If we're speaking in terms of the generic "high maintenance" definition (like being a princess or whatever) then I don't really consider myself high maintenance. I don't require a lot of attention, I cut my own hair, normally don't bother with make-up. However, I am high maintenance when it comes to food and health stuff. I have a guy friend who jokes with me that I'm a "prissy little *****" because there are certain foods I won't eat and I'll leave the room if someone is smoking. Stuff like that I guess I'm pretty adamant about.

Or maybe that's just being picky. I don't know. I guess the definition of high maintenance is subjective, especially based on the different responses I've seen here.

Two questions to kick off this thread.

1. Guys-what are your thoughts on high maintenance women? Do you want them around?

2. Ladies-Do you consider yourself high maintenance? Why or why not?

Why does this topic have to only be about women? Can't men be high maintenance too? Isn't that part of how the word 'metrosexual' came into being?

i always thought of high maintenance women as the ones that need to special order food at a restaurant. you know, they want the dish on the menu but then need to make a million changes to it.....

they take FORever to get ready. and have no problem keeping you waiting to do so......

they live in a land of entitlement.


i have never thought of myself as high maintenance.

i do wear make up, every day. but, i only take about 5 min to get ready. i do get my hair done about every 8 weeks, but it's naturally curly and i let it air dry at home. i get manicures and pedicures. not weekly or anything, but often enough. i get monthly massages. i dress very casually almost all of the time. i try to buy organic food, but i also grow my own and raise chickens/ ducks for eggs..... i love to travel and go on vacation, but i don't care if it's to a 5 star resort or a campground. really is the same to me.........

so, hmmmmm. yeah, i still don't think i'm high maintenance, LOL!!!

i always thought of high maintenance women as the ones that need to special order food at a restaurant. you know, they want the dish on the menu but then need to make a million changes to it.....

they take FORever to get ready. and have no problem keeping you waiting to do so......

they live in a land of entitlement.


i have never thought of myself as high maintenance.

i do wear make up, every day. but, i only take about 5 min to get ready. i do get my hair done about every 8 weeks, but it's naturally curly and i let it air dry at home. i get manicures and pedicures. not weekly or anything, but often enough. i get monthly massages. i dress very casually almost all of the time. i try to buy organic food, but i also grow my own and raise chickens/ ducks for eggs..... i love to travel and go on vacation, but i don't care if it's to a 5 star resort or a campground. really is the same to me.........

so, hmmmmm. yeah, i still don't think i'm high maintenance, LOL!!!

I agree with your definition and your not high maintenance but you know that...

As for me.. nope, not at all. I have to be forced to shop... hate it. I don't really care about my hair being perfect but I don't go out looking unkempt either. So... I'm "natural", if that makes sense.

I'm not really emotionally high-maintenance either. I guess I don't take much effort to be around. LOL

I do love getting back massages... does that make me high maintenance? But I only do it a few times a year. About as often as a pedi or getting my hair done. LOL

I would rather play quarter arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese than go to Dave and Busters.

I only been a couple of times to the Dave and Busters down in the San Diego, CA area and it was AWESOME!! Alcohol and the zombie shooting game, House of the Dead. :laugh: My friend and I blew through 40$ to beat that game. I think my aim got better as I got more drinks in me. Chuck E. Cheese is great too but they frown upon a 30 yr old man playing in the ball pit. :grumble:

To me a high maintenance woman is the "princess" attitude. Thankfully I haven't dated a girl like this but, some of my guy friends have dated women that refused to shop or even been seen in certain stores because it was "beneath them". All these women cared about was the latest designer clothes/handbags/etc etc. I can understand the wanting to look good and dressing nice. As I've lost weight I am starting to gravitate towards nicer looking clothes that, unlike in the past, I didn't care what it looked like or brand names, as long as the shirt fit me. One of these girls dumped a friend over a gift bought from store she didn't care for. Yeah...that's too much for me.

i always thought of high maintenance women as the ones that need to special order food at a restaurant. you know, they want the dish on the menu but then need to make a million changes to it.....

they take FORever to get ready. and have no problem keeping you waiting to do so......

they live in a land of entitlement.

That's always been my take on high-maintenance as well - someone who considers his or her own needs and desires to be of significantly more importance than those of anyone else around them, though I've known some very high-maintenance older women (and men) whose self-importance/high-maintenance manifests in other ways - the high-maintenance mother-in-law, for example, who 'needs' her child and his/her family to spend every holiday and every weekend - forget about the other family of in-laws - and be on-call and ready to jump at her whim 24/7 (no medical or physical need - just an emotional one that is used manipulatively!).

Thinking about it, I guess 'high-maintenance' can often be relative to the perception of the other party, though, particularly when it comes to emotional things. One person might view a partner wanting to be in touch at least once a day as high-maintenance, while for another person, this would be absolutely normal and expected. My family was always physically-affectionate, so for someone who finds that distasteful or unnecessary, my tendency to bestow hugs, kisses, affectionate touches liberally with those I care for, with the expectation of returned affection, might make me, in their eyes, high-maintenance.

Am I high-maintenance? Not particularly, I think, in the princess-definition. I make an effort with my appearance, 98% of the time, and am rarely seen without mascara(pale-blonde, fair-skinned, look like a ghost without it!) but that's just as likely to mean something casual as it is heels and a dress, and either way, it's unlikely to take me more than 20-30 minutes, tops, from getting in the shower to going out the door, unless it's a very big event.

