I talked about this in a previous post, but I feel that I didn’t go into too much detail about WHAT to buy her.  Here is a list that I came up with:

Roses

               This is the probably the most common and easiest to decide on for most men.  However, roses can also be one of the most expensive gifts if you buy them regularly.  I would save these for special occasions like Valentines Day.

Flowers

               Instead of spending a ton of money on roses, you can always surprise her with something out of the ordinary.  When not shopping for roses, you can find other flowers in the same store for a lot less than you would have spent.

Jewelry

               This should be an entire post on its own (and it probably will be).  For now I would just like to give you a few pointers.  When shopping for jewelry for a woman, you have to have a price in mind.  Jewelry stores know that men don’t know a whole lot about the stuff and they take full advantage of it.  They even advertise directly to you on a regular basis.  The reps you speak with when shopping around will even have, “something in mind,” when you are looking for the first time.  Most of the time, they will talk you into buying that something. 

               Your best bet is to have something in mind before you go out to the stores.  Find out her favorite color.  See if she has a preference in jewelry already- necklaces, rings, etc…

There you have it, three things that you can buy for her with either a little or a lot of money. 

When is the Right Time to buy something for Someone You are Dating?

The best time to buys something for someone you have been dating depends on how serious the relationship is.  If you have been dating for 2 weeks and feel you are really getting to know her, you can take her out to lunch, but don’t go over board yet.  After a month, most women realize they have been with you this long and believe it is special.  Buying her flowers is not out of line with where you are at now and she would definitely like them.

When is the Wrong time to Buy her something?

If you just met her and want to get her something, I would wait.  Unless you left a lasting impression and have a surefire way of giving her flowers or having them delivered, most women will think you are a little to close to soon.  It all comes down to knowing if and when she knows you and likes you.  When you know this, just follow your gut instinct and you cannot go wrong.

When should I Buy for Someone I have been with for a Long time?

All to often we forget to buy gifts for someone we have been dating because we feel that the, “probationary,” period is over.  Most women feel neglected when they see their friend with a new boy friend giving her flowers every month.  You don’t have to go over board, but you can at least show you care every once and awhile- buy her lunch, give her a rose, make her dinner.

If you read popular sites that are targeted towards the male gender, then you of course know why I am writing this.  All too often you have some guy who has to question your manliness by either critiquing your sexuality or how appealing women see you.  Don’t buy into it. 

Be yourself and let that be enough.  If you have to prove to a woman that you are good for her by flaunting what you own in her face, then you will only attract shallow women.  Every heard of, “becoming what you want to attract?”  That’s right, if you act shallow, you will find shallow women.  But if you express yourself genuinely, you could find your soul mate. 

Questioning you “manliness” will get you nowhere if you think about it.  You will soon find yourself super critical of everything you do, and women don’t generally like guys who act that way.  As for the people that keep asking you to question yourself, just stop listening to them.  After all, they are only trying to make other people mimic their life to make what they do seem like the norm. 

Have you ever been speaking with a woman and felt like she wasn’t listening or interested in you?  Is this what usually happens with you when speaking with women?  Don’t worry, you’re not the only guy who has this problem.  Today I’d like to share with you a tip that will make a world of difference in your communication with not only women, but everyone you come into contact with.

The tip I am talking about is called, “Matching and Mirroring.”  Even though you may have never heard of such a concept, it will change your life starting today.

Matching and Mirroring is actually a very easy to understand concept and skill to learn.  In fact, you could even start practicing it when you finish reading this post.  When you Match and Mirror with another person, all you are doing is mimicking their unconscious physical actions.  That is to say, that you are observing their gestures, movements, etc… and recreating them with your own body.  Now I’m not sure if you know what rapport is, but if you practice this technique enough, you can even get someone’s attention from across a room with it.

However, there are somethings to beware of- Dun, Dun, Dun…  People don’t like to see someone mimicking them.  If you have had someone do it to you, it may create situations of: awkwardness, shyness, embarrassment, etc…  You must get the point by now.  These unconscious things that people do are, as we stated, unconscious.  When someone makes you aware that you are touching your nose ever so often, you will think that person is judging you or just plain making fun of you.  So in order to have this technique work for you, you have to be able be subtle.  The best possible way that I know to do this, is to forget that you are doing it.  Learn to build rapport with others through Matching and Mirroring with practice.  As with any thing else you practice enough, it will become second nature to you after awhile and you will soon forget that you are doing it.

