I posted previously about how a girl I had a one night stand with in a social group turned around and accused me of rape (although she later changed it to an accusation of being "taken advantage of", and has now left the group altogether after some evidence to the contrary became public knowledge).
Four months later, it seems clear that this was arranged by some other members of the group in order to have me removed from this social group. After I was removed, I was told by another member that he was asked to leave the management committee of the group by the same people after his daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness, on the grounds that he would no longer have the time to properly contribute to the group because of this illness.
Now, in retrospect, I know this was one of the best things to happen to me as the politics were already beginning to become a serious emotional drain on me. As I am currently in the first year of a very demanding graduate program, it is was best this happened before I started, rather then being hit with all this while I was in the middle of the program, as I get the feeling politics are going to get even nastier in the group. While I have had a lot of people I considered friends from the group abandon me as a result of this allegation, just as many remained loyal.
I also decided that trying to impress women by being prominent in a social group leads to a lot of attacks by others. So this year, I am focussing on improving my intrinsic value, rather then my social value. I have not tried to rejoin other social groups since the report. Instead, I have started going back to the gym, and have also been focussing on developing the skills I am being trained in in my graduate program, as these are the skills which I will need to rely on in my future career.
However, I am still having problems coping with what happened. More specifically, I still find it hard to talk to women. In the back of my mind, I am always wondering if they have heard the rumors about me. As a result, for the last three months, I have been hanging out almost exclusively with my male friends, while only talking to the women at work at a polite but distant level (which oddly seems to make some of them even more keen to talk to me). I haven't made a move on a woman since the allegation was made, and I find myself afraid to be seen in a sexual way by any woman. I also find it hard to reconcile the fact that the clique in the social group "won", even though I know rationally that they were only able to do so because most of the members of the clique are long term unemployed, so they have the time to engage in such petty politics. Can anyone suggest any good ways to get over these hangups?
Four months later, it seems clear that this was arranged by some other members of the group in order to have me removed from this social group. After I was removed, I was told by another member that he was asked to leave the management committee of the group by the same people after his daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness, on the grounds that he would no longer have the time to properly contribute to the group because of this illness.
Now, in retrospect, I know this was one of the best things to happen to me as the politics were already beginning to become a serious emotional drain on me. As I am currently in the first year of a very demanding graduate program, it is was best this happened before I started, rather then being hit with all this while I was in the middle of the program, as I get the feeling politics are going to get even nastier in the group. While I have had a lot of people I considered friends from the group abandon me as a result of this allegation, just as many remained loyal.
I also decided that trying to impress women by being prominent in a social group leads to a lot of attacks by others. So this year, I am focussing on improving my intrinsic value, rather then my social value. I have not tried to rejoin other social groups since the report. Instead, I have started going back to the gym, and have also been focussing on developing the skills I am being trained in in my graduate program, as these are the skills which I will need to rely on in my future career.
However, I am still having problems coping with what happened. More specifically, I still find it hard to talk to women. In the back of my mind, I am always wondering if they have heard the rumors about me. As a result, for the last three months, I have been hanging out almost exclusively with my male friends, while only talking to the women at work at a polite but distant level (which oddly seems to make some of them even more keen to talk to me). I haven't made a move on a woman since the allegation was made, and I find myself afraid to be seen in a sexual way by any woman. I also find it hard to reconcile the fact that the clique in the social group "won", even though I know rationally that they were only able to do so because most of the members of the clique are long term unemployed, so they have the time to engage in such petty politics. Can anyone suggest any good ways to get over these hangups?