It is widely assumed that women are emotional rollercoaster ambassadors and natural-born puppeteers who can pull strings by their veiled manipulations with great sophistication. But wait a minute! Let’s face the truth: men are doing well in it, too. Look, I say we discuss men’s most popular ruses and try not to fall into their traps never again.

The first place deservedly goes to the timeless classics that goes, “With womankind, the less we love them, the easier they become to charm”

Some women love being little princesses from time to time. They enjoy being defenseless young ladies who follow men’s rules or, as they call it, follow the men who take the initiative. Men, in turn, actively benefit from this behavior and pretend to be some kind of Christian Greys who decide the fate of their future relationship. For instance, one week is full of passion, spontaneous romantic encounters, and wild sex, while the best-case scenario for another week is sluggish cuddles and two text messages from him. At this point, you begin to rack your brain trying to think of what you did wrong, what happened or whether he wants to break up with you or not. You start to fight for this unattainable and enigmatic prince. My word of advice to you is to run as soon as you smell trouble in the air. If your partner is nonetheless of value for you, then try to recall your puppetry skills and steal his thunder. Act as a mirror. Nope, we’re not giving you bad advice. You need all this to break your vis-à-vis’ mould of perception. Make appointments and then cancel them, send sexy texts during the workday and then don’t reply for a day or two. Play hard only if the game is worth the candle.

The second place: “A true woman must/is good at”

The book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” should be considered the one about a “true man” and a “true woman”. Everyone’s heard of them, but nobody knows where they can be found. If a person is at least 10% unconfident, the stereotype about a “true woman/man” can become a serious label and impel the idea that you need to keep up with this concept or otherwise you’ll be fucked by the loneliness. You can serve this nonsense with any sauce like “A true woman must give birth to at least five children”, “A true woman must know how to stretch like a snake and swallow swords”. Who came up with these ridiculous ideas? Nobody knows, but for some reason, people believe in them.

The third place: “For you, everything’s always my fault”

There’s a tendency to think that phrases like “you always…”, “you never…”, “yup, blame this one on me” are purely female. There’s one sneaky yet working rule: say any of these phrases before your opponent does, thereby depreciate his complaints and make him make excuses. It’s a working pattern that is often used regardless of the manipulator’s gender.

The fourth place: Pretend you’re brain dead

Hakuna Matata that is. It means denying the obvious. It’s a refusal of taking a point. It’s a filthy yet perfect instrument for manipulation. Not getting anything even if there’s a question flying towards your forehead at the speed of light. You can simply pretend you’re bewildered and turn into your brain-dead state. Eventually, you will either do everything on your own or will lose your nerve and will never ask for any clearing up again.