For those who are not in the loop, a “nice guy” isn’t just a fantastically underrated Ryan Gosling movie or a man who is nice, it refers to a very specific subset of romantically unsuccessful men. These men, similar to the ones in these screenshots, have a misguided and frankly entitled belief that if they are just nice to women, they will receive love and attention in return.

Given the fact that humans are not vending machines, this has no bearing on reality, but when this fact rears its head, these men tend to get very angry. It’s also worth noting that “nice guys” are not particularly nice in general, equating some conversation and favors to being a “perfect partner.” 

When told that, actually, being nice via text or internet comment doesn’t make someone instantly fall for you, “nice guys” tend to react with anger. First and foremost, this very quickly shreds any last illusion that they are nice at all. This anger at their delusions being dismissed is almost as ridiculous as some of the demands they have of women who wouldn’t look at them twice. 

This is all to say that self-proclaimed “nice guys” tend to be neither nice nor good romantic matches. There have been enough cases where these men, met with rejection, turn to stalking and other forms of harassment that tend to be considerably worse than anything the stereotypical “jerk” might do. 

The main cause of the issue, as with so much else, is a feeling of entitlement. Not only do these fellows think that having a partner is some sort of God-given right, they also have pretty strong opinions about what this partner should do, think and look like. Naturally, we can probably guess that these men most likely don’t, themselves, fit the bill at all, but that is beyond the point.