Line of Acceptability

Women have a line of acceptability when it comes to dating. It's basically an imaginary level of things they'll put up with. If you excel and go above and beyond their wildest dreams you never have to worry about the line of acceptability, but if you fall below the line, then her interest in dating you falls as well.

Let me define what the line of acceptability really means.

Women have a set of requirements of men in order for them to be date worthy. These requirements are always different and can be anything really. There are slight differences between standards and requirements, for example, a standard is "I can't date someone who is younger than me" which starts out as a general requirement for dating her at all, and a requirement is "I can't stay with a man who has decided not to support my career" which eliminates a current partner that got past the standards.

Women have general requirements of men, whether they really know it or not. If you ask a woman what's really important to her in a relationship (not to start dating someone), she'll start to reveal some requirements. For example, most women have the requirement that you remember her birthday and get her a present, while some women will also have the requirement that you get her a present on an anniversary or valentines day. Some women will have the requirement that she gets to see you every night of the week, and some will be fine with once or twice when it's convenient for both of you. Some women will require you to spend lot's of money on her, some women don't have that requirement.

There are little things that men do that can be a requirement. Some women require a cuddler, some require public displays of affection, some women require a partner call her to ask her about her day.

Why is this important?

These requirements are what define her line. She won't date a guy that falls below her line too many times or on too great a scale. If she wants you to call her every day and you stop doing that, you'll plummet below the line. Here is a really obvious one: a majority of women do not want to date a cheater, so when you cheat, you fall below the line of acceptability.

There are really no ways to know exactly what her requirements are. Most women don't really know what their expectations are until they've been violated (i.e. most women won't talk about how much they love a guy that helps her do the dishes/buys her jewelry/opens her door/tells her he loves her everyday when a relationship is good, but they'll sure complain about it after the relationship is over). Pay attention to when a girl seems thrilled that you've done something for her, and keep in mind to do that again sometime in the future. Also, think about reciprocation: When you're polite to someone, don't you want them to be polite back? When she does something sweet for you, do something sweet right back. When she asks you something personal about you, ask the same question. She wants you to know her favorite color just as much as she wants to know yours.

I don't ever want to say this applies to every woman as there are always exceptions to rules. I feel strongly that this is a common enough behavior to give it out as advice, though, and it certainly couldn't hurt to know the next time you interact with your girlfriend.