[Princeton]

I tend to agree that if she wants to talk about an ex it's not a good sign that she's having a sexually charged interaction with you. Luckily it rarely happens and most girls seem to at least have the good sense not to do it. If you are going to change the subject, the key is to not make it look like you're threatened or uncomfortable. Think of it as her bringing her ex into the room to try to get a rise out of you. If this happens to me, I do one of two things:

1. Look bored and say, "I really don't give a shit about your ex-boyfriend." (Not in a threatened way just in a 'you're really boring me right now' way)

2. If she's being critical of him, I say something dismissive like, "Doesn't sound like anybody I'd want to hang out with," or I say something critical of her judgment: "You chose to date somebody like that?" and act as though I'm reevaluating her as a prospect. The girl will probably get slightly embarassed, change the subject and start trying to qualify herself to you.

[soup]

Ok, so now this is happening with a lot of girls that I've been meeting. Most of them bring up their ex. Last night I met a girl who made her preference for taller guys known in a round-about way.

Shit test? Is this a new trend?

[Franky87]

The long and short of it is, and it has been said already, if she is thinking about ex's she is NOT thinking about YOU.

[soup]

Well, she's TALKING about the ex..

That's why I'm not sure if she's actually thinking about him, or if it's some kind of test. Either way, I'd like to know a good way to handle this as it's been coming up a lot lately.

[DLuzhin]

If she talks about something stupid her ex would do, just talk about something yours did.

IE

Her: "My ex always had the worst taste in clothing. He would go out in these tacky shoes, so embarrassing."
Me: "Yeah. Mine would usually go out with so much eyeliner that she'd look like a dead raccoon. But of course you can't tell them that."

etc etc.