I've personally seen very self-confident, bad ass women be torn apart by narcissistic, toxic men. It doesn't matter how you are when you meet them, it's more how they weasel their way in and try to destroy a person. At the end of the day, i agree with you though, the stronger you are, the less you will fall victim to these types.
I certainly am not the the type to be manipulated by a man or anyone really but that first guy really threw me for a loop and that's why I got sucked into psychic readings in the first place. Kind of like "am I nuts" type thing..why am I putting myself through this? I KNOW better.
While it's always good to be strong and self assured, unfortunately a lot of the time, these men prey on women like this. How you react is key. I don't put up with any BS anymore..