What Would You Do for a Guy's Attention?

Another weekend, yet another bachelor party — this time it was in New Orleans. Despite the decadence, I did some honest reflection.

The highlight of the trip was an accidental circumstance. In an amazing stroke of luck, Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) just happened to be playing Tulane in football. The town was invaded by super-hot Ole Miss girls with that little Ole Miss symbol painted on their faces.

I just wrote about Washington, DC, preppies, but now I have a crush on women of the Deep South, and their cute, contrasting style. They dressed up in cute dresses and did their hair perfectly but also had one casual element to their look —  usually in the form of flip-flops.

And they were so nice. I'm used to the NYC girls who seem angry and skeptical. But these girls were willing to talk to anyone. I asked why Southern girls were so cordial and an Ole Miss gal replied, in a graceful Southern drawl, "Why not?"

Speaking of that accent: It's my favorite. It's so cute and friendly. It's the kind of accent I could listen to 'til death did us part.

The majority of Southern girls seem to have beautiful eyes and (I'm sorry, but my buddy and I did theorize this) big boobs...not that that's a requirement for attractiveness, but it was impressive.

And they were so passionately into their team. It was the perfect mixture of suds, hot girls, and sports — it all just put me in a great mood.

However, their sweetness gave me false hope. I figured they must be attracted to me if they were talking to me. But they were just being nice — and that didn't mean they wanted to make out.

The whole bead thing in New Orleans is an interesting sociological study. One night I was separated from my friends on a balcony, shaking beads at the girls in the street. These girls were desperate for beads, even though you could go into any store and buy the beads for a dollar.

Some random guy and I were trying for the holy grail: an Ole Miss girl flashing us. But all the women who flashed were the same: over 25 and very drunk.

I was conflicted when I got a flash: I felt satisfied, guilty, and a little sorry for the flasher — hopefully they were just having a good time. I wondered if there's a "type" of woman who is willing to flash for beads. Was it a confidence thing or an attention thing, or both?

Strangely, the women who did not flash intrigued me more than the flashers. Maybe it was because none of the Ole Miss girls flashed, and they were the prettiest girls on Bourbon Street — as my Southern friend Margaret told me: They were the pretty sorority girls of Ole Miss, not the ones from Ole Miss who stayed in the library 24/7.

After a while, I pondered this whole idea of getting attention. Just a few days later, Ines Sainz (a Mexican TV reporter) claimed she felt uncomfortable in the New York Jets locker room because of catcalls and other obnoxious behavior. Sainz released a photo of what she was wearing to prove that the attention was not warranted by "scanty" clothing — not that it's even justifiable to harass her if she was scantily clad.

The three main ways I've seen women go for men's attention are:

1. Showing off their body. This is usually done with excessive cleavage, or short skirts, or tight clothing...or in extreme cases, a flash on Bourbon Street

2. Speaking loudly. Being drunk helps out with this, but women who want the spotlight will simply drown everyone else out with loud antics.

3. Dancing sexy. Whenever we're out, there's always some girl pole-dancing or up on a table/bar dancing provocatively.

The girls who flashed for attention were fun (because of the beads interaction) but not attractive. I was more interested in the Ole Miss type — the gentle, sweet ones who were not clamoring for attention outside of smiling and chatting. Maybe that's my type, but it seems like they are more secure and classy.

Subtle is almost always more sexy than in-your-face.

Of course, I was encouraging and rewarding the flashing with beads, and enticing the Ole Miss girls to join in the fracas, so I was definitely part of the problem.

Do you look down on women who flash men? What do you think are the most common ways women try to get attention from guys? What's the least healthy tactic women use to get attention? Do you have any healthy ways of getting attention from men?

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/richravens