As someone who handles rejection very badly — because I see it as a repudiation and symptom of my lack of value — I find that the best approach is to be hyper-cautious about approaching women in the first place. Analyze her responses very carefully and underestimate the possibility of a woman reciprocating my interest. Intepret anything short of an unequivocal ‘Yes’ as a slam down, cut losses and retreat into a dark corner so she will forget me. Dwell on the scenario where she will tell her friends and laugh together (cue the sarcastic ‘awww’) at how unbelievably stupid and pathetic I was for even thinking I stood a chance.

I’ve encountered more than one woman who didn’t say no but would do this: pretend to agree to meet up then pull out at the last minute. I blamed myself furiously for being the kind of person who gets taken for a little b****. I was constantly losing sleep over the question, “Would they have done this to someone they actually respected? Was I so utterly trash that I deserved this?”

When I tried to find answers online and found explanations like this, I had to conclude: they all thought I was the same as all of those men, that I was a posssible monster. That’s why I have to adopt the just mentioned approach of hyper-caution. Sure, it makes me look like a ‘beta cuck’ maligned by certain men, but is it any worse than being thought of as possessing the potential for explosive violence?

Apart from the sense of entitlement, the problem with men who react with insults and violence is that they overestimate the probability of a woman being interested, because they think of it as ‘having confidence’ and ‘believing in one’s self.’