F-Boy Island and Emotional Abuse
On this island, it’s not womanizing that makes you an “F-Boy,” it’s the gaslighting
The premise is fairly simple: three women (CJ, Sarah and Nakia) choose from 24 men, half of them proclaimed “nice guys” and half self-identified “F-Boys” — a term generally used for men who lie to get women into bed and/or who juggle multiple women at once with little to no regard for their feelings.
Though not generally a reality TV viewer myself, I was entertained by this show that seemed cheekily aware, likely due to the influence of its feminist comedian host Nikki Glaser. Throughout the season, Glaser aims to “reform” the rejected F-Boys through “therapy” and “classes” where she presents “challenges” like asking them to name five female athletes. Both segments were intended as comic relief, but in actuality cut to the heart of the matter: F-Boys just didn’t consider women. This selfishness and misogyny could be considered narcissistic, which can be a response to trauma and result in various addictions such as exercise (these bros never skip leg day) and of course, sex. Or as Glaser told Men’s Health: “We all entered into that sketch thinking, ‘Oh, this’ll be funny.’ But then I think we all walked away from it like, ‘Oh wow, there was something here where these guys kind of realized the root of what made them F-Boys.’”
