As stories of men leaving their dates in ‘sketchy situations’ go viral, experts say these incidents could stem from big egos and poor communication

MJ calls what happened to her in Zion national park “small ‘T’ trauma”. She knows women have experienced worse from their partners. But she still feels the anger of being left behind on a hike by her now ex. “It brings up stuff in my body that maybe I have not cleared out yet,” she said.

Five years ago, MJ and a new partner – he was not exactly her boyfriend, and the pair were not exclusive – traveled from Los Angeles to Utah for an adventure getaway. MJ, who is 38 and works in PR, was looking forward to exploring Zion’s striking scenery; its vast sandstone canyon and pristine wading trails were on the list. But on the morning of their big hike, MJ was not feeling well. She could not shake the feeling that something was “off”; indeed, MJ would learn on this trip that her partner was seeing other women.

As they made their way up Angel’s Landing, MJ’s partner started walking faster than her. “I could tell it was getting on his nerves that I was slow,” she said. “I was like, ‘Fuck it, just go ahead of me.’” He did without hesitation.

When she caught up at the top of the mountain, they took a picture together. Then her partner hiked down the mountain with a woman he had met on the way up, leaving MJ to finish by herself. They broke up shortly after that trip. (MJ asked to be referred to by her initials for the sake of speaking openly about a past relationship.)

Last month, MJ opened TikTok and heard the phrase “alpine divorce”, a label she now attaches to her experience in Zion.

  • Velma@lemmy.todayEnglish
    22·
    9 days ago

    The term “Alpine Divorce” isn’t a new trendy term coined from TikTok, y’know.

    It’s a common enough occurrence for a journalist to decide to write an article about it and have enough stories from different women to deliver a solid read.

    Deciding that it doesn’t happen at a high enough frequency for anyone to want to read about it or talk about it is certainly a stance that you can take, but clearly this has generated enough conversation in this thread alone to argue against that.

    Just because it’s a type of abuse that happens at lower rates than other types doesn’t mean it’s worthless to talk about. For these women, it is a very real occurrence that happened to them. Why not give them space to share their stories?

    • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      9 days ago

      The term “Alpine Divorce” isn’t a new trendy term coined from TikTok, y’know.

      Meanwhile, the very first sentence of its Wikipedia page, lol:

      Alpine divorce is a new informal term emerging in 2026 in popular and social media

      • Velma@lemmy.todayEnglish
        22·
        9 days ago

        I was sincerely open to a conversation with you, but I guess downvotes and scorn is all I’m going to get from you.

        Thanks, I guess.

      • Velma@lemmy.todayEnglish
        22·
        9 days ago

        TikTokers talking about alpine divorce might not know that the phrase comes from an 1893 short story by the Scottish Canadian writer Robert Barr about an unhappily married couple who spends a weekend away in the Alps. The husband had planned to push his wife off the summit during a hike, but in an O Henry-esque twist, the wife tells him she has framed him for murder before jumping off the ledge herself, right before the police she called show up.

        Literally in the article that we’re all talking about.

        Edit: Oh my fucking god, it’s on the wikipedia page as well if you had bothered to read further:

        The origin of the term is in a 1893 short story by Scottish Canadian writer Robert Barr about an unhappy married couple that spends a weekend in the Alps. The husband plans to push his wife off the summit, but she tells him she’s framed him for murder, then she jumps, just as the police arrive.[3]