I agree that some guys who’ve dealt with issues in their childhood might resort to this, but I think it’s a little ridiculous/ignorant to attempt to psychoanalyze and generalize an entire group of men this way. I, for instance, had a relatively stellar childhood. However, I deal with on-and-off depression, the ‘on’s of which are usually coupled with insane weight gain (100+ lbs or so.) That makes it very hard for me to actively seek out women at all, let alone women that I actually feel attracted to, so I resort to (nicely and respectfully, as much as I can) asking women to help out online while I’m able to conceal my face and body. More than that, I’m not even able to love myself when I’m like this, so having a significant other during it is out of the question as it wouldn’t be fair to them.

If that weren’t enough, even when I’m physically fit and feeling confident, I still deal with insane anxiety attacks (increased heart rate, heart beating in my ear, noticeable and embarrassing physical trembling, nausea, voice shaking, etc.) when put into an intimate situation with a girl that I haven’t been with prior. That doesn’t happen to me online.

I’m not saying all of this for pity, and I’m aware that this is a bit of a self-report (lol), but I honestly took mild offense to the fact that you just declare all men who ask for nudes online ‘broken’.

Thank god reddit is mostly anonymous! Reading this entire comment back makes me want to crawl under a rock and die.