is the kind of relationship she had with her father when she was a little girl.  I've come to a realization of this after many, many years of being a student of women (and aren't they incredible!).

Do you suppose that maybe adult men's relationships to women are shaped by their early relationship to their mother???

As in, we're not an alien species, dear.  I think we all operate by the same set of principles.

-Anya

If you look at the marriage of the parents of your future wife or husband you will get a good indication of what your marriage may be like.

explore how we are shaped by our opposite-sex parents can be an important step toward self-knowledge.  

The most important factor in determining the quality of a woman's relationships with men ...

the quality of relationship that the men in her life say they want, or are willing to accept. (funny idea, that the woman determines the quality of the relationship.)

the most important factor in determining a woman's attitude towards men ... the woman's character. daddy plays a role, and the ex and the first true love, but some woman are just different people from other women. and if they were the same people as teenagers or girls, then that character affected their relationship to their father in the same way it affects their relationship with you.

All of the men in her life, including her ex (assuming that she has an ex and is not still with her first ever SO, as my wife is) and her first true love, are in her life because she has chosen to put them there.  Her relationship with her father has a huge influence on why she chose them as the men to put in her life, and what the outcome of her relationships with them will be. The notion of people having an inborn "character" has some validity, but the danger is in saying about someone "that's just the way they are, that's their character, some women are just different people than other women", because it often becomes an excuse for not doing the work involved in truly understanding someone.