Why “playing hard to get” is a BS excuse to ignore someone’s rejection of your advances:

aim2misbehave:

[tw; discussion of an aspect of rape culture, mention of stalking and harassment]

Scenario A: The person genuinely does not wish for you to continue making advances.

• If you take them at their word back off: You’ve indicated to them that you have belief in their ability to communicate their desire, and that you respect them. They see this as a sign of a decent human being. This ends well for everyone.
• If you don’t back off: You are now harassing them. You will make them feel unsafe around you, and they will likely not want to interact with you as much as they previously did. Extreme cases may result in law enforcement involvement. 

Scenario B: The person does, contrary to what they have indicated, wish for you to continue making your advances. 

• If you take them at their word and back off: They learn that when interacting with you, they must say what they mean. This makes your life easier if you continue to interact with them.
• If you don’t back off: You get to be in a relationship with someone who believes that honest communication is unnecessary because you can intuit their needs and desires.

Like, seriously, if you think through the outcomes, respecting peoples’ “no” leads to more positive results than not respecting their “no”. How hard is this for some people to parse out?