What many in today's society don't realize is that love is about giving, and is almost always sacrificial in nature. The satisfaction comes from giving first, and then receiving. It boils down to two people having the chemistry where each just by chance scratches the other where they itch. It's like a chemical catalyst.
Or you could say it's like two puzzle pieces where one has substance in places where the other has a void, and vice versa.
50/50 doesn't fly with love. Between men and women, love works when the woman desires to fulfill her feminine role as does the man with his masculine role. A women must submit for real love to occur, and it is up to the man to take the lead, which allows her to "relax into her feminine", as I like to say. That means making decisions and taking charge, because women hate both of those things and that is precisely what blocks their femininity. When a women feels your masculinity through your own boldness, she allows you to flow into her voids and she latches onto you.
That doesn't take anything away from the things we're always complaining about here about women. The vast majority are spoiled bratty children... horrible creatures because they have been allowed to degenerate through our own lack of guidance and authority. They think they can govern themselves, but they can't. Women are water... they need a container to have substance and meaning. The container defines their shape. When they have no container (mail authority and guidance) they spread out and dissipate into a puddle one molecule thin. These 98% are not worthy of love.
But there is that 2% of womankind that are craving for a man to give them the support structure they need in order for them to blossom out with their femininity. Women are fearful creatures, and when they have to make decisions in a relationship they suppress their vulnerable femininity. This makes it much more difficult for them to love unconditionally.
Wise is the man who searches for that 2%, and who facilitates both of you becoming mercury, flowing into each other's voids until you are locked. That is when love becomes real to a woman. The man becomes the leader, the protector and the authority, and she is free to submit to that and flow into you.
Actual love is hard to find and maintain, and it is still true that the man will always be the most sacrificial in the relationship in complex ways that virtually all women can't even comprehend because they lack the male mind and male sensibilities, but sacrificial leadership is the only authentic leadership. The sacrificial leader rewards and punishes for the good of those being led and for the good of his kingdom. Within that framework an exceptional woman can love. Never forget that a huge part of an exceptional woman's love for a man is that he disciplines her... not cruelly, but with strength. Most will never admit this, but most crave it, because it makes her feel safe and it makes her know he is superior to her and therefore worthy of submitting herself to and giving herself completely to.
Anything else is just two strong wills constantly butting heads while trying to get along.