In the Distracted Boyfriend meme, the woman the boyfriend is looking at is wearing red. The image is a stock photograph taken in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, in mid-2015 by photographer Antonio Guillem. It shows a man turning to look at another woman while his girlfriend reacts with disapproval.
The photograph was uploaded to Shutterstock with a description about a disloyal man looking at another seductive woman. Social-media users began labeling the three figures with competing choices, ideas, or priorities, turning the stock photo into an object-labeling meme. It first appeared as a meme in early 2017 and became widely viral later that year.
The woman in red is commonly used to represent a tempting alternative, distraction, or risky new interest, while the girlfriend often represents an existing obligation. People sometimes confuse the woman in red with the girlfriend because the boyfriend stands between them, but the red dress belongs to the person he is turning toward.