I think the idea of a "Chad," the Machiavellian arch nemesis and borderline homoerotic ideal of RP, stems from fundamentally misunderstanding men who sleep around, but are at their core good dudes.

I had many friends who fall under the umbrella of "Chad," the first of whom was literally named "Chad." At first, being a bitter, dorky high schooler, I presumed him to be the arrogant woman-slaying star of the basketball team. Handsome, tall, white, and from a middle class family, he was everything I wasn't, and in the first few weeks of knowing each-other, I kinda despised the guy. Then, when I actually got to know him, he was a pretty cool bro. He helped me come out of my shell in a major way, constantly invited me to things, and was instrumental in me growing up and becoming one of the gang at my new school. His personal life was way more tame than I imagined it to be; he went steady with a girl, then when it didn't work out, he tried to amicably break it off.

Chad was my best friend for years, and though we had our differences, I respected the hell out of him and I thank him for helping me grow up as a person.

But, I can see how RPers can misconstrue and project upon such a guy whose traits that they themselves idolize, and view as a part of the "decline."

A socially adjusted, tall, handsome guy dating a girl for a while, then breaking it off due to differences, can be viewed to an outsider as "spinning plates." Having a winning personality and friends willing to follow his ideas is misconstrued as being an "alpha male" who the betas cowtow to on an evolutionary level.

My basic problem with the embrace of the "Chad" as an ideal is that, more often than not, they assign disturbing traits to someone who's more or less normal, friendly, and does no real harm to anyone, and has healthy relationships with both sexes.

"Chad" may be real in many walks of life, but the idea of the villainous Chad who scoops the girlfriends of beta males is more often than not an exaggeration. "Chad" as we've come to understand it is tulpa created from the warped worldview of ill-meaning and jealous men; a conjuration that they both aspire to and fear.

They try to imitate him, but they do it wrong because they don't truly know the men who they want to be.

More than anything, I'm kinda just sick of seeing an old friend's moniker coincidentally dragged through the mud.