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.
Quadruple the caution if it's a coworker. Hello HR violation.
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
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...
I told a girl who told me she likes me that she is bluffing... 🤦♂️
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.
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.
Fun story: this guy I know on my gaming Facebook group would complain about being single. This was an older men's group/dad group. He'd repeat whatever the manosphere would say and ask for validation, and we (usually married dudes) usually say things like, "Yeah man dating is hard" and "women give mix signals".
Finally, mods called out how his last 10+ posts were complaining and his shitty attitude is just sucking the energy out of the group. They warned him that if he kept it up, they'd ban him from the group until he fixed his behavior.
Fast forward to today - he's telling us about his new girlfriend he met on NYE and how they had a amazing valentines. He shared how after that post, he took a long look at himself and stopped sabotaging himself.
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.)
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.
I feel seen. Been with my partner for over 10 years and I feel the same way as the dad in this text exchange.
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.
It's putting all responsibility on others. Like, honey, use your words. Communicate. Don't expect people to read your mind. If you set the expectation that you want people to guess how you're feeling, then you'll have to deal with the fallout of some wrong guesses. It's easier to just make yourself clear.
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 😂
You've obviously never been married
I tell my husband I love him 18000 times a day, and incessantly compliment him. Been there for thick and thin. I definately compliment him wayyy more than he compliments me.
"if they didnt want to be there they wouldnt be"
how the hell do you stay in a realtionship, married for that matter, if you dont know your partner likes you?
She's just being polite.
Communication from everyone involved would do wonders!
Women are like cats. They rub on you, climb on you, try to be near you, sigh when they're next to you, and we're like "I think she's just being friendly". Also, I just told on myself that I don't have a girlfriend because I compared women to cats...
Y'know I'm glad I am aromantic, emotionally insular, and paranoid as fuck. Makes my dumbass not even have to factor this shit together, was she flirting with me quickly turns into I don't care. Though I will say having sex would probably be nice, but I'm also hypersexual and autistic so it's almost guaranteed id probably fuck it up and go too far.
General rules:
Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the mods.
