jovi, since Bon Jovi sucks).
5. Compare him to his father. This one's pretty low. Whether a guy likes or hates his father, he certainly doesn't want to be compared to the hairy old bastard. Just call us Oedipus, I suppose.
6. Buy him big clothes. Mothers are famous for this one -- they'll buy their sons clothes that are just large enough to be insulting. Whether or not a guy has a fat complex, this is enough to have him ordering a Bowflex in about five minutes.
7. Compliment someone he hates. Lots of guys can be vindictive, and most have at least one sworn enemy (like superheroes, we like to think). A simple compliment directed toward that enemy is like kryptonite (except it causes less "death" and more "pathetic moping").
8. Treat him like he's poor. Offer to pay for dinner, movies, and everything else all the time, with subtle comments like, "Oh, you'll get the next one after your paycheck comes in." Of course, this can backfire if you're with a guy that doesn't really care how much money he makes.
1 comments :
Accepting losses is indeed a part of being a man, but I believe every man that has a sense of self-worth has a sense of pride. Maybe pride gets thrown into the same category as ego at times, even though it shouldn't. I feel some of these, such as insulting a man's job or treating him like he's poor is a direct slap in the face. If a man works for a living, why down that at all? There's humor in quite a few of theses, but that's the only one I can see as personal.
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