What is breadcrumbing? The short answer: breadcrumbing is the act of leading someone on without the intention of commitment. The small trail they leave to keep you interested is the ‘breadcrumbs.’ These metaphorical breadcrumbs are the main ingredient in a devastating mixture that always leads to someone getting their feelings hurt.
Have you ever felt like your boyfriend never has any time for you or never puts in any effort, but then makes a big deal about you wanting to leave or occasionally makes grand gestures? This is breadcrumbing.
A relationship is all about commitment and being serious about spending the rest of your life with your partner. It may not always end up that way, but before a breakup, a genuine partnership is based on the idea of spending the rest of your life together, through thick and thin.
Breadcrumbing in dating is often seen when girls end up with boys that are not serious about their relationship and do not put the effort to make the relationship work, because they only want the benefits of one.
How can you tell that you are being breadcrumbed? This guide will help you identify five common signs, and why boyfriends might breadcrumb their girls.
Why Is Breadcrumbing In Dating Bad?
Breadcrumbing is undoubtedly a bad thing in a relationship. What makes you be in a relationship, commitment and love? What if you lack all of these? There is no point in calling it a relationship, then. If you are in a relationship where your boyfriend is just ignoring all foundations of a genuine relationship, this is breadcrumbing.
Breadcrumbing is manipulation, plain and simple. Leading someone on with the intention of making them believe they are in a committed relationship is downright cruel. It is usually done by those who are insecure and seek to benefit from the relationship without putting in any effort to make it real. No commitment, no attachments, no problems– for them, anyway.
4 Signs You Might Have Been Breadcrumbed:
Identifying breadcrumbs in dating isn’t too tricky when you know what to look for. To make it easier for you, we have separated the five most common signs that will help you figure out when your boyfriend is breadcrumbing you.
Here are the four signs:
- Doesn’t Share Much About His Life
- Love Bombing
- Ignores You
- Always Asks For Favors
1. Doesn’t Share Much About His Life
If you are up to spending your entire life with someone, you will surely be open to them about your life. If you have something fishy to hide, you might be reserved about your life. This is oftentimes the case when your boyfriend is breadcrumbing you. Sharing his life with you would be commitment, and because he can’t have that, he won’t.
Sometimes, this can be hard to recognize. Those who breadcrumb have usually been doing it for quite a while and know how to keep you hooked. He may seem open about his life without actually telling you anything at all, or perhaps he always switches the conversation when it turns to him so masterfully that you never realize. Analyze your conversations a little more, actually look into what he is saying, and you may just be surprised.
2. Love Bombing
Being love-bombed can feel nice. To have all this attention on you, to be told you’re valued and appreciated, is a good feeling. That is what he’s banking on. If you feel loved, you won’t look deeper into it and see that he puts no real effort forth, he does not spend time with you, and he does not gift you things of any meaning. Instead, constantly bombarding you with declarations of love keeps you hooked as he leads you on to use you.
3. Ignores You
Ignoring refers to several things, not just deliberately acting like he can’t hear you. Missing birthdays, anniversaries, festive gatherings, and dates are the most prominent things that you might notice if your boyfriend is breadcrumbing you. Once or twice with a genuine excuse can be attributed to the busy nature of everyday life. But constantly, to where it becomes the expectation, is irredeemable and a definite sign that he is breadcrumbing you.
4. Always Asks For Favors
A lot of the time, men breadcrumb to have access to a physically intimate relationship. They don’t want the commitment and emotional intimacy it brings, so they string you along and do their best to make you feel like you owe them these physical favors.
Obviously, this is an awful thing to do. If you find that your boyfriend constantly asks for these favors and not much else, it is high time you reevaluate your relationship. You deserve someone who cares for you and not just what you can do for them. You are worth more than your body.
Moving Forward
It can be hard to move forward when you realize you have been manipulated. It’s heartbreaking and makes you feel awful, but you will get past it. You deserve someone who is committed to you and wants to spend the rest of their life with you, just as you want with them. Breadcrumbing is awful, so find someone who is prepared to give you the whole loaf.
