What it means when she says she doesn't usually date people like you

Two words in the message do most of the work. Usually tells you she has a pattern, which means she's probably thought about it and has reasons, and those reasons may have nothing to do with you. People like you tells you she's sorting men into groups, which is a sign she's still in the mode of checking boxes rather than getting to know someone.

Look back at what she has told you about past relationships, what she's posted, and how she talks about her friends. If she has mentioned a recent breakup with someone who worked a certain kind of job, or a past partner who was much older or much younger, the category is probably pointing at that. If she's said nothing like that, the category may be coming from a general sense of what she's looking for, and she may not be able to name it precisely yet.

The comment is often a hedge. She is letting you know she has doubts without committing to a no. Treat it as a sign that she is still deciding.

The useful question is what she means by the category, asked in a way that invites an answer and doesn't put her on trial. Ask about her pattern, not about whether she's rejecting you. Something curious and light, that assumes she has a real reason, will get you further than something that asks her to defend herself.

You also need to avoid turning the reply into a debate about your own qualities. Once you start listing reasons you're different from the type she means, she has to either agree with you or argue, and neither helps. Keep the focus on her experience, and let her decide how much of it to share.

Finally, show that the comment didn't make you pull back. If your reply reads like you've taken a step back, she'll hear it as a no. If you stay warm and interested while asking, she learns the comment didn't end anything.

Whatever you send, the response to it is where the real signal comes. If she replies with more detail, match her length and keep going. If she replies with a short answer and no question back, don't chase it with another message on the same topic.

If you don't hear back within a day or two, leave it. A follow-up that circles back to the comment reads as pressing. Wait for a natural reason to message again, something about a plan, a shared joke, or an article she mentioned, and let the conversation move on without the comment hanging over it.

If the conversation stalls for more than a week after this exchange, stop. The category comment was probably her way of closing the door politely, and continuing to message after that is the surest way to make her wish she'd been clearer.