We typically have no idea unless explicitly told, no.
Even then, maybe she's just nice. Or canadian
I knew a nice Canadian that had a crush on me once. I still messed it up.
Yeah, see, my girlfriend just right out told me. But we're both AuADHD. So you know, things happen impulsively and directly.
I asked her on a date, she said yes. We get to the date we have fun, we have a long night out, she goes home and texts me "I like you."
Yep. Which is a good thing too because I liked her and was a lot nervous about that.
God damn that's the dream. This chick at the store smiles at me a lot and giggles when I'm nearby. I like hearing her laugh and seeing her smile and don't want things to get awkward, so I'm not saying anything :/
Aside from a lot of guys being thickheaded and not seeing it, there's also selection bias.
A) A girl has a crush on a guy. He notices but plays it safe. Maybe she's just friendly. Result: no harm done except perpetuating the myth that guys don't notice.
B) A girl is just friendly but the guy thinks he's being crushed on and acts on it. Now he's forever labeled as a creep.
The only safe play as a guy is always, always assuming she's just being friendly. Unless she comes right out and says she wants to hump your bones, just assume she's being nice to you.
Thanks for lining it out so well.
There's a good shot that she's into me, but if she's not, I'll either die of embarrassment or I'll get bullied by their whole social circle.
Add to this that men usually are not as socially comfortable as women, and you kinda understand it why this happens.
This happens to women too. The embarrasement is real and the societal pressure to not be seen as a slut is everpresent. Playing it safe is a popular strategy no matter the gender.
It’s always good to play it safe unless evidence is so overwhelming that she’s into you. This has cost me some romantic opportunities but has also kept me from being the guy who dates all his female friends.
She's Canadian.
A lot of the time we do know, but we're terrified of getting it wrong and getting rejected and maybe worse.
after being rejected 100 times in a row for "ew gross i don't associate disabled people" when after a couple dates i let them see me take a blood pressure pill (hadn't even let them see any of my massive collection of scars except my arm and face, which i can't exactly hide without michael jacksoning) you kind of just start making fairly accurate assumptions about the women in your society
Hahahahahahahaha hahahahaha.
That's one of those easy things for me to overshare. I take half a dozen pills daily to function. If they aren't, or at least don't know why I take them, it ain't gonna work.
The actual like, really disabling thing about me isn't any of the things I'm treated for. It's my sleep disorder. I still have to show up to my 9-5. My kid still has arrival and pickup times at school. Banks are only open 9-5.
I've found that women with treated or untreated disabilities understand this shit way more than normies. That's not to say go look for them, but don't try to fit into an ablist mask, that's far more harmful
don’t try to fit into an ablist mask, that’s far more harmful
it took me so so long to learn that one
One rejection in college had me pegged as a creep to the point many of my own friends stopped talking to me. All I did was ask someone to get some tea once but I guess I didn't do the mating dance right or something idk.
Was a pretty powerful lesson in seeing how people will believe what they want to believe. I guess it's the same for many of the "creeps" and "sluts" out there.
This makes me think of a conversation between my wife and daughter a while back.
Daughter is angry with her BF and frustrated that he seems oblivious to that
Wife: "Oh honey, no. It doesn't work like that. If I'm mad at your dad for something I just have to tell him. If he asks if I'm OK and I say, 'I'm fine', he takes that at face value. He's very literal."
Daughter: "Ugh. Doesn't that frustrate you?"
Wife: "It was weird at first but once you get used to it it's actually really nice. You just have to learn to talk to him."
Me: "Wait, I did something right?"
Wife: "You do lots of things right babe."
Yeah, I think she likes me.
Yeah communication is key. Even if you are too literal at least you are clear and not obscuring your thoughts.
A girl told me in 8th grade that she knew I liked her, and was cool with it. I thought she was nice for not being creeped out that I liked her, until one day on college when I finally realized what she meant.
Well, don't leave us bros hanging! What did she mean?
That she might be down to clown if the circus is in town, but our boy left her hanging around at the dog pound
What did she meant?!
A girl in college told me she liked me when we were in high school, took me like two days to realize what she meant...
It's clear that when they say they liked you in high school, it means that they don't like you any more, and you blew your one shot. Don't be a dick and try now, that ship has sailed.
I was at some fast food joint with a buddy and his girlfriend, and after ordering my friend's girlfriend told me the cashier was so flirting with me.
Me and my friend: What? She was? How so?
Nah I don't trust it, she was just being nice cuz it's her job
men are discouraged from approaching women and women dont want to show their interest in clear way. How have we not gone extinct yet?
