Disclaimer, this is only true for a small part of social media. I know not all men are like this, though at times it seems like it is. I know there are women out there who do the exact same to men, this though is from my point of view as a woman who gets weekly message requests from men. Thank you to all the guys though who aren’t like this. To all the guys who are like this f off, get a life and don’t be sliding into young girls, women of any age DM’s especially if they don’t/haven’t followed you or had any kind of interaction with you online. Social media sites aren’t dating sites, such places do exist, use them to find a person to slide on into their DM’s thanks.
Dear social media DM slider
By Freya Anastasia Hatfield
Dear social media DM slider
It might be innocent, it might be for fun,
Generally not innocent.
Getting weekly message requests gets tiring,
You scream inside, yell,
Shake your head,
Facepalm once again.
Another guy sliding into your DM’s,
Another old man saying ‘Hey beautiful.’
‘How’s it going cutie.’
Going straight to,
‘You’re my cutie.’
As if they own you,
Like you’re the worlds most prized possession.
These words aren’t compliments.
Not anymore.
These words, make you sick
Words that shouldn’t matter.
But they do,
Words that these days mean so little.
Yet hold so many sickening reminders
For so many.
When did Instagram become a dating site?
Are the so-called dating sites no longer working for you
To men ‘entitled men’ that’s what social media is
Sites where you can be a face behind a screen
A man with no morals, no dignity,
No care how old the person you’re messaging is
Despite you as the man being old and grey-haired.
I no longer message them back.
I used to.
Out of curiosity.
I wanted to know why they were messaging?
I wanted to know what had prompted them?
I needed to know the invisible man behind the screen,
The sneaky DMer
The man who you would never see.
The man you gladly never want or wanted to see.
To the guy in his fifties,
messaging the girl who is twenty
Whose profile picture is her at eighteen.
Was she too old?
Not old enough?
The same age as your kid?
Did your wife catch you?
Did your kid catch?
It might be innocent, but it isn’t.
I see it as men thinking they have power,
They are invincible.
They can do anything, and nothing will happen to them,
They are entitled because they are men
Colour, ethnicity, straight, gay, bisexual gender fluid, it doesn’t matter.
They aren’t invincible.
They have no power.
They won’t get away with everything.
They aren’t entitled.
Not to me.
Not to anybody.
When I see a message request
It makes me mad,
It makes me angry,
It makes me sad.
My accounts aren’t on private,
They shouldn’t need to be,
I use social media,
For my work,
For fun,
To build an audience.
Not for,
Old,
Young,
Middle-aged men.
But for people,
Writers,
Made-up world and made-up life escapers.
I won’t change to living a private life.
I won’t stop posting.
I will keep on reporting you,
I will keep on sharing message requests,
Until men stop.
Until men are no longer ‘entitled’ or feel the need to DM.
They aren’t entitled,
They aren’t anything but,
Well past their sell-by date.
DISGUSTING.
OLD.
YOUNG.
MIDDLE-AGED men.
