ShaktiSama
Posts: 1674
Joined: 8/13/2007 Status: offline
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A man being "taken" or even significantly unavailable is a huge turn-off, so far as real emotional investment of desire or pursuit is concerned--at least for some of us. I even smell another woman in a man's life, I am likely to write him off as a romantic or sexual prospect; he has to be outrageous desirable to overcome that hurdle. I have no specific desire to impoverish the lives of other women by "stealing" men; my ego does not get any boost from defeating a rival in competition per se. In general I prefer to treat others as I would like to be treated myself, and poaching men casually is right out. There are two aspects of a man being "taken" however, which make me more likely to talk to him. Number one, the fact that he is in a relationship with a woman--any woman--tends to indicate that he is not a hideously misogynistic psychopath ranging in intensity from Bill Mahr to Ed Gein. If he can have a positive relationship with his mistress, girlfriend or wife, perhaps he does not have "issues" with women in general and may be someone you can talk to without immediately wishing you had a death ray. Number two: a man being taken can be somewhat liberating, if you tend to be a positive person in general. When someone is "taken", it makes it easier to express positive thoughts or affirmation toward them without worrying about whether your words will automatically be taken it as a sexual overture, rather than being interpreted at face value as a well-meant compliment. When speaking to a single man, women tend to be a lot more careful about saying anything positive, lest they be required to "back it up" with proof of romantic or sexual intent. On the other hand, when a man is "taken", she may feel she can give him an affirmation like "You have pretty hair" without worrying that he will immediately cast himself at her feet shrieking "YOU SAID SOMETHING NICE ABOUT ME THAT MEANS YOU WANT TO DO ME!!! DO ME DO ME DO ME NOW!!!" Just speaking from my own point of view. YMMV--I'm sure some women DO enjoy wrecking other people's relationships for its own sake, and get a big ego kick out of being the "other" woman or winning some sort of dysfunctional contest. I just don't happen to be one of them.
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"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -- Robert A. Heinlein
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