Because the internet isn’t real life and plenty of people know how to talk to people, including those of the opposite sex.
We are on the way. sex and relationship rates are massively declining for Gen Z.
I have four newphews 16-20. they have all dated. all but one of them has already sworn off dating because they think it's total bullshit and they thought it was miserable and no fun to have a girlfriend, for the very same reasons, I also am frustrated with dating and relationships in my 40s. It's insane. It took me 30+ years of dating to get fed up, they were fed up in 1-2 years.
And all of us agree the issue is women's expectations they get from social media. My 17 year old nephew broke up with his gf because he got her flowers and she complained they were not $200+ that he was a 'low effort' boyfriend and all her friends dog-piled in group chat and agreed. He's 17 and he makes 15 bikes an hour part time...
Like why would any sane person want to subject themselves to group harassment from multiple women for the 'sin' of not being able to buy her absurdly expensive flowers? In my situation, I take women out on $100-200 dinner takes and get told that I'm a 'loser' for not taking her out to a $1000 restaurant on our 3rd date. It's INSANE.
None of that happened 10 years ago. If I took a woman out to a $100 restaurant 10 years ago she was STOKED. Now the refrain on the news is 'men are not good enough for women and women are giving up'. Without acknowledging the changes in women's expectations for men due to their addiction to social media and constant consumption of 'lifestyle' influences.
All anyone blames is the manosphere... and how evil that is. But really it's both sexes that are swept up in these toxic sexist expectations that are making both of them miserable and lonely and unable to connect with other people.
Damn.
15 bikes an hour is really fucking impressive, no what what kind of bikes.
Where are you finding these women? I've never dated anyone like that. Not disputing that they exist, but to take out enough of them that it's worth bitching about online may indicate a problem with the choices you're making. Plenty of women are looking for an actual connection and relationship with someone.
When women can't communicate and frustrate themselves.
I have dated women who expect me to read their minds and think if I am not Professor X I don't care about them.
One breakup the reason was "I shouldn't have to ask you for anything, you should already know what I want before I want it. That is what love is!"
Then I asked her if she does that for me and she made a face and said "No, you're a man you don't deserve that."
If you want to know why men with basic decency are so oblivious, head on over to the womens stuff community and see how many posts boil down to "all men are rapists". I'm friends with several real life women, and most of them hold that same opinion and have damn good reasons for it ("Except you glitch, you're one of the good ones"). More than one have expressed to me that they hate being straight because they've never dated a man who hasn't taken advantage of them.
So yeah, I'm not making a move on a lady, well mostly because I'm gay, but even if I wasn't I wouldn't unless she explicitly asked for it. (I'd also have to run it by my boyfriend, and ask if she wanted a threesome with us, but that's another topic.)
Reminds me of an interaction my friend had with a girl that he usually just had casual sex with. She asked him if they could do some rougher stuff, things that definitely would leave a physical mark. He said OK, but ONLY if she wrote up a statement beforehand explaining that this is in fact something she wanted to have done to her.
There isn't a single iota he could have said or done if she decided after the fact that it wasn't for her and just reported it to the police. Most decent guys are very cautious about being wrongly accused, as the fallout entails the same thing as actually having violated someone.
I'd say most guys are as afraid of being accused of violence as most women are afraid of being exposed to it.
I feel seen. Been with my partner for over 10 years and I feel the same way as the dad in this text exchange.
It is unclear whether my wife liked me, but she does make it clear when she does not. Kinda like a cat.
Why are women even taught/expected to behave like sneaky spies when it comes to romance? "Ok, time to do my personal hair signal that I'm interested and want him to approach"
Being clear about your desire also means that rejection is clear, and that hurts.
I have only ever been able to tell when it was someone I did not want to have a crush on me, someone I was definitely not interested in. If it was a woman I was interested in, or even someone not on my radar but that I probably would’ve seen how things went had I known she was interested in me, I have not figured it out until years later, if ever. My now-wife had to come right out and tell me she was interested. I would not be surprised to find out there were people I’d completely missed hints from decades ago.
Hint all you want, the decent among us will still be terrified of looking creepy. Just tell us!
This feels like "haha men stupid" and I dont like it.
Unfortunately I've very definitely had this problem many times in my life. I really don't like to assume someone's interested in me unless it's far beyond obvious.
The only way a person can definitely know what’s going on in your head is by telling them with your words.
Dad might be anxious though, lol. “I do” usually means informed consent 😂
She's just being polite.
Communication from everyone involved would do wonders!
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