You have to know when to put your foot down, and when to back off and listen to her. And she judges you on your ability to figure out what sort of response is appropriate.
This at times can lead to a somewhat ironic situation. One must at times submit to acting accordance to a model of what will appear dominant to her. Doing that which is labelled ‘independent’, ‘have a strong personality’ and ‘know what you want’ sometimes means doing what could be considered approximately the opposite of the literal interpretations of those words. It’s a case where doing what she wants even if you don’t want to is what is needed to not be considered supplicating and ‘nice’ when usually the reverse is true.
(Of course it is usually not worth making the above observation—exceptions in and ironic implications of fundamental rules tends to just confuse people.)
I’ve noticed that irony myself. If a guy takes charge in way that he isn’t terribly enthusiastic about, because the woman wants him to take charge so she can judge him on his ability to do so… who is really in charge?
This at times can lead to a somewhat ironic situation. One must at times submit to acting accordance to a model of what will appear dominant to her. Doing that which is labelled ‘independent’, ‘have a strong personality’ and ‘know what you want’ sometimes means doing what could be considered approximately the opposite of the literal interpretations of those words. It’s a case where doing what she wants even if you don’t want to is what is needed to not be considered supplicating and ‘nice’ when usually the reverse is true.
(Of course it is usually not worth making the above observation—exceptions in and ironic implications of fundamental rules tends to just confuse people.)
I’ve noticed that irony myself. If a guy takes charge in way that he isn’t terribly enthusiastic about, because the woman wants him to take charge so she can judge him on his ability to do so… who is really in charge?