scary women

There's been a seismic shift in the dating scene and it's all thanks to the current scare campaign going on in a town near you: the lure of the man drought.

Women are so scared there's a proverbial man drought that they've left all scruples behind and are doing everything and anything in their power to nab a man (or so they think).

And while the men are relishing their opportunity to have the pick of the bunch, it seems not everyone is enjoying this newfound aggressiveness that women have taken on. Add to that the fact there's a bunch of scary types of women running about town, and you've got yourself one confusing battle of the sexes on our hands ...

THE ONE WHO ASKS MEN OUT

Most men say they love it when they get asked out by a woman, but try getting asked out every single week and it's enough to make their skin crawl. "I like to do the chasing," is the common cry of the gents. "My current girlfriend made me chase her for weeks, and after being chased for so long by other girls, it was a refreshing relief to be able to do some of the work for once."

Yet not everyone agrees. Jessica Valenti, editor of the successful Feministing.com website, has railed back over the common belief that men don't like successful women who aren't afraid to take them on a date. "Is masculinity so damn fragile that it can't handle being treated to dinner?" she told the Times Online. "It seems there is no worse dating gaffe than having the nerve to make more money than your significant other - if you're a woman, that is."

THE OVER-ANALYSER

Ever noticed that some women over-analyse every single thing that men do? "Why didn't he call?" "What did he really meant by that text message?" "Does that phone call from his ex while we were at dinner together really means he's still sleeping with her?" Argh! No wonder the poor gents are fed up. It was author Josh Uebergang who once said; "Women over-analyse and try to give meaning to everything men do." And it seems his words echo the sentiment felt by blokes across the planet as they fail to understand why the heck so much goes on inside the head of a woman.

According to Uebergang, it doesn't matter how innocent the action is, women will usually misconstrue it.

"An innocent behaviour from a man gets twisted and morphed by a woman into the most ugliest understanding a sane person could ever conceive. An out-of-the-blue gift from the man to show that he loves her can get interpreted by her as a break up gift."

My personal trainer friend concurs. As a twenty-something part-time DJ who is a proud member of the casual-sex scene, he claims that if he likes you, he'll call you. If you don't return his calls (and decide you're going to "play hard to get"), he's still going to call you again, just to prove he's not into that sort of tosh. And when you don't answer your phone a second time, he's not going to sit for days analysing what went wrong, sob to his friends about the fact you might be missing and still believe you're destined to get married and ride off into the sunset if only you'd answer his calls. Oh no. Instead, he's going to delete your phone number and move on. Presto.

"I stick by my two-call rule," he says. "If she hasn't called me back after me trying twice, I know she's not interested in me, and I move on. It's as simple as that."

THE DRAMA QUEEN

Then there's the drama queen, embodied by my gorgeous friend Kate, where everything about her life is dramatic, theatrical and extraordinary. Men are just not into it. Instead of falling at her feet (she is absolutely gorgeous), it seems they prefer a more low-maintenance kind of gal, and want nothing to do with her crazy world. After all, they know dating a drama queen isn't easy. It's their way or the high-way. It's always about them. Compromise isn't in their vernacular. And they are always right ...

THE FUNNY WOMAN

Then there's the gal who can make a crowd of punters laugh. According to an article in the Independent on Sunday in the UK, research reported in the scientific journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, recently revealed that funny women are a turn-off for men. Apparently the blokes think they should be the ones telling the jokes and while the survey did find that they like women to be appreciative of their attempts at humour, a "witty" female partner wasn't on their dating shopping list.

THE MAN-HATER

Finally, there's the woman who hates all men. She's the one who's been dumped by a cad, cheated on by her long-term beau or hit on by her very married male boss. She abhors blokes, tries to catch them out when they are genuinely being friendly, and prefers to bitch about men with her feminist group than prowl the town in search of one. If she does happen to find one that might tick all her boxes? It's wham, bam, thank you man; her way of dating and leaving them quicker than they can ask for a second date and her Facebook address. And the reason men don't like her? She dates just like a man ...