Briefly, what's worked for me & heterosexual women I know:

Feminist theory into dating practice? Make it clear from the beginning that you won't tolerate any misogynist crap, and be prepared to say 'goodbye' should he come out with some. For myself and friends, this has meant moratoria on pervasive but nasty things like sex-industry participation, prioritizing the man's career over the woman's, household burdens falling disproportionately on female shoulders.
Women who demand and accord in return respect & consideration have a better chance at being happy with a partner, whatever the orientation. However, most people aren't ready for this at 20 so you'll likely be doing a lot of kicking-to-the-curb.

Making the first move? Just like (respectful) men do: ask him to have dinner with you!

Making the first move gets easier after you do it once - just say, "Would you like to get coffee or dinner together sometime?"

The guy I'm newishly seeing is someone I met through mutual friends at an event. We hit it off that weekend and afterwards messaged back and forth through Facebook a few times while I got antsy wondering if he was going to ask me out. Finally I decided that waiting was stupid, and I asked him if he would want to get dinner together. He was stunned that I was actually interested (and here I thought my interest was obvious, but it wasn't), and he admitted that if I hadn't asked him out, he would have thought a lot about asking me but was quite sure that I'd never be interested.

So to motivate yourself, just think about how it could turn into a missed opportunity if you don't seize the moment!

And once you do that, keep it up by calling him instead of always waiting for him to call you.

"If you get rejected, well, it happens to everyone."

In other words, you understand completely. Now, time to put your money where your mouth is.

Other than that, congratulations on understanding the difference between needing a man to complete you, and recognizing that humans by and large are social animals, not solitary ones.

I made the first move on the last guy I was interested in. I got rejected.

We're friends. We were before I liked him and we still are. I actually feel like we're better friends now than we were, but that may be because I am more comfortable around him now. There was like a day or two of awkwardness, then we didn't see each other for awhile (bc of winter break) then everything was just suddenly OK.

Anyhoo, what I did was basically word vomit. We were hanging out and I was sort of stammering something about how I needed to talk to him but I wanted to wait until after exams were over, then suddenly I was just like fuck it and it flooded out.

Even though I got shot down I'm really glad I said something. Honestly. I felt better having been rejected than I did not knowing how he felt (he was really hard to read). I felt sort of empowered because usually I sit around waiting and then nothing happens, but this time I actually took initiative and even though it didn't work out it was my action that got the final answer.

I would say just get on with it. Either have the "I like you" conversation or ask him out (depending on what your current relationship with him is).

How does anyone make the first move? Just step up and do it.

I'm in the same place, a little, where I've realized that I'm effing sick of sitting back and waiting to catch people's attention, romantically or otherwise. I've learned firsthand recently that if you just say "hi" to someone, even if they weren't aware of you before, that might be enough to break the ice.

I agree with Lisa--I made the first move with the dude I was interested in (we were friends and co-workers, we hung out a few times, and one day I just decided to go for it and kiss him) and while it did not work out and he did not feel the same way as I did, we're better friends now than we were prior to then. It's much better to make a move, as freaky as it sometimes is (it took me an hour to work up the nerve to call this guy and invite him to hang out the first time), and know what's going on then to continually second-guess yourself about whether or not someone is interested.

As an incredibly shy male who's had to learn (for various reasons) to speak up, I just want to add that it isn't always easy. So admit to yourself that it's okay to be nervous about asking someone out -- I'm nervous every time, often in direct proportion to how much I like the person.

I remember a female friend of mine once asked me if it would be "okay" to ask out a boy she had met at a random party (and now was friends with on Facebook, etc.). After talking with her, I realized that some girls truly believe that men don't like to be approached; other perhaps pretend to believe it in order to legitimize their own passivity. But if the guy is interested, he couldn't be happier to be noticed.

So my best advice is to treat him as you would like to be treated. Ask him out to coffee or lunch or a movie or ice-skating or frisbee-throwing at the park. If he says yes, have a good time and see where things go. If he turns you down, be sure to celebrate the fact that you spoke up at all; that itself has more victory in it than staying silent.

As someone who asked out my now-fiance (Freshman year of high school before I had any more than a vague idea of "I like equality" to my feminism), just speak up. It works best if you get an opening, like I did... Okay, that I made, asking him about the homecoming dance, since I like dances, and then him giving me the perfect opening.

Just be yourself. That's who you want him to want to date, just as when he asks, you want to see who he is.

I second a lot of things that have already been said. Seriously, you seem to have worked out a lot by yourself: well done!

Don't beat yourself up about having needs. We all do, and an important part of my feminism is YOUR NEEDS MATTER!

Especially in relationships with other, and even more so in dating/romantic involvement-sort of thing.

I liked a guy in my study group and so after studying one time we were talking about some TV show and I asked him if he wanted to come over and watch an episode on my computer. After that, he was the one to ask me out on the first "real" date.

In general, I'm a fan of starting with low pressure things like getting coffee, that don't have a set time period so if its not going well you can leave and if it is going well you can hang out for hours. If you agree to dinner and a movie and then you aren't having a good time, you're kinda stuck for several hours.