The Techniques Of Seduction!

About a decade ago, a community of men fashioned themselves as “pickup artists” – masters of seduction who use certain techniques to sleep with as many women as possible. Recently, this name has become synonymous with douchebaggery after some of their misogynistic and questionable tactics came to light. Which raises the question: are men still following their teachings?

The “Fireman”. The “Brian’s Friend”. The “Naked Man”. The “My Penis Grants Wishes”. You’ve probably laughed at all these “plays” employed by Barney Stinson on the long-running sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. The always suited-up playboy, played by Neil Patrick Harris, lists these cheap tricks he’s used to get women to sleep with him in a volume called “The Playbook”, which he often forces onto his single friends and any other single man he meets.

“The Playbook” is, of course, a work of fiction. But there is a real-life equivalent of it, written by journalist Neil Strauss. Titled The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, the book details several methods that self-styled dating gurus – who call themselves pickup artists (PUA) – use to bed women. And some of these methods are, well, objectifying and sexually aggressive, whether they realise it or not. Take for example, the “negging” technique, where the PUA would pay you a backhanded compliment to undermine your confidence (“I love your outfit, but I think it’ll look even better with a different pair of shoes.”). The rationale is that you’d then feel the need to defend yourself, so you hang around the PUA to try and win his approval.