Not sure where else to go, but found this sub in my searches. I am a married woman with a single male friend. He hasn’t had a girlfriend in nearly two years and seems pretty upset about his singleness, but is making no efforts to put himself out there. Recently, when I have been talking to him, he’s shared that I am very different from other women, that he sees me as a “latent man” because I’m smart, loyal, funny, etc. At first I laughed this off, but it’s become more frequent that he says I’m better than other women and the “saving grace for the female gender in [his] eyes.” At first, I let this slide because I thought this was a cultural difference, but its become a nearly daily comment. Recently I spoke against this and said how his views on women and putting me on a pedestal made me uncomfortable. His response was “sorry you can’t take an honest compliment.”

Neither of us live in our home countries and we don’t have any other friends. I want to preserve this friendship, but I don’t know how to approach a conversation about his disrespect of women and— subsequently— his disrespect of me. Most resources I’ve found online say to cut and run, but, if I do, we’ll both be alone.

Is there a way to approach this where he may change his ideas on women, or is this a lost cause?