Dating criteria

It's interesting that Sass's list, which is right now praised, is a very good list for finding a man, but I think that there are differences when looking for a woman. It's not that any of those don't matter, but priorities do change, because men and women really are different.

Of course, I could just be a right sexist prick, so who knows.

For example, "intelligence" is an obvious one, but it's not the most important one. Because I want a girlfriend and a companion, not a study buddy. Of course, being a complete idiot would be a deal breaker, but as long as she shows a healthy interest in something intellectual that might be brought up, I don't care how large her knowledge base currently is. (On the flipside, I do admit that if a girl is much smarter than me, I love it, so this isn't me assuming that I'm a regular Einstein).

However, one of the top qualities is definitely kindness. I mean it. If a girl tells me that she "hates kids" or "hates animals", she is basically a bitch I want nothing to do with. Mind, if she says, "Kids aren't for me," or even "I don't do that well with children", that's another story. But some woman who goes, "God, I hate kids!" is really, truly a negative. This quality also shows my sexism, I guess. While I think everyone should show courtesy, I tend to ignore if men are a little cold. But women I think should be legitimately warm and friendly.

However, most of all, a kind of ability... hmm, let's call this, "adaptability", is probably up there. I mean this to cover motivation and appearance. I mean a woman (and a man, for that matter) has to have an ability to deal with situations life throws at them. A girl who is willing to work (unless held back for a good reason), go to school, keep herself moderately fit (not a gym body, but not unchecked obesity), and can comb her hair in the morning.

For the record, that is what appearance is for me. Not natural beauty, which is nice but hardly expected. But so much of what we perceive as "hot" is created, not natural; I don't mind if the girl has no style, of course, but I want her to have legitimate hygiene and the ability to keep herself "clean cut".

...I don't think I'm too picky... am I?

Originally Posted by Hydra

One thing I'm noticing is that a *lot* of the guys here listed something to the effect of "she has to be smart enough to converse with me".

Is it really so unusual as to need stating that a girl be smart enough to talk to you?

Yes, but it's not limited to females. They usually mean (if I may assume) that a girl has to be interested in more than what society wants them to be interested (i.e. shoes). I'm guessing that when girls say that guys should be in touch with their emotions they mean the same thing.

Jam it back in, in the dark.