Or should I say, do real men take anything from Askmen.com with a grain of salt.  I read the article at Askmen.com today about whether, “real men,” own cats and can’t believe that the editors let this stuff pass for quality content.  As you can see, this was either a writer’s loss for words, or just a stunt to attract a little traffic.

Do women really care what kind of animals you own? – I think not.  If you are going to base something like owning a cat off an entire relationship, then maybe you should reassess yourself.  “Real women,” not the artificial type, don’t care much about what a man owns, but who he is.  It might sound cliché, but it is true.  A woman who considers having a relationship with you doesn’t need the money, cars, house, etc…  Many think it is nice, but in the end, they will judge you for who you really are. 

Stop reading what, “real men do,” and start doing what you know is right.  If you stop and think about it, what is a real man?  Is he a guy that owns a dog, sleeps with a ton of women, etc…?  Or is he something more?  A “real man” if there is such a thing, is someone who doesn’t have to define himself by trends or popular opinion.  He is strong willed, passionate, and knows how to treat women.  Perhaps Askmen.com was asking the wrong question.   And then again, maybe they just didn’t even attempt to answer it…

Regardless of what research comes about, I still believe that women do talk more than men on average. Yes it is an average which does not make it true for everyone, but true for most. Just in my experience I have noticed on many occasions that women love to talk more than men in almost every type of environment. Whether it be work, bars, or other social gatherings; women are always leading most of the conversation.

You be the judge:

Study: Men Talk Just as Much as Women

Women talk three times as much as men, says study

As in any experiment, there is always error. Perhaps the fact that they chose college students in the first experiment causes different results than in the other study. Whatever the case, we will always see whatever we want to see in any experiment of this nature. As stated in the first article:

“We use our gender magnifying glass and over-generalize from that,” Mehl says. “Instead of saying that men tend to talk less and women tend to talk more, we say ‘Women always talk and men never talk.’”

However, I largely disagree with this quote from the same article:

“It puts men into the gender box, that in order to be a good male, we’d better not talk — (that) silence is golden,” Mehl says. “The stereotype puts unfortunate constraints on men and women – the idea that you can only happily be a woman if you’re talkative and you can only be happy as a man if you’re reticent. The study relieves those gender constraints.”

I was never told by my parents or even aware that women talked more until I started interacting with them on a regular basis. This paragraph seems to be taking the results and making its own conclusions.

Every year, we men see a flood of jewelry commercials on TV and we know that it is either Christmas or Valentine’s Day that is closing in us like a vulture. As that looming buzzard circles overhead we get in our car and drive to the local mall in search of a gift for our Valentine.

Do you need a few quick tips before you take that trip this year? If so, then read on.

The first thing you should realize is whether or not the woman you are buying for wants something specific. Some women love jewelry. They will either tell you this directly, or give you hints. But don’t worry, you don’t need the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes to figure them out- just be perceptive. If you see a few jewelry ads that were left open on the kitchen counter, but somehow didn’t find their way to the trash, then that is a clue. Other times, while we forget to listen, women will actually tell us what they want.

Other women just like surprises. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to difficult. You’ve been on dates before, so it really isn’t too much more difficult then planning one. If you can’t remember it very well, then let me give you a quick recap. Plan something like a dinner at a fancy or somewhat fancy restaurant (somewhere special). If you don’t have the cash to spare, then make dinner for her. You would be surprised how much a woman will love you making dinner.

Next, you might want to get her something. Instead of getting something that you can give to just any woman, find something specifically tailor to her- This ties in again with that darn listening thing that all of us could do a bit more of.

Lastly, flowers are always a good touch for this day. You don’t have to go overboard either. Sometimes one rose even do the trick. Just remember that presentation is everything…

Here is an interesting question on something that every man wants to know. Do chick flicks give a man anything? The answer, strangely enough is Yes.

Have you ever wondered why these movies are called “chick flicks”? Whether or not you have actually pondered such a compelling question is only for you to keep secret, but whatever the case, let me enlighten you. The term chick flick originated in the 1980’s but has evolved since then into something entirely different. Today’s chick flicks revolve around romantic themes and are often patterned around themes from fairy tales. So you might have guessed right away that the reason most women watch these films is because they seek a feeling of childhood nostalgia once found in these tales.

