As a forever-aloner who is slowly getting out of it, it's really not as easy as just "act like a man". Because of several physical and mental health problems, I spent most of my childhood in almost complete isolation. I simply had absolutely no frame of reference how to talk to people, much less women. The only "experience" I had was from watching movies and TV shows, where a common theme is for a guy and girl to slowly get to know each other and then suddenly one day realize they're meant for each other. This was how I thought dating worked.

So it's no wonder the first few times I attempted to woo a girl that I got immediately and permanently friend-zoned. I thought I was doing things right. I was terrified of coming off as some creepy asshole who just wanted to have sex, so I never even gave the slightest hint that I was attracted to them. Combine this with my already low self-esteem and lack of experience, and it becomes painfully obvious why girls weren't romantically interested in me.

It's taken almost 8 years of hard work for me to get to where I am today. Now I can comfortably talk with girls, flirt with them, even have the occasional hookup. But at no point was there ever this sudden realization of "oh, I just need to man the fuck up! I GET IT!!!". I had to change my entire worldview of human social interaction and basically learn from the ground up how to talk to people.

I often find it very depressing how reddit has this very negative view of forever-alone guys (and girls). Redditors like to boast about being "different" and "socially awkward", but for those of us who really have problems socializing, we're cast off as "nice guys who only talk to girls to try to get in their pants".

So I think you need to "man the fuck up" and realize that not everyone has lived the life that you have, and that many of the things you take for granted are completely alien to other guys.