You know, I do not really want too much of an answer to my questions.
BUT.
This last Valentines day has me thrown through a loop.
I am not ugly.
BUT
I do not expect a girl to be checking me out when she is with her man.
The dude probably bought her flowers and candy like any one would. Now they are both in the "Mom and Pop" quick-stop to buy enhancement pills of some form or another. And I am waiting in line trying to buy a bottle of wine for my date.
I do not know why I noticed but I did.
The girl was checking me out in all the wrong ways.
This would not upset me if I were clean shaven and sporting some expensive scent. I always turn heads when I look like a younger version of myself. The thing Is I had a beard and I just got off my shift.
The beard?
Not "Metal Gear" foxy.
More like Ben Kenobi form star wars.
Been around the block and then some. Kind of whiskers.
Nothing that should suggest "come and get your freak on with me."
Yet there her eyes were. Fixated on me.
I am not Bragging.
I just want to know what modern women are into lately.
Had I been the guy courting that woman?
She would have been dropped like a sack of potatoes.
I do not want to sound odd when making this post but honestly.
What are you girls into now?
These are not the girls I grew up craving.
What's up with you chicks?
Please say something to get the record strait for me.

Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

Good luck getting an answer to this bro though I would like to know a well. I've been in the same situation (being 25, sometimes it just happens, beard respect too bro) but like you it totally threw me off. I'm not even going to try to make peculation on this, though an answer would be really helpful.

I honestly can't answer that question because I've never been able to judge guys' appearances.  I remember sitting in high school and kids asking me if I thought so-and-so was 'hot', and I never was able to answer.  I would try and try, but I couldn't find attraction or lack of it.  Even now as a 25 year old, I find it very difficult to discern between what makes someone good looking or not good looking.  Of course, there are extremes in which it is easy (on the ugly side pretty much), but even the extreme is rare in my eyes.

However, I do have some input other than what today's women may be into aesthetically speaking.

I agree with you that if I had been that guy.... the woman would have been dropped immediately.  I find today's lack of loyalty to be extremely disappointing and disheartening.  Men and women of today (in general) seem to hold no honor in remaining faithful, and it makes me sick. I hear people spouting all the time, that it's okay to check out other men and women even when you are married... a sort of 'look but don't touch' philosophy.  (Though in some cases, it's 'look and feel free to touch if I can touch too', but I digress.)  It's almost as though young couples don't value their partners enough to take pleasure -only- in their partners.  Standards are low, and morals are lower.

So what might have been going through that woman's mind?  Was she good looking?  Maybe she thought if you noticed her checking you out, you would check her out in return and boost her ego.  Maybe she was just fantasizing about being unfaithful (a lot of women DO get their kicks from that), or maybe she was just feeling a certain way not appropriate to mention on a family friendly site.  There are women so lose that it doesn't matter -what- you look like, and only that you're male.

Of course, that being said, I think we all generally have the tendency to think less of our appearances than others do. We're taught to be dissatisfied with them from the media.

I've had the same situation happen to me (but with guys of course!).  I've even had men check me out while standing next to my husband, and it's disgusting to behold.  I'm not a ugly (at least I don't think so), but I'm certainly not a model, and on my worst days I imagine it's easy to poke a little fun at my hair and profile.  Nonetheless, even on those days I get eyes.  I think we simply live in a loose world that idealizes, fantasizes, and compromises.

Some girls are into that "scruffy" look. Personally, I love beards...Maybe she likes beards. And for all you know they weren't even together they could have been friends or something. I don't know.

Yeah, I've had a beard for most of the last 3 years and my wife loves it now. She doesn't like it when I let it get too long but as long as I keep it fairly short she thinks it looks really good.

Different girls like different things about guys the same way guys like different things about girls.

I personally don't like blondes and that is my opinion. That girl in question may have simply liked your beard

"The girl was checking me out in all the wrong ways."

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she was a psycho? Who knows what is going on in her head but here might be a few possibilities:

1. If she looks serious, she is probably thinking wow that guy needs a shower.
2. If she looks happy or energetic and is eyeballing you... she is probably crazy.
3. Or maybe she thought you were checking her out...
4. She has crush on you, but is with a man, in other words... she is #2.

A girl checked you out.  Where you sure it was with approval?  perhaps she was looking you up and down thinking, "Uh, that guy needs a shower."?

Or, she's into guys like you.  Either way, just enjoy that you got some attention and keep things moving.  It doesn't matter that girls look at you unless you start talking to them.  She may have just liked your shirt but the romantic thoughts weren't really there.  You could (probably are) reading too much into this.  

I know my wife checks out guys when I'm around her.  I'm fine with that.  People are interested in other people and we all appreciate beauty.  As long as she's not making out with a guy in front of me, I'm not particularly worried about what she's doing.  we have too much history and we trust each other too much to be concerned with enjoying the visual delight of attractive people.

I look at other women too.  It's no big deal.

I kinda agree with Warmaker on this one, though only in some part. Yeah she looked and her man didn't mind. Yeah we looked and our partners (if applicable) didn't care. What was going on in her head is what we want to know, or at least make some kind of guess or get someone's opinion on, or some insight.

On a slightly different note, Ive been with the same girl for almost 2 years now (which is a huge thing for me as per my longest before the one was like 3 months) but even with all that when I see an attractive girl in public I grow a pair (if even only for a moment) and shoot her a quick little phrase to let her know someone noticed her today. Normally I get a smile in return. My girl doesn't mind when I do this. Actually she thinks it is quite funny because the results vary when she is there also, making for an occasional interesting look or a raised eyebrow, but all I'm really saying to the unsuspecting female is "Hey, I may be taken but that doesn't mean I can't tell you that you are beautiful and someone noticed you today". I have no idea whether this boosts the other females self esteem or not, but it boosts my confidence just a little every time I happen to do it, cause being built like the comic book guy off the Simpsons doesn't exactly get you the "sexy eyes" look from many girls.

So from both sides of the coin I'd also kinda like to see what they think when someone does something like what I do, as well as what a girl thinks when she is looking at a guy that closely resembles Fred Flintstone with a beard. Will we ever REALLY know? Probably not, unless for some strange reason we electrocute ourselves in a feminine product advert campaign accident and find out "What Women Want", in which case I would bust the mystery of women wide open for all men to read like a book. "Inside The Woman's Mind From the Man's Point of View", or something like that. lol.

Well until that never happens, us men will be waiting for the females to explain boldly and bluntly exactly what they mean and what they want, and sadly until either of those things happen we shall never truly know. Therefore maybe we shouldn't spend too many hours losing sleep over it.

This is the one question nobody will ever be able to answer even sigmund freud said "women are a great mystery" and this is a man who can thinks a fear for horses is as a unconscious fear of his dad removing his privates(thisis from his case study on little Hans)

Edit: Wrong thread.