Girls.

[Craig Jessop]

Why are they so confusing sometimes? What's with all the mixed signals?

And that's all I have to say.

[NerdGirl]

They like you, but they don't want to be too committal before they figure out whether you're a werewolf or a vampire.

[Rifka]

Why are they so confusing sometimes? What's with all the mixed signals?

And that's all I have to say.

Because they're confused.

[Imogen]

or it could be because they're nervous. when i really like a guy i waver between flirting and not flirting because i get scared.

[NerdGirl]

Sometimes the problem is that they like you, but then their roommates and the book about how to get a man that someone bought them for Christmas tell them that men don't like girls who show interest so they stop acting interested, but then you stop acting interested because you so they act interested again, then their roommate notices and tells them they'll never get a second date if they do that, and it's a just a never ending spiral of badness.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Sometimes girls are idiots. That is all.

[Cindy]

Or they think you're securely enough in the just-friends zone that they can do things like call you up when they're bored, but then you start showing romantic interest, they realize that they may have been sending the wrong signal, and so they pull back. But they still want to be friends, so they may not pull back enough for the signal to be clear. (Sorry to the guy I just did this to. I really thought the just-friends thing was mutual. And I am kind of an idiot about relationship-type things.)

[Emiliana]

Or possibly she's afraid you're going to turn out like the last *()&^%* who broke her heart.

[Wisteria]

Also, most girls have an emotional range larger than that of a tablespoon. And their emotions are not in play in a vacuum. There are a gazillion things happening to everyone every day and we subconsciously let a lot of those things affect how we feel and how we act, and we usually reflect that to other people, who may then get confused.

[Marduk]

Or maybe it is just a societally perpetuated gender construct that makes women feel as though they cannot be assertive and direct about how they feel, and must always express themselves with subtle hints at best lest anyone think them disagreeable?

[Digit]

Marduk, what you just said regarding societal conditioning reminded me of what Malcolm Gladwell shared regarding South Korean copilots in Outliers.

[Emiliana]

It's not all about gender, though. Everything Wisteria said about the complexity of emotion applies equally well to men, and believe me when I say I've gotten mixed signals from my fair share of men.

[Wisteria]

Yes. What Emiliana said.

[Marduk]

Bah. That can't be true. I've never gotten a mixed signal from a man.

[Sky Bones]

Haha. Marduk, you've probably just been living in Utah too long.

[Marduk]

Whatever. It is probably that no boy thinks I'm cute enough.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I don't want boys to think you're cute enough.

[Wisteria]

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook:
"I used to think it would be uncomfortable to have a lesbian find me attractive. But now I think that it would be much more uncomfortable to have a cannibal, malre or female, find me attractive"

[Marduk]

So, following this theory, lesbian cannibals are the worst conceivable.

[Wisteria]

At least for a female.