I like to buy good quality, which sometimes means a known name, but I'm not fussy about brands, just quality and a style I like - better economy anyway, in my view, to buy something that will last well, still look good a few years down the track, and that I'm likely to still want to wear/use. I try always to be polite and considerate to all around me, especially those who are serving me in any capacity, and I seldom ask for any changes in restaurants, unless one of my two major allergies is in the picture. I will, however, move away from cigarette smoke if I possibly can - I react badly to it, and it poses a potential threat to my livelihood. Ditto people who have a streaming cold, laryngitis or sound like they're about to cough up a lung - in my line of work, that's sensible rather than prissy or precious.

As far as my relationships go, I'm pretty easy-going, and (almost always!) willing to compromise. The one time I probably could be called high-maintenance is in the run-up to a performance, when I tend to draw into myself, and feel a need for things to be a certain way. I have a routine that helps me prepare, mentally and physically, to perform, and I find I do need people around me on the day of a show to just give me space, let me get on with my thing, and take care of themselves for the day. Unless it's an emergency or a crisis, or I ask you to do something (unlikely - I become something of a control-freak on show days and would almost certainly rather do it myself), it's probably best to leave me alone!

Chuck E. Cheese is great too but they frown upon a 30 yr old man playing in the ball pit. grumble

Spoilsports!! How about 30 year old women? I love ball pits!

I require zero maintenance. That's the problem with me and relationships, I think a lot of men require women who are needy! Men like to be needed!!! It's just to varying degrees..........

Just throwing that out there.............

Why does this topic have to only be about women? Can't men be high maintenance too? Isn't that part of how the word 'metrosexual' came into being?

Yes, men can be high maint. Doesn't happen as frequently from my point of view.

I don't think a lot of the ladies here have expressed high maintenance 'tudes.

I would say that there's probably a fairly strong correlation between looks and high maintenance. Quite simply, the better looking a woman is, the more likely that she is high maintenance.

From the typical guy's perspective, the worst combination is the woman is a slightly above average (like a 6-7) who thinks she's a 9-10 and acts like a diva.

Or perhaps extremes of self-esteem, rather than looks? I know several women, and more than a few men, whose opinion of their own physical appeal and 'worth' is very, very high. Regardless of the accuracy or otherwise of their perception of their own visual appeal, they do seem to be more inclined to behave in the manner you describe. Some of them have genuinely very high self-esteem, some behave like that because they feel the need to put up a front of "I'm beyond fabulous and the world should cater to me!" to hide their insecurities.

Most of the women here (apologies if this doesn't apply to you!) are working on improving their bodies, and have almost certainly been told, or made to feel, at some point, that we are 'not good enough' because our bodies don't match up to the current ideal. Maybe that makes us less likely to behave in a high-maintenance way? We're also mostly pretty sane, competent people, whose self-worth has probably come from things other than our looks, for the most part. Our self-esteem's adequate - good, even - but not extreme enough to prompt us into this sort of behaviour. We also have something solid to fall back on when age, as it inevitably does, takes its' toll, so we're probably not as desperate to leverage our looks while we still have them to get what we want (Thinking of several ageing beauties I know whose looks were the only thing that mattered to them in their youth, and are now scrabbling to try to hold on to both their looks and the lifestyles they acquired by being beautiful...)

No - probally to a lot of y'alls standards I'm very low low maintenance....borderline weird.

Seriously though depends on what you call high maintenance....

I do require you to pick up after yourself, bathe, and have manners.....to some guys that's high maintenance.

I don't need you to do anything for me that I can do for myself.

If you'd like to save me a few bucks by fixing the kitchen sink rather than me calling the handyman....great (you would be rewarded) but I can still pickup the phone and call.

I love this!! That is SOOO me!

Two questions to kick off this thread.

1. Guys-what are your thoughts on high maintenance women? Do you want them around?

2. Ladies-Do you consider yourself high maintenance? Why or why not?

Why does this topic have to only be about women? Can't men be high maintenance too? Isn't that part of how the word 'metrosexual' came into being?

start a high maintenance men thread... oh the stories i could tell :laugh:

I think if you read back through all the past threads, we have established that us MEN are perfect in everyway and have set the standard for excellence... No room for improvement!!

i don't think of needy and high maintenance being the same....... at least not in my opinion.
i know a guy that is needy. we dated for a little while earlier this year, and are still friends. he is NOT high maintenance at all in any way shape or form, but man is he NEEDY!!!!!! geesh! lol!!!!

From an appearance standpoint, I look fussier (high maintenance?) than I actually am. Feel confident when I look good. But not one of those chicks who goes to the gym dolled up or refuses to get dirt under my salon-polished finger nails. Sweaty and dirty can be fun...

From a personality standpoint, not needy or high maintenance at all....have been called too independent AND too nice. Kiss of death! lol Always treat people the way I wish to be treated and wouldn't know the first thing about acting like a princess. Maybe I should take classes?

I would rather play quarter arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese than go to Dave and Busters.

I only been a couple of times to the Dave and Busters down in the San Diego, CA area and it was AWESOME!! Alcohol and the zombie shooting game, House of the Dead. :laugh: My friend and I blew through 40$ to beat that game. I think my aim got better as I got more drinks in me. Chuck E. Cheese is great too but they frown upon a 30 yr old man playing in the ball pit. :grumble:

I'm not saying it's not fun! If someone else foots the bill I will have a blast - but I would have just as much fun with the skee ball game that costs a quarter

They are more forgiving about adult women in ball pits, hahaha!