We don’t talk about it much because nobody likes to admit it, but the majority of guys really, REALLY have little idea how to handle a woman, and they end up making very costly mistakes when they have to catch up on 10 years of dating experience when get their first gf at 23.
Lots of them want a dude-fren they can creampie, that’s pretty much the overarching issue. They want to be able to have a “low maintenance” girl who just comes over to sit around and do nothing with them on a friday night….kind of hard to make her think too highly of you when that’s all you offer.
You don’t need to be in the impressive courtship phase for long, but you DO need to find a target worthy of your investment and knock her socks off with a few good dates. Doing something cool and romantic gains you the approval and support of her extended friend network. Treating her like a blasé booty call leads them to chip away at your relationship. Taking her out on cool things means that they’ll passively support you as good guy she can’t let go.