When a woman’s trying to catch a man’s attention, she might do some things that she believes are flirting habits, but for a guy, they just make her seem very unappealing.
The helpless act
Genuinely needing help is one thing. Pretending that you’re physically incapable of doing something because there’s a cute guy nearby is something else entirely. Yes, some women are under the impression that acting clueless makes them attractive because it’ll make a man feel like their hero.Â
They’ll try asking him to explain ridiculously simple things or act completely amazed when he solves a normal problem, like it’s a huge achievement. But it doesn’t make her look attractive. The truth is, men care about women being intelligent. They’re not attracted to women who act like they don’t have a brain and are unable to do basic things.
The chase that never ends
Playing hard to get is something that practically every dating handbook suggests makes you irresistible, as making a man chase you will make him think you’re worth the effort. That’s why a few women will wait three hours to reply to a text when they’ve been looking at their phone the whole time.
But it doesn’t usually work like that. In fact, some research has shown that playing hard to get could actually make someone like the other person less, and that’s not exactly what you want happening.
The princess treatment
Everyone is entitled to have standards, and guys understand that. But there comes a point where a woman pretending to be a princess gets exhausting. This kind of routine involves a woman expecting a man to pay for everything and meet her other demands.
She thinks it makes her look like a woman who knows her worth, so she seems more attractive. Yet most men aren’t looking for that. No, they want a partner who’s agreeable and emotionally stable, not someone who’s constantly demanding stuff.
The perfect pout
Duck-face selfies have managed to hang around for quite some time. You know the kind of pose, it’s the one where someone pushes their lips forward and sucks in their cheeks a little. A few women do it to make their lips look fuller and look a little flirty.
That might be true, but there’s an association that most men make with this kind of expression. They think it makes a woman seem superficial or kind of ditzy. In other words, the exact opposite of the kind of woman most men are attracted to.
The bigger-is-better approach
Speaking of lips, full lips have been such a popular beauty feature that some women will continue to add as much filler as they can. They believe that the extra volume makes them seem more glamorous. But there’s a limit.
Too much lip filler can make a woman’s lips seem way too exaggerated, and that can cause a man to find a woman far less attractive. There’s nothing wrong with a little enhancement, as long as you don’t go overboard.
The tiny dinner order
There are some women who, when they go out for a date, will order the smallest amount of food possible. They do so only because they’re worried about looking unattractive while eating. It might sound ridiculous, but it’s true.Â
They’ll starve themselves and eat a few lettuce leaves so they can make a good impression. Most guys, however, would rather a woman be honest about how much she wants to eat. Genuineness is far more attractive than pretending to be something you’re not, after all.
The innocent little act
Pretending like you’ve never had an adult conversation before sure is weird, but there are actually some women who use it as a flirting technique. They’ll try to seem almost childlike by laughing nervously at perfectly ordinary jokes and acting embarrassed by harmless comments.
Their goal is to seem sweet and like someone that a man wants to protect. That sort of behavior might work on some men, but for the majority of them, it’s not attractive when you have to keep dealing with a person like that.
Putting other women down
One of the strangest beliefs is the one that says making another woman look bad will make you look better. It doesn’t work like that. Still, a woman might criticize another woman’s makeup and laugh at her outfit, just to lift herself up. She’s hoping she’ll seem more attractive by comparison.
Yet the guy would probably have been perfectly happy talking to her before she came out with all those insults. Chances are, he enjoyed her company before she created that kind of competition.
The mean-girl flirting routine
Being mean doesn’t work with guys, either, yet some women keep trying it. She’ll joke about a man’s haircut and make fun of his hobbies, as though insulting him will make her seem like a confident woman. She might think she’s creating a sense of playful back-and-forth, too.
But all she’s really doing is making a guy feel uncomfortable, simple as that. Being teased in that way is only going to make you feel more negative about the other person. Nobody wants to feel like that on a date.
The woman of mystery
Try asking some women what they did yesterday, and they might respond with something like, ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ They’ll also act like sharing where they grew up is some huge secret. Women who do this are usually trying to seem more mysterious, so men become desperate to learn more about them.
True, it can create a little curiosity at first, yet overdoing it can make a normal conversation far more difficult than it should be. Men want to get to know their date. They’re going to feel more frustrated than fascinated when they have to constantly decode a conversation.
The constant hair flip
For years, flipping your hair over your shoulder has been seen as a typical flirting move. It’s one of the main reasons a few women will make a point of doing it whenever they see an attractive man looking at them.
It’s not really an issue when it happens once or even twice. Doing it every thirty seconds, though, that’s something else, as it becomes rather distracting. The twentieth hair flip comes across as pretty annoying during a conversation.
The heartbreaker reputation
It’s natural to want to advertise your popularity to someone you’re interested in. So, some women will bring up the guys who are apparently obsessed with them and the sheer number of guys they’ve rejected. They’ll mention how devastated their exes were after a breakup.
They’re trying to make the new man feel like he’s competing for someone very desirable. Except that’s not what happens. No, he just starts wondering whether he’s about to become the next unfortunate story, and all that boasting makes a date feel like a competition.
The traditional-wife performance
There’s apparently one way to win a man’s heart, and it comes from showing off how you’re the perfect wife. Tradwife influencers tell women to spend hours making bread and then let men know they’ve done it. Presenting yourself as the perfect old-fashioned wife is meant to make you seem irresistible.
Men love devotion and domesticity. At least, that’s what these influencers preach, although the reality is that most men aren’t looking for a 1950s-style marriage. They’re not attracted to women who seem to be in a constant performance. It just seems like too much.
Becoming one of the guys
Some women genuinely are one of the guys, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. The issue comes when a woman is trying her hardest to seem like one of the guys, when really, she’s not. These kinds of women will talk about how much they hate femininity.
They’ll claim to love typically masculine things like football, and do whatever they can to seem like the opposite of an average girlfriend. Yet the guy would probably like having someone with different interests. He’d rather women be honest about their opinions, really.
The exaggerated feminine persona
The same goes for women who try to seem more feminine than they actually are. They’ll play up their feminine side because they think it’ll make a man feel masculine and protective. That way, the man will find them more attractive.
This kind of exaggerated performance isn’t exactly what most men have in mind when it comes to dating. They want to be with a woman who feels like an actual women, not a caricature of a woman trying to seem more feminine. That’s not attractive.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
11 behaviors women think are flirty but men see as desperate
While flirting is supposed to be fun, there are some things women do to get a man’s attention that make them look like they’re trying way too hard.
11 behaviors women think are flirty but men see as desperate
