Do men prefer to say I love you

or do they prefer to have it said to them?

From your own personal experience/observations, what have you gathered?

Posted by dreamer23
Ive never purposely withheld it, but now that I am thinking about it, I wouldnt do it first. Unlike asking a man out, making a move on him, or even proposing, there's no action-based response to the first —I love you.?? It's all words, it's all emotion. In that moment, he either loves you back or he doesn't — you only hear the black or white of a —yes?? or —no,?? not the gray of —Well, I like you a whole lot and I could see myself falling in love with you, but I'm just not quite there yet.?? And the truth is, it often takes men longer to get there than it does for women. Men process their emotions more slowly; they??re usually more cautious about taking their feelings and relationships to the next level. So what happens if you get there first and you say it and he's not there yet? What happens when your —I love you?? is met with a —thank you,?? or worse, a deer-in-headlights look? Well, it stings, sure, but more than that, it can stop a perfectly happy and healthy relationship in its tracks before it's even too far from the station.

Wow, this is some of the best and most reasonable advice I've heard on these boards.
Thank you.

I've had guys voluntarily tell me that they have "love for me" or are "falling for me" 1st, & even though I could sometimes tell that they wanted to just come right out & said "F it, I love you," I could always sense some hesistation. In my experiences, most of the guys would rather hint around to it & then let you be the 1st to officially say it 1st. Then once I finally said it 1st, they'd have no problem saying it back to me; hell they'd even tell me later on down the road that they had wanted to say it much earlier but were too shy or afraid of going 1st. Smh

I would prefer it if a man would say he loves me w/o ACTUALLY saying it. Love is a term that is "tossed around" these days and it makes me wonder if anyone REALLY know what love is/means and more importantly does anyone really know what it means to love somebody?

Posted by dreamer23

Posted by DazedScorp
Idk, my ex said she would never tell a man she loved him before he did, yet she told me. If I've been with a women long enough to the point where she tells me she loves me, I'm not running away. But of course I might be the only male who's looking for a loving committed relationship.

Although, I've had a women tell me she loved me just to string me along. She knew if I didn't feel the emotions, I wouldn't keep fucking her. Never thought men could be strung along just for sex. Learned my lesson.

Thats just it. Most men are not like you. And one must be sure they have one like you before they go all in like that. :-) In my opinion of course.

click to expand

We're not as rare as you may think. We're cautious too.

Mmm I know exactly what it means to love. But I will not say 'I love you' unless I mean it. And the same should go the other direction. If I feel it though, I'll say it, and proudly. Never have been a huge believer in holding back. Scary? Yep. On both sides. It's about bottom line trust that someone isn't going to stomp your ass into the ground.