There is an endless yearning in the heart of guys all over the world to recognize what goes on in a woman’s mind, and to understand how to deal with them properly.

The average guy does not know when a woman likes him, is clueless on the signs to look out for when a woman wants sex etc. Men want women to relate with them the way they know – open communication and expressly stating what you want.

There is an exasperation that many men are familiar with: why can’t women just say what they want instead of dropping hints? There is also the female issue of saying something and meaning the exact opposite. Guys keep asking why women just express themselves clearly instead of playing these games.

For men, when you ask for a date, a relationship or sex, you save everyone the stress and chase. Left to men, that is how it’s gonna be. That’s how it should always be. Because this is how men are wired. How they have been socialized. You like a woman, go and ask her clearly and without any ambiguity.

On the other hand, women seem more interested in doing the opposite, especially when they are into a guy and either want him to notice them, date them or take them to bed. And this is the conflict point.

For a long time, it was actually once believed that women are meaner to men they like. It was also once a thing [it probably still is] that women would intentionally ignore a guy as much as they can, yet hope that he will somehow get the hint that they like him. [From a revelation in his dream, maybe.]

ALSO READ: What to do when the person you love likes another person

It is even still a running joke that a girl could look at you for the tiniest fraction of a second and somehow think that you would feel the attraction in that look and come ask her out on a date.

More realistically, it is more likely that if a girl sees a guy and likes him, she will stare at him repeatedly and ensures that he notices. That’s the hint. And she would expect that he should get it.

While this actually works sometimes, some other times, it does not. And this is because hints are usually inconclusive, too vague, and leaves a lot of uncertainties.

A drawn-out stare may not be enough to bring him in because, hey… it’s just a stare! No big deal there. People stare at others for special reason all the time.

Also in this age of constant education on sexual predatory habits and assaults and consent and rape, guys have more reasons to thread softly and not act of perceived hints.

Many men are of course, just really truly clueless on how to catch these hints. And maybe that is just fine, especially as we are educating people – men and women - to be more open about what they want so as to cut out all forms of guess work and problems that arise from thinking that someone likes you.

We are in the age of women firing shots of intent. It’s 2019, ladies, hints no longer have a place in this romantic climate.

Y’all need to keep up.