A post shared to r/AmIOverreacting on Nov. 10, 2026, asks whether a boyfriend should skip a guys-only Christmas party that excludes partners. The post drew 20 upvotes and 134 comments at the time of publication.
The woman who wrote the post wanted to attend an annual potluck hosted by mutual friends. Her boyfriend chose to attend a gathering with his own friends, which was scheduled for the same night. Women and partners were not invited.
“His friends [sic] party is guys only, no girls or partners are invited,” she wrote. She wanted both of them to attend a potluck hosted every year by their mutual friends, which she saw as an opportunity to celebrate together. Three weeks before the Christmas gathering, he was also planning to attend a bachelor party in Mexico with the same group. Women were not allowed on that trip either.
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Two weeks after the Christmas party, the group was scheduled to reunite for one of their friends' New Year's Eve wedding. She objected to missing the shared celebration when he had other opportunities to see his friends. “I told him I’m upset about this,” the woman recalled. She questioned why he needed another separate gathering between the trip and the wedding.
The disagreement came after a summer of regular outings with the same friends. According to the poster, her boyfriend played golf with them every week during the season. The group also participated in football and hockey pools, which involved additional gatherings. Their partners were never invited to those events and never joined the golf nights.
The Redditor asked him whether he would miss his friends' party and accompany her to the potluck instead. “He blew up at me and told me I’m being unreasonable,” she recalled. She asked Reddit whether requesting his company at an event welcoming both partners was justified. The poster added that everyone involved was in their mid-to-late 30s or early 40s.
One reply compared the situation to the commenter's own marriage.
“My husband would never to [sic] this because he shave [sic] doesn't want to be away from us,” the commenter wrote. They said they had difficulty understanding the boyfriend's behavior. “I'm really sorry you're going through this!” the commenter added.
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A reader questioned the invitation restrictions and suggested reconsidering the relationship. “There’s no way that party is guys only,” a commenter argued. “Who has a dudes only holiday party?” The commenter advised against continuing to spend time with him. “NOR but maybe don’t hang out with this guy anymore. He seems immature and also weirdly gatekeep-y.”
Another commenter speculated about the boyfriend's sexuality, "Like...I don't wanna jump to that, especially as a gay dude myself, but the more OP reveals about this, the more I'm like, "I know I'm not a super gay homosexual, but this is still gayer than anything I've ever done"..."
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the events described in the post. The details above reflect the woman's account as shared on r/AmIOverreacting.
