Simple thing 98 per cent of men want women to do

It’s such a simple thing yet so many women avoid it – but 98 per cent of men find it a turn on, says Jana Hocking.

One quick look at the calendar will remind you that today is February 29. Yes, a leap year.

Cool, so what?

Well for women, it’s an especially significant date you see, as tradition dictates it’s a day we’re ‘allowed’ to break free from traditional gender roles and take charge of our own love lives. Yes, we’re given the big ol’ tick of approval to propose to our special fella.

Wild, right.

In the golden olden days it was seen as improper for women to propose to men and we were expected to wait patiently for the man to make the big move. In fact, let’s be honest, it still feels like that.

However, celebrities such as Pink, Succession’s Sarah Snook, and actor Kristen Bell, have all taken this lead on a leap day, and all are still married so perhaps it’s also a good omen.

But why should the partnered-up peeps have all the fun on this day. I propose an amendment to this tradition.

What if we used it as the day we all put our big girl pants on and made the first move on the bloke (or gal) we fancy?

Why is it reserved for just proposals?

Sure, I could rant on about it being 2024 and shouldn’t we have progressed enough by now to embrace acting on our love-heart-emoji-eyes urges without boringly outdated gender roles getting in the way?

But for some reason, most of us tend to abide by the already established roles we were brought up with thanks to Disney and fairy tales that revolve around waiting for our Prince Charming to come along and sweep us off our feet. Preferably whilst sitting home watching Netflix, because who wants the hassle of going out and about in public.

Well, I for one am happy to say ‘pfffft’ to that notion! In fact, I’ve had plenty of luck making the first move.

I slid into the DMs of my last boyfriend and it went so well we dated for a year. Only breaking up when work took us to different cities. Well, me city, and him a country farm. Sob. I still occasionally miss that man.

I mean, come on! We take control of our finances, careers and living arrangements. Why are we still so hesitant to take charge of our love lives?

I’ve never heard a man complain about a girl picking them up. In fact, when I asked my male Instagram followers, a whopping 98 per cent of men said they would LOVE a woman to make the first move.

When asked, 98 per cent of Jana Hocking’s followers said they’d love women to make the first move. Picture: Instagram

And to be fair, dating app Bumble has made a great move towards this preference, with the rules of the app stating women have to approach men first if they match.

Bumble’s co-founder, Whitney Wolf, is now worth $1.5 billion dollars so clearly, she’s on to something.

And yet, a recent survey of more than 2000 female participants between the ages of 18 and 40 by pharmaceutical company Merck found that less than 1 in 10 women make the first move.

For the love of God women, imagine how many romantic opportunities you’ve missed out on because you got a case of the nerves?

On a recent trip to New York, I discovered that NY men were so good at dating because they treat it like a numbers game. Having the courage to ask out any woman who takes their fancy and getting a decent strike rate. What if we did the same.

There would be less moaning about your current single status and perhaps more fondling. And who doesn’t like fondling.

So today, let’s all step out of our comfort zone and make the first move. It doesn’t have to be anything too bold. A simple text, cheeky dm slide, or heck, why not approach someone at a bar?

Who needs cupid when we’ve got our own gusto. It could turn this leap year from ‘meh!’ to ‘Va Va Voom’.

Jana Hocking is a columnist and collector of kind-of-boyfriends | @jana_hocking