Don't quite agree AnnaS.
Historically, women were taught that is was <unladylike> to be too forceful or too straightforward. The fact that *yes* and *no* have only one meaning forces many women to use longer phrases or to avoid having to say them at all.
Take, for example, a woman who gets invited to a Tupperware party but does not want to go. More often than not she will try to come up with any excuse possible (I have a doctor’s appointment on that day, my sister is in town, my son has a recital that morning, bridge night, poker night, diddle night…) on and on, instead of just saying no. The word no is so unwaveringly clear-cut that she just can’t say it. It sounds too blunt, therefore unladylike and consequently impolite. Take out your chequebook cause you know you’re buyin’ plastic pots.
A straight out yes can be just as hard to say for a lot of women. “do you want the last chocolate éclair?” I shouldn’t. I couldn’t possibly. Well, you ain’t getting it. The guy beside you will take it because he believes you have just said no, and he said, well, yes.
I don’t think that a woman saying *yes* and *no* interchangeably while enjoying a bit of playful nooky is applicable to this conversation. The words in that situation are not meant to be real. It is also not said on the same tone. She could say “mononucleosis” and it would have the same meaning and impact.
We won’t get into the real Yes / No of sexual contact here as that is usually a debate as heated as politics and religion.
