Psychologist identifies “red flags” that help recognize “macho”

Are you in love and want to know if he is the right man? Barbara Zorrilla Pantoja, director of the Center for Psychotherapy and founder of Integral Women’s Psychotherapy in Spain, explains the factors she finds most troubling when it comes to spotting a macho man. From forcing tasks on women to preventing them from communicating, here are some toxic behaviors that a psychologist advises women to be careful about in relationships.

According to the expert, one of the biggest red flags for a man is that he demonstrates an ultra-conservative attitude and wants to perpetuate rigid ideas about the role of women in society. “Of course he is not responsible for the housework because we have always done it very well,” he explains El Pais.

This man also loves to attack women’s egos by demeaning and demeaning comments, belittling their opinions. “For example, it says that a woman did not achieve power through her talent,” he says.

Barbara Zorrilla Pantoja says another sign to look out for is when a man needs to maintain a power imbalance in the relationship and assume control over his partner. This man tends to prioritize his own needs and ignore the woman’s needs because they are nothing more than “her problem.”

According to Barbara Zorrilla Pantoja, the man is also a possessive person and does not like his girlfriend interacting with other people.

“It says that single girlfriends are dangerous because the goal of all women is to find a man,” she explains.

This man, according to the psychologist, criticizes “women’s sexual freedom and feels threatened by strong and confident women.”

“Of course, he will criticize the feminist movement, openly talking about feminazis, distorting its meaning or equating it with machismo, saying that he wants equality, or with less obvious comments, for example, that gender equality already exists and there is no need to fight because that modern women exaggerate or believe that violence has no gender,” he adds.

Once the signs are detected, the best thing to do is “not to waste any time,” according to the expert.

“My recommendation is to not waste time, or at least evaluate whether it’s worth doing the work and consider whether we want to invest that time and energy when it’s easier to be clear about what we want in a relationship and assume that if someone does not meet these requirements, that is, men who comply with them, and we do not need to teach them how to do it,” he concludes.