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I am the only woman in a group text with 8 guy friends in a professional program - I would really appreciate your thoughts on this and why: is this acceptable/not a big deal? Weird? Scandalous?

Based on this, I might have more specific follow-up questions. Please be kind with me as this program just started, and we are all really just trying to create friend groups as efficiently as possible and have good intentions, before everyone gets set in their ways so to speak. Thank you!

EDIT: One of the guys (Bob) suggested that we create a group text (aka chat). So I made one, including 5 of my guy friends but excluding 2 girls that I was closer to before and want to now distance from (obviously didn’t state this explicitly as we have to be “PC”, but the context is she kept spamming/complaining in our girls’ chat, is very phony, and once lied to me after this chat was formed, which they know nothing about as she puts on a facade for them). Bob and one of the other guys (Ed), are friends with one of the girls (Ann), so they were unhappy but ultimately went along with it. Then 2 other guys got added to the chat. After a week or so, 2 of my closest guy friends in this chat (one of which I’m starting to develop feelings for) asked me about those girls I used to hang out with and that we should add more girls to our chat. I said there’s no drama; I just spent more time with them in the past before I had a chance to branch out and meet new people which I always like to do. I’m unsure if they feel this way specifically because of Bob/Ed wanting Ann to join, or since nearly all of the single guys were competing for my attention at some point and giving me somewhat romantic signals. I’m generally friendly so guys sometimes can’t tell if I like them romantically or am just being “nice”. I’ve been cautious about liking the guys’ messages and haven’t even really done so but I do actively respond when they initiate topics. We left it at: we’ll brainstorm which girls to add. This was before I started liking him, so he said he wanted to add a girl that he thinks he likes but not yet. He didn’t update back, possibly as we’ve recently started seeing each other differently as well.

Recently, I got pulled into a get-together with Bob/Ed where they didn’t tell me who was coming so I basically went in blindly, and Ann was behaving like the host. A few other guys from our group were there but not my closest friends, weirdly enough. It was very uncomfortable, and I had to act like it was fine. To make things weirder, Bob made a group text with only those who attended this event, asking everyone to text when they got home (we drank a lot but I think this was a silly excuse to form a new group chat where she’s the center of attention). I was unhappy and don’t know if I should confide in the guy I like about all of this. Idk how much he knows, or how close he really is to these other guys. A lot of politics. Then, someone who’s good friends with the one I like asked in the chat to meet today, and we 3 all went, along with Ed and a guy who was at the weird event. I feel like Ed and that guy are always colluding to bring Ann in, disregarding how I feel and my preferences - even if they don’t know the actual reasons.

Wasn’t it inappropriate for them to basically play me like that and not just tell me upfront about Ann? And create a stupid group text, which she has continued to blow up? Should I talk to the guy I like about all of this, or I’m afraid he’ll think it’s too much drama? Should I explain about her complaints/lies, or just be PC and ignore the new chat? Shouldn’t they respect my preferences instead of pressuring me to add a girl because what is so wrong with enjoying a chat with the bros (even if one isn’t seen as platonic now)? Or should I just add a different girl I like better, even if it risks getting awkward (e.g. she judges me for talking to so many guys or they don’t gel)? Or should I disengage from this group and be polite from a distance? I don’t know how to salvage this. I want to be friends and stay professional overall, while tapping into potential with the guy I like, but I don’t know if it’s time for me to just distance myself. He also hasn’t really initiated private texts with me nor asked me to spend time one on one, and I fear the group text prevents this. Please help me out, all!

tilefan ,

this sounds like high school.

bamboo ,

That’s Tammy, Trey’s ex-girlfriend. This is classic Tammy. Trey broke up with Tammy because Maureen Kanallen said that she saw Tammy flirting with Walt Timny at a party, but she was only doing it to make Trey jealous because you know, she thought that Trey secretly liked Erin Henebry, but he doesn’t like Erin Henebry, it was all a bunch of bull.

etchinghillside ,

On a work application like Slack? Not a big deal.

