This post comes in as a response to the question user cooltrip posted and whose answer might not be that obvious from the start. It reads "What's the point of the game, if women want hot guys?"

The point of "game" is that despite physical attractiveness being a factor, it is usually the modus operandi, or the behaviour of a man, that women further challenge and test. Physical attractiveness decides that you're eligible to "get on the audition" so to speak. Your behaviour decides whether or not you "pass the audition".

To clarify, it is often said that women are gatekeepers of sex and men are gatekeepers of commitment - this postulate can then be further discussed by factoring in the human "behavioural hypergamy" (choosing the best), biological urges (polgamy/hypergamy), the fact that sexual competititon exists and the fact that resources are limited in a zero-sum game which sexual competition is to add on the fact that there exists a intragender competition between members of the same gender for what their gender is not a gatekeeper of. Thus, the postulate is rewritten as :

"Men compete for sex, women compete for affection"

Further sublimation of characteristics that would result in the ability to give the gender respective commitment (sex/affection) being branded and perhaps judged as another dimension of attractiveness on a roughly objective value scale results in traditional gender roles.

An Alpha male is assertive, has self confidence and the ability to provide. This is what PUA community wants to do, inflate their SMV to give an illusion of a provider - not a "why-do-girls-date-jerks-provider" mind you, but the one who has the capacity to provide both superior genes and superior conditions. This is why the Dark Triad is so attractive - ability to manipulate and willingness to manipulate are crucial to survival. This is what Kurtz muses about in Heart of Darkness when he describes people who killed children - he finds them disgusting but he knows that these are the kind of people that have what it takes to win a war.

Further sublimation (or perhaps the reflexive doubling potential) would result in characteristics that ensure that one's ability to provide exclusive commitment (sex/affection) is added to the dimension of behavioural attractiveness.

Hence you will see the "double standard" that builds itself from the neurological difference between men and women in a new light - as the biological reality of intragender competition. When you factor in that women are socially more complex as they cannot utilize physical violence the way men can do, and implications that the utilization of physical violence has on their "attractiveness", you will also understand few more things. This is why women do slut shaming more in both intensity and amount - they are subconsciously capitalizing on men's natural aversions. Women have more reasons to slut shame than men, as the ability to distinguish themselves from the sluts is of crucial in attracting the best.

When these two impulses can somehow build from each other, and not be mutually exclusive (they can very much be, but they are not innately mutually exclusive), they are much more attractive than by itself. Hence the Maddona-Whore complex, hence the saying "Jedi in the streets, Sith in the sheets", hence the success of the dread game.

Both want the best of their respective partner - women want a man who gives them and only them their mental commitment, men want a woman who gives them and only them their physical commitment. For both, it is of crucial value that the commitment that is given is of of standing value (hence the common man's aversion to marrying sluts, or the common woman's aversion to settling down with a beta). It is also important that exclusivity of this commitment is not hurt ( Of course, this isn't to say that women are okay with cheating or that men are okay with their women having orbiters around her. But compared to the other gender and averaged out as to give us the best possible explanation, this comes as an undeniable fact. - on this see Hjervevask episodes Gender Equality Paradox and Sex, they're in the sidebar)

Now, why is the "game" important?

Because it capitalizes on what behaviour women find attractive. Even if you go as far as to say that you shouldn't make your world around women, but the otherway around, you cannot deny that some things that women do (subconsciously) are downright brilliant. Mother Nature is a bitch, but she's one smart bitch. Sooner or later, you're going to come in contact with a lot double X chromosome creatures and it would help you to deal with them as well. Game is also important for those in LTR or marriages, as it keeps the attraction alive. A woman who gets fat and asks why her husband needs viagra is a lot like a man who lets his wife walk over him and asks why she wants to try out polyamory.

And perhaps acting enough will make the "game" part of you, the way it's really meant to be.