This week, the origin story for the “the Anti-Girlfriend” concluded in the comics section of the site. (Many thanks to FEMA Fatale for her sharp and fun visuals.) And now that the moniker’s back story has been fully explained, I am going to move forward into more fictional terrain.
Yet even if the “how” of “anti-girlfriend” has been explored–the plot points that led to me being branded with an insulting yet highly original name (gotta give credit where it’s due–the name is unique)–there is still a lot to understand about the term itself.
When I’ve told people the story, generally their first question to me is, “What does that even mean?” or “What did he mean by that?” And I usually say something that apparently he found me more fun than his girlfriend and insulted that (probably) very nice person in the process of complimenting me.
Not that I interpreted his words as pure compliment. It also seemed like a swipe at me. He seemed to be saying that something about me was inimical to girlfriend-hood. In addition, his amusing phrasing seemed to imply some abdication of responsibility for his role in deceiving me (and his girlfriend). By using “the” and “anti,” he reminded me of “the anti-Christ.” He was making me out to be some devilish creature onto whom he could shift blame as people have done for thousands of years. A temptress, a 21st Century Eve of sorts, yet instead of an apple, I enticed with my karaoke renditions of Summer Lovin’ and You Know I’m No Good. (Okay, I’ll admit–anytime you sing Amy Winehouse, you invite certain types of thoughts and comparisons.)
But even if this story was the inspiration for the name, in buying this domain name and starting the comic and blog, I’ve decided to reclaim the term and turn into something different, complex and dare I say, positive? (Just the way the LGBT community has done with “queer.” Except I haven’t had to agitate for my civil rights like those folks had to.)
But before we get onto all of that positivity, I want to know what was the most unusual, hurtful, insulting or even kind thing a guy/girl has ever called you in the course of dating? As always, gold stars for originality.
A here’s little Kanye West inspiration for the name-blame game.
