The Mid-Man Phenomenon
By: Audrey Lingan
There’s a coupling phenomenon that occurs on Vandy campus that continues to baffle academics: women taking shit from objectively mid-men. This occurrence defies existing theories of dating. Here, The Slant attempts to characterize the contributing factors that led to this chilling reality and explain the mechanism through which a 5/10 man feels empowered to be a dick to a female.
The Ratio
Vanderbilt’s gender distribution is 52% female to 48% male. At the dating scale, this means for any female willing to date a male, suddenly, finding a quality man is like trying to get a flatscreen at Walmart on Black Friday. Solid men that will not treat a woman like shit (i.e they will ask you how your day is going) are a scarce resource. As the availability of these men declines, the rate of females coupling with mid-men increases. In layman’s terms, a solid man is a Randwich spinach wrap, and once the wraps run out, a woman will settle for whole wheat.
Unjustified Confidence
While we have an archetype for hot men with big egos, the behavior we observe from mid-men perplexes outsiders. The averageness of the mid-man falsely communicates to women that they will not be a dick. However, once a relationship begins between a mid-man and a female (who is very obviously out of his league), the mid-man will wrongly interpret his boo thang’s bodacious beauty as a sign that he’s the shit. This then leads to a conflated ego which translates to the mid-man treating the woman like trash garbage. Observers of this situation are then left thinking, “Who the fuck does this man think he is?”
The Mind Trap of Female Self Esteem
The mid-man’s scumbag behavior is perpetuated in part due to the woman’s internalization of his fuck-ass treatment as something she simply deserves. Years of socialization have ingrained in women that they should take up less space in the relationship. Society has normalized that the female dating experience is entrenched in gaslighting, ghosting, and walks of shame across main campus. Rather than realizing that a mid-man’s failure to respond to a woman’s text message within a business day is a sign of his own mediocrity, she convinces herself that she is being clingy and obsessive. Ladies, just like the mid-man you should ditch, your standards should be high as fuck.
Altogether, researchers and concerned female friends remain concerned about this dating occurrence. Primitive methods to redirect female attention such as stating, “You can do so much better,” or “You don’t need him,” have failed, spurring active work to mitigate the situation. The Divinity School has offered these women a 6 week celibacy retreat, where the only belongings they can bring are a toothbrush and their acceptance letter to Vanderbilt. Academics will continue keeping an eye on these relationships and reminding women to not take shit from any man, especially a mid one.
