I feel undervalued by my friends
I feel that my few friends don't value me much, and I have these two situations:
FIST SITUATION (online): I met my best friend in a group of friends 5 years ago, and I only have a good time with her when we're alone together, because when we're in a group, she treats me differently. Normally, when we're in a group, since I'm the only guy, the three of them exclude me in so many different ways that if I list them all, this will just get longer. When I speak, they don't listen to me; if I stay quiet, they ask me why I'm quiet or why I'm in a bad mood. Sometimes when I'm alone with my best friend, she says she misses Friend 1 and Friend 2 (just to give them names), but I'm pretty sure she doesn't say the same when she's alone with the other two, because for some reason she isn't affectionate with me, also there's no reason for her to be saying that everytime, It makes me feel like I'm boring for her or smth? Friend 1 is very intense and always makes it clear that they're better friends than she and I are, they have alot internal jokes that I don't understand and says them in front of me intentionally, saying "It's something that only we understand". Friend 2, unlike Friend 1, is 3 years younger than us (she's fifteen) and was always the "baby of the group," but lately they've both been joking around, calling each other "love" or things like that, saying they're girlfriends, and in some games using romantic interactive emotes, which I find 1. weird, because of the age difference even If they say It's all jokes and both sides are okay with that (If it were with me, probably I would be the weird one, but they don't see It weird just because they're both women), 2. uncomfortable, because they do it in front of me knowing I'm there and I feel like they're leaving me out. None of the three show me any affection like they do among themselves, nor do they include me as much as they do among themselves, and I could understand it, since they're girls and I'm a guy, but we've known each other for five years, they know everything about me, so why are they like this? And I know some of you will say, "It's as easy as blocking them/turning off your device and going outside." But that's the same as, if it happened in real life, them telling me to just stop talking to them, but it's not that easy. I should also mention that this sabotages a lot when we're playing videogames, since in many situations I've needed her help (since in our fav game our mains compliment each other) but she only prioritizes friend 1 or friend 2 and completely ignores me, which leads me to lose many times due to lack of help, so technically I'm playing alone. We both recently met someone new in the game, he's also a guy, and she's more affectionate with him (whom we met a month ago) than with me, so it has nothing to do with me being a man. Also we've been arguing alot lately ;(
SECOND SITUATION (irl): I have my other best friend, and literally my only friend, who is also a woman, and the same thing happens to me as with the previous one: I only have a good time when we're alone together. When we're with other friends (also women, since I know her from school and there are very few men at my school), they exclude me too much for being a man, and they repeat the same phrase: "It's because you're a man." But this one hits me harder, since I'm literally alone because they do "girly things" among themselves, like going to the bathroom together or going shopping for clothes or makeup, and I have to find something to do while they finish, because they can't make plans that include me. But when I HAVE to do something that doesn't include them, like going to the bathroom, for example, they aren't able to wait for me like I do. The difference here is that this friend treats her other male friends the same as she treats me, but her other male friends have more male friends so they don't care, but I care because she's my only irl friend ever.
At the same time, I must say that I have a great time when I'm alone with both of them; they listen to me, we laugh and have fun, we have deep conversations, etc. And that's why I call them my best friends, but for the same reason, I don't know if I'm being overly jealous, exaggerating or being egocentric/egoist and I'm not even realizing it.
I know someone will tell me the solution to both problems is to find male friends, but that's impossible. Like I said, there are very few men at my school, and since there are so few, they're all friends with each other except me. They exclude me because I'm a trans guy! It's hard to find friends online who are around my age, and in video games, especially those with voice chat, I get transphobic/misogynistic/sexist comments. I'll try to find male friends in games without voice chat, but I feel like it'll be the same. I feel very alone. I'm open to advice even though I'm not looking for it, but more than anything, I'm hoping someone can empathize with this and understand me, since I obviously can't vent to my friends!
Posted Mar 14, 2026, 7:19 AM UTC