Why Won't He Call Me His Girlfriend?

There are a number of reasons that a guy may not want to refer to you as his girlfriend, but unfortunately none of them are good news. If he feels strongly about you, defining your relationship as that of girlfriend and boyfriend should be fairly straightforward. The fact that he has reservations about taking such a simple step would suggest that there's more going on than meets the eye.

Why doesn't he want to call me his girlfriend?

Whether he's doing it on purpose or subconsciously, the usual reason  a guy gets uncomfortable using the term 'girlfriend' is because it will rule him out of the bidding when it comes to other women.

Either of the following may be plausible in this situation:

• He has someone else in mind that he doesn't want to discourage. Until he openly refers to you as a girlfriend, what you have is just a casual fling that other women won't feel bad about interfering with.
• He wants to keep his options open in general. He may not have a particular person in mind, but he's happy with things the way they are and doesn't want to commit himself to something that'll be difficult for him to bring to an end.

• Has he had any issues with previous relationships? If he's been hurt or betrayed in the past this may have made him wary about relationships.
• Is there anything to suggest he's already seeing someone else? Guys that don't do 'relationships' may find the idea of multiple casual relationships more appealing. If this is the case you should drop him faster than a radioactive cow-pat!