Is She Playing Games, or Simply Excelling in a Male Field?

What do you call a woman who breaks up with a man and then takes a flight to see her ex-boyfriend from two years ago the very next day? What about one who asks a man what he’s looking for in a girlfriend but has zero intention of actually meeting those standards?

According to recent jokey clips on social media, these are women in the traditionally male-dominated field of playing games.

In one TikTok video after another, users facetiously identifying as #WomenInMaleFields are recounting — in a roundabout sort of way — their negative experiences dating men. Staring at their screens as Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” plays in the background, the women record themselves doing something — anything, really. The important part is the onscreen caption, in which the poster professes to engage in a toxic dating behavior typically attributed to men.

“A lot of the things that men do that we don’t are pretty universal, and I feel like it’s empowering to flip the script a little,” said Maayan Yve, 26, a content creator living in Toronto.

In her own video, Ms. Yve included a caption based on personal experience: “when he sends multiple texts in a row explaining what’s wrong but I only reply to the last and least important one #womeninmalefields.” In addition to being on the receiving end of such inadequate responses herself, Ms. Yve said she was aware of “many of the men” in her life, including friends and brothers, who were doing the same.

The hashtag is offering a way for women to let off steam and highlight their negative experiences dating men who weren’t kind or forthcoming about their intentions. Perhaps by exposing the dismissiveness, excuses and lies they have encountered while pursuing relationships (or settling for situationships), they are uncovering the playbook and can help women unite and avoid these dynamics going forward (and laugh about it in the meantime).