‘Dogfished’ by a Jamaican man
‘CATFISH’ is a term generally ascribed to women who intentionally deceive men into thinking they are way more attractive than they are in reality —whether by Photoshop, filters, make-up, false hair, or other means. The unsuspecting male will claim to be ‘catfished’ when he eventually meets up with this alluring beauty he met online, only to be sorely disappointed.
But some women find it quite unfair that men are not being called out for doing the same thing, though not with beauty products. They do it with their neighbours’ houses, their friends’ rides, their brothers’ clothes and the angles at which they take their photos.
These women share how they have been catfished by a Jamaican man, or rather, dogfished:
Kerry, 24, virtual assistant:
I am 5’10, and I don’t date men who are shorter than I am, so I am always upfront about that. This guy on Instagram told me he was 5’11, and in all the pictures on his profile he appeared taller than the photographer, so we talked for a few months. Things started getting serious and we were planning to meet up. That’s when he started telling me how much he had grown to love me, and he hoped that I wouldn’t give up on him if he didn’t ‘measure up’ to my expectations in person. The man was no more than 5’6” when we met! I didn’t want to seem shallow so I stuck around, but I soon realised that he was a delusional liar and his whole personality was false.
Sandy, 29, entrepreneur:
This guy catfished me with his uncle’s car. He had the BMW in the background of all his pics, and he even had the keys on his pants in other pictures. The first time he visited he came in the car then his uncle drove off with it, and he said he loaned it to his uncle for the day. After that he would take taxis to go out with me, saying his car was being serviced. Eventually I figured out that it was not his car. I know he must think that I’m shallow why I left, but it’s not that I wouldn’t date a walk-foot man, I just don’t want a liar.
Pat, 31, master’s student:
I’m not proud of it, but I was fooled by an old man on Facebook once. I was in my early 20s and he said he was 32. We spoke and I fully fell in love with him and quit my job in America to come back home and be with him. I don’t know what happened, but he was simply not the man I met online. I recognised the voice, but the man who met me at the airport was at least 50 and was struggling to lift even my little suitcase. I spent the night with him and it was disappointing, so when I went to my family’s house I never spoke to him again.
Shauna-Kay, 28, physical therapist:
My husband indirectly lied to me about his address when we met online. At the time he was living in a Food for the Poor house with his mother and sister, but there was a mansion across the street from him and he was friends with the people there. So he would take pictures there, take video calls there, and generally just hang out there. When he finally brought me to his house after we dated for nearly a year, I was shocked, but I tried to hide it. He told me that he knew he misled me because he wasn’t proud of where he lived, but he planned to move soon. We’re now living in our own home.
Shantel, 23, customer care agent:
I met a graphic designer on Instagram one time and he catfished me. From the waves in his hair to the watch on his hand, everything in his pictures were Photoshopped. We never dated because I didn’t really like him, but he saw me at a party one time and called to me and explained how he knew me. When I saw his blotchy skin and the real colour of his teeth and lips, I had to go home and look at his profile again. One thing’s for sure, he is a good graphic designer.
