Now happily married for seven years, Andy, a handsome man in his late 30s, recalls many dates from his single days that were simply disappointing. "The best thing about having a date was looking forward to it, rarely did the date itself live up to the anticipation." He was in search of an equal partnership and a companion, as well as someone he could talk to comfortably — all in a sexy package. Andy was surprised that so many women never offered to share the check — even after a few dates. He also remembers the frustration of lengthy make-out sessions that never led to consummation. Andy admits that these pet peeves were more pronounced when he really wasn't that interested in a woman. What he liked about his wife when they first met was that she openly shared her opinions and didn't hide the fact that she was attracted to him. "I could tell that she was interested in me right away — no games. She gave me her phone number and kissed me good night. Things moved very quickly after that!"

A pet peeve shared by many men was raised by Mark, a freelance writer and online producer in his late 20s. "I take major issue with women who claim to want nice guys but who are still drawn to bad boys who might hurt them." As one of the nice guys, Mark survived an adolescence filled with self-doubt about whether women were even interested in anything more than friendship. A short stint as a high school teacher convinced Mark that many teenage girls suffer from the "bad boy" complex. When he later dated a reformed bad boy-lover, he learned that she had even less tolerance than he did for women who kept "running with the wolves." In his opinion, women who are still dealing with this complex entering their 20s and 30s seem "almost pathetically immature."