Look, I’m a man, but there’s no denying that men are prone to do some weird, over-the-top, and often disturbing things for the love of a woman. (And I’m not even talking about the really horrifying stuff like murder and assault, which we won’t discuss in this post.)
So let’s get into it! Here are 13 men whose friend groups (or moms) really should have sat them down and been like, “You OK? Let’s have a chat.”:
1.
Before we get into all the stories about men acting totally unhinged (and inspiring people to call me a man hater in the comments), here’s one about a dude who will melt your heart. In the 1950s, Dashrath Manjhi was a poor laborer from a remote village in India who was happily married to his wife, Falguni Devi. Tragically, one day, Falguni took a brutal fall while crossing the treacherous mountain terrain that separated their village from the nearest town. Manjhi tried to race her to the hospital, but it was too far away, and without proper access, she died in his arms. To honor his wife, Manjhi picked up a hammer and chisel and decided to do the impossible — carve a road through the mountain. For 22 years (yes, YEARS), he worked alone, chipping away at the rock.
In the end, Manjhi completed a 360-foot-long, 30-foot-wide road, cutting the travel distance to the nearest town from 34 miles to just 9 miles — and improving the lives of his fellow villagers forever.
2.
Now that we got that out of the way, it’s time for nightmare men who would make any woman choose the bear. In 2016, Russian Alexey Bykov, 30, felt he needed to be 100% sure his girlfriend, Irena Kolokov, truly loved him before proposing. So, to test her devotion, he decided to make her think he was dead. He hired a full production team, including a film director, stuntmen, and makeup artists, to stage an elaborate fake car crash. When Irena arrived at the “scene,” she saw Alexey on the ground, covered in fake blood, seemingly dead.
Horrified, Irena collapsed in grief, and Alexey — satisfied — sprang to life and revealed the whole thing was just a twisted loyalty test. But instead of running for the hills (which, honestly, would have been fair), Irena was so relieved that when he pulled out a ring and proposed, she said yes. “I wanted her to realize how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me,” Alexey said. Totally normal, dude.
3.
Want an even more disturbing story of what a man will do for love? Carl Tanzler — a German radiologist in Florida — took things to a whole new level of creepy. In the early 1930s, he became obsessed with a young tuberculosis patient, Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos. Convinced she was his true love, he did everything he could do to save her, but she died in 1931. What’s creepy about that? you’re thinking. Well, the story isn’t over. Two years after her death, Tanzler snuck into her mausoleum, stole her corpse, and took it home. But he didn’t just keep it — he preserved it with wax, chemicals, and silk, replaced her decaying eyes with glass, wired her bones together, and stuffed her body with rags to keep its shape. And, I’m sure you know where this is going: He kept her in his bed for seven years.
When Maria’s family finally discovered what happened in 1940, they were horrified. But Tanzler was never jailed because the statute of limitations on grave robbing had expired. If Tanzler ever tried dating again, I’m sure things didn’t go far past the “Tell me about your last relationship?” conversation.
4.
Celebrity crushes are usually normal…but if I’m talking about one on this list, you just know it’s got a disturbing element to it. Enter John Hinckley Jr., a man in his early 20s who, after finally getting around to watching Taxi Driver in the late 1970s, became obsessed with the film’s young costar Jodie Foster. Convinced they were meant to be, he sent her letters, stalked her at Yale University, and even enrolled in classes just to be near her. When she ignored him, he decided that only a “grand gesture” would win her love. That “gesture”? Trying to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. On March 30, 1981, Hinckley fired six shots at Reagan outside a Washington, DC hotel. Reagan survived (despite being hit by a ricochet that put him in the hospital for 12 days), but three others were seriously wounded, including Press Secretary James Brady, who was left permanently disabled.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent decades in psychiatric care. He was released in 2022 and now posts videos of himself singing and playing guitar on YouTube. So, guys who play guitar at you, ladies, could actually be worse!
5.
Some guys will go to extreme lengths for a woman’s love…even if she isn’t human. Akihiko Kondo — a 35-year-old school administrator from Tokyo — spent $18,000 on a “wedding” to the love of his life, Hatsune Miku. Who is Hatsune Miku? She’s a 16-year-old virtual pop sensation created by Crypton Future Media using voice-synthesizing technology. Since her debut, she’s performed sold-out concerts worldwide and even opened for Lady Gaga. If I haven’t been clear enough, she is not a real person. It’s a computer-generated avatar. She’s also just 16, which makes this whole thing even more problematic.
Kondo says that — after facing workplace bullying and personal struggles — he found solace in Miku’s music and developed deep feelings for “her.” Their wedding in November 2018 was a lavish ceremony, and featured a plush doll of Miku in a white dress, standing in for the bride. Despite inviting family and coworkers, none attended (others did attend, though). Oh, and if you’re wondering how this “marriage” works, Kondo purchased a Gatebox device, a $1,300 machine that projects the virtual singer’s hologram, allowing him to enjoy daily conversation and companionship with Mika. Huh.
One more thing — if you’re wondering if they share a matrimonial bed, the answer is…yes.
6.
I bet the bear is sounding better by the minute, huh? Well, this next guy isn’t going to help the case for men either. For years, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter convinced people he was Clark Rockefeller, an heir to one of America’s most rich and famous families. But in reality, he was a German con artist who built his entire life on lies — just to impress women (for love or money…mostly money). Armed with charm, a fake aristocratic background, and a love for fine art, he married Sandra Boss, a wealthy Harvard-educated executive, in 1995. She believed he was old-money royalty, and they lived lavishly for years on Boss’s dime. But little cracks in his story began to show. He never seemed to have a real job and discouraged his wife from speaking to his supposed “relatives.” In 2007, Boss hired a private investigator who uncovered that his entire identity was a lie.
