Dear Natalie,

My friend thinks it is funny to make fun of me all the time. He constantly is making fun of the things I wear or the things I say. He does this in front of large groups of people and it is so embarrassing. I put up with it because I am a guy and I cannot seem soft or weak, but really it hurts. I used to be really confident and I loved to crack jokes, but now I feel suffocated by his jokes and I cannot be who I am because he will just put me down again.

­­­— Fed Up

Dear Fed Up,

First thing’s first, you need to tell your friend to stop. Just because you are a guy does not mean that you do not have feelings. It is not a problem that you are feeling hurt by his remarks, at all. In fact anyone would be fed up with all the teasing after it has gone on for a long time. Obviously going along with his jokes and staying silent is not working. You need to approach him and just tell him that he seriously needs to cut it out because his jokes are no longer funny. They are just simply rude and uncalled for.

If he tries to make a remark or continues to tease you, try to give him a taste of his own medicine. Do not completely call him out in front of everyone, but when he makes fun of something you do just turn it into a joke or poke fun at something he does. This could turn the teasing into a more friendly thing rather than what seems to be an attack on you. Whatever you do though, do not try to be rude back to him, that will only feed the fire. Just try to politely but firmly ask him to stop and he will surely get the message that what he is doing is mean and rude.

— Natalie

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