Personal cellphone group message? Not immediately weird - but could get weird.

appledinosaurcat OP ,

Any advice or suggestions on how to handle this situation? It is getting increasingly weirder and I want to do what I can to salvage it or at least not be distracted by all this.

peanuts4life ,
@peanuts4life@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I’ll be honest, this is confusing as hell, so I might be misunderstanding.

I think it’s a little hypocritical that you want it to be a chill, no drama space with the bros, but you also want to exclude a girl because you see her as competition for the guy you like who is in this group.

I understand you had a bad experience with her, but you said that the guys don’t know that. From their perspective, you’re just excluding other girls for no other reasons than seemingly to be the only girl in the group and perhaps to have exclusive access to your crush.

appledinosaurcat OP ,

I know it’s confusing but I feel the need to clarify after reading your comment. Thank you for sharing first of all. It was not that I wanted to exclude her due to competition over him. In fact, I asked him enthusiastically wanting to know who he liked at that time, and therefore who he was considering bringing in. We were basically bros at that point and I hadn’t thought of him that way at all. He didn’t want to speak too soon and said he’ll see how things unfold. I actually figured it out later on, when she was flirting with one of the guys from our group, and vice versa. He saw all of this and looked pretty bummed. So I would be a hypocrite if I expected drama free space with the bros yet actively instigated drama, which I do not believe I am? Just trying to understand, based on the definition of hypocrisy.

So, should I tell them the truth? Or at least the one I like? I did mention that I spent more time with them in the past before I had a chance to branch out more and meet new people which is what I always like to do.

peanuts4life ,
@peanuts4life@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you like this other girl? Was she mean to you?

appledinosaurcat OP ,

There are two girls. One is the mystery girl he said he thinks he likes. She’s not as important in this context. Ann, the girl I was closer to in the beginning, is the one that I have an issue with now. She got too comfortable and started spewing negativity in the group text we share with this other female friend of ours (not mentioned in post). She complained a lot so I responded less and less. She always tried to get our mutual friend to listen to her and actively went against my suggestions because she herself is so insecure. She said hi from behind me but I didn’t see who she was with (it was Bob/Ed and she didn’t bother to even clue me in, knowing I would’ve wanted to say hi). She never sits with the guys when I initiate it, but always likes to sit with them when she herself brings them together. After I created this chat, which by the way was so spontaneous and based on the guys I was sitting with (which I thought she was going to join us too), she then lied about sitting with our mutual friend in a class whereas that did not happen. So I think that’s enough strikes and it doesn’t mean crap if we happened to spend a bit of time before even officially starting the program.

PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S ,
@PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

With just the information provided, not weird at all. Good luck with your program 🙂.

appledinosaurcat OP ,

Thank you so much! I’m afraid the updates might change your take? It’s a personal group text with all of them, and it’s getting weird. I don’t know how to salvage this. I want to be friends and stay professional overall, while tapping into potential with the guy I like, but then again I don’t know if it’s time for me to just distance myself from the group. He also doesn’t really text me individually and hasn’t asked me to spend time one on one, so I fear the group text prevents this.

SteposVenzny ,

It’s only weird if it’s weird. Anyone making it weird?

appledinosaurcat OP , (edited )

I would certainly say so. I’ve added more context above and my head gets jumbled when I meet with the guys. I do feel this awkwardness stemming from how the group text started, and pressure to add a girl, and that we’re all just trying to make it work. But I’m not sure if it’s just me reading too much into it or my romantic feelings getting in the way? What should I do, and should I explain the behind the scenes context or will that make things worse?

TheButtonJustSpins ,

You’re just asking if it’s okay for you to be in a professional group chat with other professionals? Yes. What’s your follow up question?

appledinosaurcat OP ,

Please see updates in the post. I would really appreciate your advice here!

some_guy ,

I’ve worked in a place that was all guys until we got our maybe eight team member. We got two more women shortly after that. This was more than a decade ago and we were always a pretty tight group but we didn’t have a chat platform we could use at the time. I don’t think there’s anything weird about doing what’s normal with and just trying to be pals.

Don’t take any shit like misogynistic humor. Shut it down the first time it happens to establish boundaries cause it’ll be harder to reign in when it’s a habit. Good luck!

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