Disrespect is an attempt at manipulation

I say manipulation because they cannot make you feel anything without your permission, so they have to throw out feelers to see where the weak points are in your beliefs.

Once a weak spot is found, they will push on it and make you come to the conclusion that an emotion is a valid reaction to the words they have spoken.

If you ever feel yourself having strong emotions when someone is trying to provoke you, you can use this as an indicator of something you might not have accepted within yourself yet.

For example, if someone says “your shirt looks gay”, and you feel shame when you hear these words, you might have a particular interest in other people validating your wardrobe choices, instead of picking it out because you liked it.

People are allowed to try to provoke you, but they aren’t entitled a reaction from you and you don’t have to care about their opinion of you.