I'll say this about the honesty part. It has its drawbacks. Some women want to feel seduced. They want to feel like it was spontaneous. Nothing has less elements of that than a frontal "I like you, you like me, you wanna do dis?" proposal. It's simply not fun for them, while it's
really convenient for you as a guy. In truth, it doesn't take that much effort to be at least slightly seductive. It's just some guys aren't comfortable trying to act that way, and it comes across to some women as a lack of confidence that you have to be direct about it to get the courage up to show your interest/affection.
Who knows though. Every girl is different. I don't think I've met one yet though that is like "Yeah, seriously, just ask me rather than seduce me. It's easier." Even if they're really down to earth and say they don't need to be charmed, on some level they want at least a little bit of that. They don't need to be charmed...but they want you to be charming. They don't need to be seduced...but they want you to be seductive.
I had one girl go from clearly being interested to pure friend when I tried doing it the easy way. She went from flirting with me to the degree she was showing me the color of her underwear to no, literally like that. I've never seen a woman change her behavior that fast. I think it had to do with the fact I point blank asked her rather than letting it happen naturally. Women don't like being put in that situation, and the smart ones will always say "No" rather than being forced into giving an answer.
It's funny. Another girlfriend once re-wrote our relationship in her memory to fit the standard that *I* seduced *her*. She conveniently forgot she was the one that offered to come over to my house, with a movie and a bottle of orange juice in one hand, and a bottle of gin in the other. She's the one that forget *I* started going for the couch instead of my own bed when *she* told me I should be sleeping in my bed.....with her.
There's a reason the game has lasted this long, and that's because women like it this way