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The internet is aghast at a strange request the girlfriend of a woman's brother made.
Posting to the popular Reddit forum r/AmITheA**hole, u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 earned over 8,000 upvotes and 1,500 comments for her post, "[Am I The A**hole] for refusing to take down a picture of my brother in my house after his girlfriend asked me to?"
The original poster (OP) invited her brother's girlfriend to dinner at her house for the very first time. Since she hadn't been there before, u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 gave her the customary tour.
She explains that, like many people, she has photographs of her immediate family hanging in her house, including her brother, mom and dad. But when the girlfriend saw the picture of her beau on the wall, she asked u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 why she had it.
"I said it's because he's my baby brother why wouldn't I have a picture of him," she wrote.
In a comment, u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 said the photo in question was just the two of them with her arm around his neck.
The girlfriend argued that u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 had "no right" to have the picture. When he heard the argument, he came over to see what was going on. He confirmed that he was "perfectly okay" with his sister having a picture of him.
"His girlfriend started throwing a fit on how it 'was so f**king weird', and she ended up leaving my house and causing my brother to run after her," u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 wrote.
While it's unclear why the OP's brother's girlfriend objected so much, there are many reasons someone might not want a photograph of themselves taken or put on display, according to the photography blog Fotoplicity. One of the major culprits, the blog says, is that people know how they look mostly through the mirror, and flipping an image can make it look strange or off-putting.
In addition, some religions prohibit the taking of photographs of members, according to The Guardian. For example, Mennonites often ban posing for photographs, as it could be a show of pride, according to the website Ohio Amish Country—and many members take this as a prohibition on being photographed at all.
Given that the only reasoning that the girlfriend gave was that having a picture of u/Born_Dragonfruit_344's brother was "weird," Reddit slammed her for her odd request.
"NTA - Add another picture of your brother every time she comes over," u/humanmartians wrote in the top rated comment, earning 15,700 upvotes, and many in the comments suggested doubling-down with a t-shirt with his face on it, custom sofa covers and, of course, brother-themed wallpaper.
"I think we all know what's 'so f**king weird' here and it's not you," u/ewan wrote. "NTA for being completely normal."
"I think OP should frame another picture of a random naked man next to the picture of the brother. When the brother's gf asks about, OP should say, 'oh that's our other brother,'" u/CalligrapherActive11 suggested.
"NTA. GF has some really weird ideas. Putting aside that she is wrong that you have no right to have a picture of your brother up, she has no right to be demanding that you take it down," u/bamf1701 wrote.
Newsweek reached out to u/Born_Dragonfruit_344 for comment.
About the writer
Matt Keeley is a Newsweek editor based in Seattle. His focus is reporting on trends and internet culture. He has ... Read more