Got criticized after Reddit comment.
I have a lifelong history of depression and I’m on the Autism Spectrum.
I was a member of a subreddit where women post pictures of themselves and receive support.
I’m a man, but I made a request to be a member about a year ago, and they allowed me to join, knowing I was a male. A few days ago, I commented on a woman’s picture, and said how if I saw her walking down the street, I’d turn my head to look longer, because she’s attractive.
When I posted this, I 100% thought it’d be taken as a nice, sweet compliment and make the woman’s day. In my mind I was like “I’m happy today. I’ll spread the positive vibes and makes someone’s day.”
Well, immediately, that woman, and other women that viewed my post, just HATED it. I got lots of thumbs down, VERY rudely criticized for being a man making posts on there, was immediately banned, and they now have banned men entirely on there.
I do understand that the comment could be misunderstood, but the vitriol I got just makes no sense whatsoever.
I’m just really struggling mentally and emotionally with this. I’ve never in my life given a compliment and had someone actually be rude in response. It just shattered my faith in humanity. I’ve cried, it’s made me nauseous, it makes me want to give up on having any kind of social interactions with strangers, especially with women. Just the idea that someone could hold such vitriolic hate for me for no logical reason.
I tell my friends, but they just say “Who cares, stay off the internet, don’t worry about.” But, I can’t get over the pain, and it’s been several days. Looking for some guidance and support, please.