Boss and Gerhartsreiter divorced, and she was awarded full custody of their daughter. Desperate to keep his perfect illusion alive, Gerhartsreiter kidnapped his own daughter in 2008, sparking an FBI manhunt. He was caught within days and sentenced to four to five years in prison. If that wasn’t enough, authorities later linked him to a decades-old murder of his former landlord in California. In 2013, he was sentenced to 27 years to life for the killing. A real charmer, huh?
7.
OK, let’s dial back the creepiness a minute to tell a story of a man doing something way, way, WAY over the top for love. In 1968, actor Richard Burton bought at auction a 33.19-carat Asscher-cut diamond ring for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. He paid $305,000 — about $3 million in today’s dollars. (Look, I get he was a rich movie star, but this kind of thing makes guys like me buying their wife $19.99 flowers at the supermarket look just a liiiiiittle less special.) Burton gave the diamond to Taylor aboard their yacht, the Kalizma, while it was moored on the River Thames in London. A year later, he bought her another, even bigger diamond — this time 68 carats! It cost him $1.1 million (or just under $10 million in today’s dollars). Must be nice.
He said about the purchase, “I was going to get that diamond if it cost me my life or 2 million dollars whichever was the greater. For 24 hours the agony persisted and in the end I won. I got the bloody thing.” Diamonds may be forever, but Burton’s relationship with Taylor was not. They divorced for good in 1976.
8.
There have always been men like this, BTW. In the early 16th century, King Henry VIII of England was desperate to dump his wife of over 20 years, Catherine of Aragon, for the charismatic lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn. Of course, divorce was forbidden in the Catholic Church, so after Pope Clement VII denied the King’s request for an annulment, the king did something totally rational and not at all batshit — he left the Catholic Church and started his OWN church! Under the Church of England, he was free to marry Anne, which he did.
Now, here’s the part that will make you sigh and go, “Men.” Surely, after starting an entirely new church just to marry a girl, they must’ve lived happily ever after, right? Nope. Their marriage lasted about three years before the king made up some false charges to have her executed. He’d go on to marry four more times, executing one of them.
9.
Zipping back to modern times — some incels (“involuntary celibate” men who believe their physical appearance is to blame for their inability to attract women) are going to extreme measures to overcome their perceived genetic disadvantages. They are getting plastic surgeries like rhinoplasty (nose reshaping), genioplasty (chin augmentation), and jaw implants to attain a more traditionally masculine face. Some of these dudes even have limb-lengthening surgeries to increase their height (despite the risks and lengthy recovery periods). This phenomenon, known as “looksmaxxing,” can also involve non-surgical methods like skincare routines, hairstyling, and fitness regimens…with the goal of making them look like a “Chad” (good looking men at the top of the male social hierarchy).
10.
This one will make you go, “Um…what?” In 2014, a Chinese programmer from Guangzhou was desperately in love with a coworker, so to express his love, he spent the equivalent of two years’ salary — around $80,000 — to purchase 99 iPhone 6s. He then meticulously arranged the boxed devices in the shape of a heart outside their workplace and asked her to come outside. When she arrived, he was clutching a bouquet of flowers and standing inside his weird iPhone heart thing. A curious crowd gathered as he told the girl how he felt…and she turned him down. If you’re an unhinged guy, you might be thinking, How? He got her 99 iPhones?! But what the hell was she supposed to do with all those phones? How was this his big plan to win her heart? If you learn anything about this, men, it’s to ask a woman — any woman — for advice before you go all in on your harebrained romantic scheme.
11.
OK, to prove there are good guys out there — beyond Dashrath Manjhi the Mountain Man from #1 — let’s finish with some men who went way over the top for their beloved in a heartwarming way. Take Brendon Donoho, who wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Kaitlyn Lawrence, but didn’t want to do it with just a romantic dinner or something similarly blah. So, in October 2023, Donoho teamed up with artist Natalie Hensley to create nine custom paintings, each one capturing a major milestone in their relationship — from their first date to their favorite trips together. Donoho then arranged for the artworks to be displayed in a local museum and took Lawrence to see a “new exhibit.” By the time she understood the paintings were of their life together, he was already down on one knee with a ring. The deeply personal and artistic proposal stunned Lawrence, who, spoiler alert: said YES! Good on ya, Brendon.
12.
You’ve surely heard of the Taj Mahal, but you might not know the story behind it. In the 17th century, Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal Empire, was deeply in love with Mumtaz Mahal. She was not just his wife but his soulmate, closest advisor, and the love of his life. Tragically, she died during childbirth, so a devastated Shah Jahan did what only an emperor could do — he commissioned the Taj Mahal, a massive white marble mausoleum that would stand as a tribute to their love forever. It wasn’t easy to make — it took over a decade, 20,000 workers, 1,000 elephants, and cost the equivalent of $827 million in today’s dollars. (Part of the high cost was because the elephants had a strong union and held out for higher pay…I’m kidding! The biggest costs involved acquiring white marble and precious stones and paying labor and skilled artisans.) Today, it’s a monument to a love that truly stood the test of time.
13.
Lastly, in 1936, Edward VIII — the newly crowned King of England — caught feelings (as the youths say) for Wallis Simpson, a glamorous American divorcée. But there was a problem. At the time, the Church of England forbade royals from marrying divorced people with living ex-spouses (it’s more than a little ironic that the church formed to let one king marry a woman was now stopping another). So, in December, after just 11 months as king, Edward shocked the world by abdicating the throne to be with the woman he loved, declaring: “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility…without the help and support of the woman I love.” Once his younger brother, George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II), became king instead, Edward lived happily in exile with Wallis until his death in 1972.
Have you ever known a man who did something outrageous, unhinged, or illegal for the love of a woman? Let us know via this anonymous form or in the comments below!