This leads us to our next observation of these films. As in the fairy tales, the film will star a male role that is seen as the “prince”.

If we dissect these characters from the fairy tales we can determine what women really want:

• Dashingly good looks

This consists of medium length feathery hair and a clean shaven face.

• Men that carry around swords everywhere in case a fight presents itself

This man doesn’t even need to say that he is a protector, he projects this everywhere he goes.

• Puffy pirate like clothing

The prince is always dressed in something trendy for the time.

This might seem funny to some, but don’t let it be, this is as serious as Fifth grade long division. No, not really, but something to keep in mind is that women are not looking for a rich extravagant man. Rather they are looking for someone who knows himself, and also knows how to treat a woman. By knowing yourself, you have goals, dreams, and are aware of who you are and where you came from. Knowing how to treat a woman, are you kidding me, that’s why you come to this site.

So here we are again, looking for a woman. It seems like the bar we tried last time didn’t work out so well, so you might as well go to that party with some friends and might just find someone there.

The nice thing about parties is that you already know a few people there and if not, they should all usually be within your age range. As far as atmosphere goes, I think house parties or just parties in general are a bit more relaxed then the local bar. Also if you’ve already been in the house before, then you’ll probably be used to the environment and should not feel out of place.

Back to looking for that woman… First off, this article is for the most part, going to deal with sparking a conversation with a woman. This might be quite easy for some guys, but for the rest of us, we don’t even know where to start.

You notice the girl in the corner, talking to a few friends, and she darts a glance over at you. She seems interested, but you have to make the first move- you have to start a conversation. But what do you say?

Well here are a few approaches:

A Friend

If you notice that a friend is nearby, you could walk over and start talking to that friend. This at least gets you within a few feet of her, and now you can easily lean over and say something. As opposed to making eye contact and walking directly towards her.

Clothing or Accessory

This might sound somewhat strange, but you can always start a conversation if you notice something unique that she is wearing. If you do this though, it is best to sound original or at least funny with your comment. Otherwise, just saying something general such as, “Nice striped shirt,” sounds a bit odd and might not even get her attention.

Some Connection

This is always a good approach if you don’t have anything else to say or are just drawing a blank. Basically all you do is walk over to her and act as though you know her from somewhere. Perhaps you do, and then again, maybe you don’t. The fact of the matter is that you are just trying to make conversation. Here is an example of this approach:

“Hey, aren’t you Jean’s friend- The one who works with her?”
You ask.

“Umm, No…”
She replies.

And so you reply, “Oh, well I’m _____. I’m just here with a few friends. What was your name again?”

And she will probably tell you her name. That is unless you do something creepy… But notice how you don’t just have to take “No” to end the conversation. You can immediately reply with your name and ask hers afterward. Then all you have to do is say something at least marginally interesting and you have yourself the start of a conversation.

You might find it funny how many women consider certain men acquaintances, “stalkers”.So in your efforts to avoid becoming the guy in the shower with a large knife, here are a few tips and tricks to becoming less creepy to our female counterparts:

Don’t be clingy.  It might be difficult if you really like a woman to avoid calling her every waking moment, but most women consider this a bit too much.  I have seen this destroy a relationship before it every gets started.  So before you pick up the phone again, try something to show her that you care…  Roses never hurt.

Don’t be jealous.  St. Augustine once said, “He that is not jealous is not in love,” but women in general see jealousy as a turn off.  If you just started dating a woman, and she is still interested in other men, then maybe you should do try a different approach.  That is to say, if you are going on a date every now and again, try doing something out of the ordinary to let her know that you really care.  Before you go on a testosterone driven rampage after the other guy, try to figure out what she is getting from him, that you don’t have or aren’t doing.

Don’t hide in bushes, or dark alley ways.  The best way to get that label again is to fit the part.  If you want a woman to think you are not a stalker, then you might want to avoid dark places where you can observe or grab any passerby.

Be yourself.  There is nothing more endearing then a man who can always be himself in any situation.  If you start off a relationship with the previous traits, why shouldn’t this woman expect the same from you in the future?  You may just be trying to show that you care, but maybe you are trying a bit too hard.