When women act like men

Welcome to #womeninmalefields, the latest satirical trend to blaze a trail across social media. Using reels typically playing to the soundtrack of Nicky Minaj's Anaconda, the women of social media are flipping the script on traditionally male behaviours in relationships and professional settings. Be it casual ghosting or abject gaslighting, these women at the frontline have got the whole spectrum covered using a dash of dark humour.

"Made plans to meet him at 7PM so I switched my phone off at 6PM," captioned one user. Another video captioned: "He was crying in bed, so I said, 'here we go again' and turned around and fell asleep."

The trend has sent a wave of recognition across women who have experienced the same male dismissiveness. "This trend makes me realise I've never had a unique experience," noted one commenter. Another was less diplomatic and penned, "Are we all dating the same men?"

As another TikTok user illustrated in her video, the trend has propelled women to take a stand for themselves. "The 'women in male fields' trend is teaching women that it's not our fault," pointed out the TikToker. "It's the subtle guide to red flags." Echoing her statement, another user noted, "This trend is helping so many people realize that they were in fact not crazy."

Far from being just a fad, the existence of the trend has helped women leave a relationship that was no longer serving them. Taking to Threads, one woman noted, "I got one: "It's your tone." Apparently, every time I speak, I sound mad, irritated, annoyed. I learned to 'match his energy' from Tiktok and very soon he wanted to know why I'd stopped loving him."

Another commenter summarised her relationship arc in one succinct sentence. "Women talking on TikTok helped me get out of my destructive marriage," she wrote.

Now that the trend has gone viral, women are also speaking up about how they are overlooked in a professional setting in favour of a man. Employing a healthy dose of sarcasm, one user wrote, "When I fly on commercial planes, I check to make sure that both of the pilots are women – because you know – I don't want to fly on a plane if a pilot has his period. They're not real pilots anyway."

In the same vein, another woman added, "Decided to lay off the top two accountants in our finance department and promote the third in experience to the top role. After all, what did these men need the paycheque for – trucks and toys? Besides, the woman has a family to support. Decision well done by me and my good-spirited women on the board."