(no subject)
"According to Gilmartin, people of all ages, all sexual orientations, and both genders can be love-shy. However, in Gilmartin's opinion, love-shyness causes significantly more of a problem for heterosexual men. Because of gender roles in Western society, it may be possible for women and homosexual men to become involved in intimate relationships without needing to take any initiative, simply by waiting to be approached by a more assertive man. Shy women are just as likely as non-shy women to date, to get married, and to have children. This is not the case for heterosexual men. Love-shy heterosexual men therefore normally fail to initiate any informal social contact with women. They cannot date, marry, or have children, and many of these men never experience any form of intimate sexual contact with others."