Hi ladies and gentlemen,

I have been a long-time lurker, and I “swallowed” the pill over the summer. I’ve read up and down this subreddit, and other resources (such as the Laura Doyle books and other forums) and I understand my own nature and men’s nature to a greater degree. Thank you all for that!!

A little about me (feel free to skip this part): 23, recovering feminist, on the journey to be more feminine. Very little experience with dating/hook-ups (have kissed 4 guys in my life), late bloomer, although now I’m decently attractive (straight teeth, long hair, fit body, clear skin, medium sized boobs/butt). I am a virgin, college graduate, have no baggage, and basically want to dive deep into the dating scene as soon as next month, in order to find someone I could marry (I will be working in a new city).

However, something the nags at me is the concept of shittesting. I understand that it is our nature as women to, consciously or unconsciously, shit-test men we are vetting in order to determine how “strong” their frame is, and if they will be suitable for us.

I am attracted the most to men who are (in order of importance): assertive, ambitious, muscular/taller/stronger than me [I lift weights]: basically, a strong, masculine man.

[Side note: Maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be a lack of men around me who fit these three simple criteria, specially the last one. I don’t want them to be supermodel-fit, but a lot of men are skinny/ skinny fat or just plain old fat, and it’s just not something I am attracted to, specially when I have a nice body that I build up over the years. I hate to sound so vain, but I simply don’t see myself having sex with a guy who doesn’t at least have a little bit of muscle. These men are the most attractive, but may not be ready for a LTR. Additionally, since they are at the top in level of attractiveness, that means that I have more women to compete with, which makes the situation even more difficult, and narrows down my list further.]

I have been working on turning down my masculine nature and not projecting my behavior on what I want in a man. I’ve become more sweet, nice, open, and feminine. This has had extreme success in my platonic interactions with men.

However, when it comes time for men who I am the most attracted to, I almost cannot help it but to shittest them somehow. It’s like an impulse. The most obvious way I shittest is by teasing them in something small (which was my blue pill’s self go-to way of “flirting”). This has almost never worked. I am not sure if it was because I was somehow too harsh or the guys I was shittesting were too weak. I tend to rationalize it as the latter, but then again, I am biased. edited to add: these guys were on the young side (younger than me) so maybe they have yet to learn how to handle shittests and lack that maturity. I haven’t tried them on older guys.

I understand that men do not like to be shittested (criticized, questioned, and so on). But if I don’t shittest, how will I know how strong they are? Is there a middle ground? Am I missing something obvious? If I make it easy for them, lay down my “bitch shield” and just be my sweet, alluring, feminine self from the beginning, it will attract a lot of men. If I don’t shittest any of them, how can I pick the best one? I am most afraid of ending up with a feminized or weak man.

Please let me know if this makes sense. Additionally, any other comments, critiques, or ideas regarding my post will be helpful. I am still learning, so thank you for being patient with me!